Hallway Update

It's been a while since I did a house update - the little things take time I think.

Repenting in leisure does not suit me .. especially if I have to walk past something
"not quite right" everyday, and especially even more if that something is an art work,
which usually, being a thing of beauty, has a pretty price-tag too.




I wanted something to go above the hallway bench.

I'm not sure where I got the rest of my idea from.  Things tend to come to me in dreams,
so we'll go with that.  I know I was aware of steel words you could buy from stores,
but they weren't quite right for me - size, pricepoint, or font. 

I know I did steal some inspiration from them though.

A cheaper copy, if you will.






And I wanted to mount it somehow.

I know it's a bit trendy, but I do love the pallet look.  I have a pallet coffeetable, and have
always loved a rustic edge.  Also, I have Scottish blood, so you know .. hello pricepoint - ✓

This pallet was gifted from a friend who actually made the most awesome deck seating
system with built-in flowerpots.  From pallets.  Oh yeah.  'tis sweet.  Very sweet.





So there you have it .. a bit more of my house.

I dismantled the pallet and put it back together to the size I wanted, and then I shaped
wire to make my word.  Once happy with everything, I wrapped the wire in wool and
fixed it to my pallet. 

By the way, try finding a nice thick wool in Melbourne in a good hue. 
I seriously bought the last ball of this stuff and I looked in a fair few places.

That frame with the bunny in it?
I bought that on my honeymoon 18yrs ago.  The frame that is, the bunny print was
another gift from another friend ( I have good friends, huh? )


There's more hallway, obvs .. we've just put some prints up on the other side too ..
but I haven't finished tweaking, so .. another day.

I just wanted to share this because it's one of those projects that worked out just how
I wanted and I so love walking past it and I love it.  I think it looks great with the
yellow and red and green and orange .. I couldn't have planned it any better if I tried :D


xx
Lea

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Countdown!

It's been 6months!  The lease is up!  Time to u-haul home!


So, this was the weekend past:  we had lots of things to do, which meant staying past dusk
and getting to play with the lights ( ooh! )





As you can see, my stove is now in!  Bought cheap ex scratch-and-dent before the reno
ever started, freighted from Sydney sight unseen.  Phew, it looks ok ;)  I really wanted a
dual oven, but not a wall oven.  I'm looking forward to honing in on my suzie homemaker
mad skillz  ;)

Down the hallway .. my exposed brick wall is looking the goods, and the drum pendants
are perfect.  I had a cut out of those pendants blu-taced to my laundry wall for like 2years ..
luckily they didn't go out of fashion!






Finally .. my bedroom..

The WIR is now in, and the funky bedroom light that will make instant wallpaper patterns
on my wall.  Love.





Just the carpet to go in now.  I have picked a Carpet Court exclusive - the GAIA wool range,
and from that, the Rivers Collection ( go look at the names - I am a sucker for a good product
name and feeling *invested* ) .. so I picked the colour Swan.  As in the Swan River, Perth. 
Makes me feel all dinky-di and patriotic.  I had to laugh they didn't have a Yarra River to
choose from.  I probably would have picked it too.  The poor old Yarra gets a bit of a bad rap :/

I would have loved to have gone a loop pile .. but i'm worried one of my naughty cats might
pull at it when my back is turned and then I would cry.  So a cut twist pile it is. 
I can't wait to see it installed!


Today they are waxing my boards. I went with an oil/wax combo rather than your usual poly.
No idea how that will go, but I want the grain and depth of the wood to be cranked, and
apparently this will do it. The wood is still a lot lighter than I prefer it, although I know from
wood-bought-past that it does indeed darken with age and exposure to sunlight.

I want my boards to look like an old ship's deck, me hearties!


This is how it looks with just the oil so far:








Wacky angles due to me just sticking my head around the doors etc.
Very tasty!


Well, I can't believe we're finally here!
I kinda have to keep pinching myself that it's true!

xx

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Paintin'

Looks a lot more 'smell the cawfee' here than in real-life.

I think anyway?  I hope so?  I hate being more beige than I feel...





All systems GO atm .. AB popped over this morning and there was a million people
there apparently.  Which is good, as we need to move back in about 3 weeks time?

- The painters worked all last week and there's only some touch up things to do.

- Our lovely cabinetmaker got very ill, but apparently our living room/tv cabinetry
  goes in today

- The tiler will be doing my splashback today. 
  Just realised no-one asked me about grout.  Bugger.

- The builders have been working on a little deck thingy off the laundry
( previously there was some concrete steps, but they got demolished - aww, so sad, too  bad )

- I think lighting goes in today too

- Tomorrow the sanders come, and I think they oil on Friday?? 

- The WIR configs arrived, but there's something wrong with them or something (?) -
   I did noticed a chunka-hunk out of the back of one of the drawer stacks - dropped perhaps? 

   They also have tres ugly handles on them ( apparently no-one cares what drawer-pulls look
   like in a robe where no-one will see them - um, hi, I do ).  Knew I was being a bit precious,
   but the drawer pulls I like cost $4 at Masters and their horrible ones $6. 

   And when AB saw them, he unprompt-ed-ly said "what's with the ugly old lady handles?". 
   See?  Justified.  Hello peeps, just ASK.  Choice of two even - you like this ... or this? 
   Choose.  Give people a choice!  Anyway, not a biggie, I just get miffed when not consulted..



 
What else needs to happen? 
Organised carpet this morning via the lovely peeps at Carpet Court.


We are SO ready to move in now.  Sick of the tiny flat with the mess everywhere as there's
nowhere to put the dirty washing, or the sports gear, or the kids...  Tired of having to do
cold-water washes over at the other house on the weekend and hoping it's a fine weather day..
and of course, we just want to be back.  The cats are desperate for some outdoor romping,
and i'm sick of the no-fridge limited cooking/lunch packing. 


And of course, I hate myself for complaining.  It's small stuff, don't sweat it etc ..
I think we're just eager to get moving, get back. 


Now there's an end in sight, we're restless and impatient and excited.

Not long to go now!

xx

Paint/Tiles Paint/Tiles

Because i'm a fussy beast, i've found and decided what I want, but keeping my options open
with a couple of new tile places suggested to me that aren't over the other side of town.

I loooove the bluestone, but i've found something even prettier I haven't seen in store yet. 
Still natural stone, still blue, but with the added interest of autumn tones..

Autumn, my favourite season ♥

Anyway.. we'll see, the race is on...



^^
this is the kitchen/living/pantry to date ..
not much visual change besides the fireplace is in place.
The stonetops are in now too, but the template remains as a protective cover, and it's
heavy and dusty, so i'll leave that reveal for another day..



In other news, i'd decided paints and was quite smug and confident.. except the painters
uh-oh .. undercoated some internal doors I think my husband was hoping to sand back
and restore.  Because we were never sure/decided on this anyway, we've decided to let them
get on with it, and if it sucks, we strip them back and start again later on down the track.

But I don't have colours for doors.

What I do know though is that I love hi-gloss enamel on doors and trims, so keep in mind
the look will be glossy.

And maybe a blue-grey.  Kinda like the bluestone I seem so fixated on ...







The main paints are:
WALLS: Dulux White Duck Half-Strength ( more a light beige )
TRIMS: Dulux Vivid White ( as name suggests .. )

DOORS: Well, as of yesterday ( armed with a dozen grey swatches .. my favourite being
Mallard Grey - it's a Mallard!  It's a duck!  Get the connection! .. but it was too red/purple ) ..
I ended up with something called Monk Grey ( it's the middle colour above the door-handle up there )

Again, I have a thing for contrast.. but am wondering if I should just keep them in white?
They look good in the pics white, but .. in real-life?  Not.so.sure.







I have a similar blue-grey on the roller blinds, which you can see a bit of, and of course,
there will be a bluestone splashback ( 99.8% sure ) and i'll be continuing those over at the
fireplace fascia..

BUT!  Will it be too dark?  And where do I stop - should I make ALL my doors dark grey,
or just those in the original end?  It seems I really am bad at decision making ;)








In fact, the more I look at these, I totes think dark grey is the way to go.
Opinions, both good & bad, always welcome..

xx
Lea

Pre-Easter Update

Busy here at the ranch .. but i've been getting hassled for some updates.

Still  mucho mucho, but the cabinetry is supposed to go in this week, and i'm betting things will start looking a lot different then.  I was at the cabinetmakers earlier this week and everything seems so big and scary and although I know it will all be wonderful, I wonder if I made the right decisions?

I think it is normal to feel like that, espcecially when you are spending a lot of moolah.

So , without further ado, this is what has been happening:





We can haz floorboards ^





WIR plastered ^






My hallway with the stairless stairwell most awesome ^






Laundry/pantry, also plastered ^






And the living area ^



I'm currently dabbling in splashback tiles, and in my handbag at all times are paint chips, a chunk of countertop, a laminex tile, and the island contrast-kicker.  I brought home some teeny tiny tiles today that I hope are winners.  It's either teeny tiny I think, or a big slab of something pourous and impractical, as is my wont.  Will hopefully resolve over Easter.

So a little bit boring today kiddies - I do have a big rambling draft I wrote after a bottle of wine & Thai after chatting to Stacey Kouros last week, but it's seriously manic - hilaire, i'm sure, but in the interests of all concerned, could do with a wee bit of an edit, so i'll come back to that ;)

xx
Lea

Week 3: The Brickies

I can't believe it's only been 3 weeks .. everything seems to be chugging along so fast I wonder if there will come a day when I pop over and there *isn't* something new to see?

It's all very exciting!


So what's been going on?


Firstly .. I found some old newspapers used as padding on the old joists, so we've finally been able to date the old girl:





Yep, January 1949.
There was a rabbit plague on in the Nation's Capital .. and lots of labouring type jobs for men.

Very non-discriminatory in 1948 as work was available for both types of gent - be he married or single.
Equal opportunity and all that.

I also found an ad for Durabestos - it sounds wicked good, what being fire retardant, vermin repellent and never needing painting ever again.

And crappy comics.
Mandrake.
( Gimme a break )





We also had an old copper in the roof. Full of water. Ugh.






( look at our poor dead grass!! it's been hot & dry here, and we face West - phew! )


Which brings us up to yesterday with the arrival of brickies.

I now have a nice hole in my bedroom wall to enter my WIR from .. and the boys have a new door to their room too.

Finally, in the hall, we are widening the door to my office and inserting double doors to match the ones to the front/formal room...









We ordered floorboards this week too, and I even managed to select a board cheaper than our allocated quote!!  So chuffed .. but you know it's all swings and roundabouts and the perfect tapware will bring us back into line ...


xx
Lea