I'm Back & the House is Becoming a Home!

I'm Back & the House is Becoming a Home!

Builders Building progress flowers Gardening landscaping plants pool privacy screens tree ferns

I can't believe it's been two months since I last posted and, not only that, but the house is still being worked on!! Since we moved in we've had tradies here pretty much the whole time - whether it's working in the garage, making gates, putting in mozzie screens, touching up paintwork, putting in glass balustrades, handrails ... the list goes on.

Right now the landscapers are finishing up and although I still don't have a washing line (!) the garden is starting to come together. Even just having some grass helps make the place look less like a building site. But I can tell you I'll be very glad when they've all gone. I'm sick of looking at builder's cracks, finding cigarette butts in the garden, listening to power tools, having issues with sub-contractors and just trying to get stuff done without being interrupted.

Having said all that, the house has turned out fab and I don't regret a minute of it. It may have been a long and, at times, frustrating journey (sorry to use that word!) but it's been worth it and may I never have to move house again for a very long time!!

So, finally I've taken some updated shots to show the house being turned into a home. These are views from around the deck ...

The pool was finally completed two weeks ago much to the girls' delight! For those who are interested, we used a metallic blue mosaic tile for the top trim and seat and a product call Gemtex - which is a mix of coloured glass and concrete - for the inside.

View showing roof pebbles, a feature Yucca and the louvre screening.

A bit of my own gardening - succulents on the table and six different herbs on the railing. Star jasmine will eventually climb up the back fence.

Another view of the herbs and the rebuilt rockery, where the barbecue is (just out of shot to the left), and the transplanted tree ferns which amazingly survived.

We've got cream cliveas and cycads, star jasmine along both fence lines and on the top part is my mini vege garden which has a tomato plant, strawberries, a perpetual lettuce, rosemary and rocket which is still to sprout.

So now that I've finally got my blogging groove back, I'll return with shots of inside!

Take care
Jx

We're in #3: Wallpaper, family rooms & buildings sites

We're in #3: Wallpaper, family rooms & buildings sites

Bathrooms Bricks Building progress Gray Painting Rumpus wallpaper

Am in love with wallpaper and am so glad we've used it here and there, as in the rumpus room toilet (just for my English hubby!) ...

The mirror on the floor will, of course, go above the vanity!

And the Triple Masala walls in the TV room have come up a treat ...

 I'm so happy we decided to keep some of the original bricks exposed in the rumpus room ...

But let's not forget it's still a building site! 

External study louvres showing the entrance 

... and the front garden

Over the next two weeks we're hoping to see a lot of progress so watch this space!

We're In!

We're In!

Building progress chairs Furniture Lighting Living Rooms Sandstone Stairs

I can't believe it - we're in and we survived! It was a day of contrasts last Thursday: I think it was probably the more organised move of the nine we've done in the past 15 years but it was definitely the most chaotic at the moving in stage.

Think: painters still painting when removalists arrive, cleaners trying to clean when removalists arrive, curtains being hung when removalists arrive, electrician fixing lighting when removalists arrive! It was a menagerie of beavers beavering away and we turn up with a ton of boxes and furniture on the pretext of moving in.

Perhaps we were mad but then, again, I'm loving being back despite the amount of work still to be done and the things we've discovered that haven't been done when they should have. But we have flushing toilets, an amazing view and beds to sleep in so what more could you want?

Instead of taking photos of what is yet to be finished (ie study joinery, more painting, more blinds, shower screens, bathroom mirrors ... and that's just the inside!) I've taken a few snaps of the good bits (in fact I've taken quite a few so I'll post them over two blogs).

Entry hall table

Entry - view from the top of the stairs

Entry stairs with paintings, yet to be hung, by my dad of our old dog and our new one, Ruby

At the top of the stairs you get to the dining area

... and the living space

... and the kitchen (don't look at the missing dishwasher and cupboard doors)

More to come over the weekend, folks!

Shady Designs Pendants and more chaos!

Shady Designs Pendants and more chaos!

Building progress interior design Lighting Painting wallpaper

I didn't think things could get even more chaotic than they already are. But how wrong I was!

On site late yesterday afternoon, running through everything that needs to happen I discover the girls' bedrooms have been beautifully painted. But in the wrong colour! Yes, indeedy, two lovely coats on the walls and joinery were done without anyone realising they were using Dulux Bone White (a creamy colour being used in our bedroom and the guest) instead of Dulux Antique White (which is quite white). How this could happen when I itemised every room detail on paper, ran through it with the head builders and then they even wrote the paint names on each wall, I don't know.

We've asked for more painters to come on board today so it can be re-done and all the other painting finished as well so the carpet can be laid tomorrow. Then there's an issue with the bathroom mirrors which were to be bevelled and nothing's been done. And the wallpaper in the upstairs loo which the wallpaper guy (who supposedly has 40 years experience) is having trouble hanging - something to do with it being a foil with a raised suede-like flower pattern and so this is holding up the installation of the loo itself (plus vanity and wall mirror).

I could go on but you get the picture, although it does help getting it off my chest!

Instead, how about I show you the two pendants we had made by the lovely people at Shady Designs in Sydney's Lilyfield whom I'd highly recommend? The pictures don't really do them justice and they look kind of silly sitting on the cane table outside but the light's better there.

This one is for the study and is in Ink & Spindle fabric: Birch Forest in Robin's Egg.

And this one is for over the dining table. The wallpaper is Osborne & Little, Farfalla by Nina Campbell. The fabric is more charcoal in person and is called Lamba.

Have a great day folks!

Four days to go!

Four days to go!

Bathrooms Builders Building progress Carpets interior design Kitchens Living Rooms Painting Sandstone tiles

I've been really slack with my blogging, I know, I'm sorry. And some of the tradies have been really slack on site, too! The painters have been sacked and replaced by a new team and the pool man has been fired for not turning up. The painting is only half done, there is no carpet, no wallpaper, no study joinery.

We move in on Thursday and this is what it looks like ...

The carpet is being laid on Wednesday and the stair balustrades are going in Thursday morning. Talk about tight! But at least the front door's in.

And we have an entrance.

We have kitchen benchtops, a gas hob and a new fence behind.



We have some lovely bathroom tiling.

Master bath

Girl's bathroom

We have a louvred privacy screen on the deck.

A partially formed barbecue area off the deck.

And a fence-less back yard which better be fenced when we move otherwise Ruby will be roaming!

And at least they're trying to look after the floors ...

No matter if the paint's still tacky I can't wait to move in!

P.S Tomorrow I'll show you two pendants I've just picked up which are yet to be hung ... Jx

Update: Two and a half weeks to go!

Update: Two and a half weeks to go!

Bathrooms Builders Building progress Sandstone tiles

Okay, so things have been getting a bit stressful over at my place. The builders have been working towards us moving in on September 10 and so we decided to book the removalists for the 12th. But despite them going all out, there has still been quite a bit to do and we weren't sure they would get done. On top of that, once the inside is complete, the architect has to do a final 'defects check' (crikey!) before the inside is given the all-clear. Soooo, we've asked our agent if the landlord would mind terribly if we moved our move forward to the 16th. Haven't heard yet, but am crossing fingers!

In any case, the good news is that the concrete for the parking bay in front of the garage has been poured - after finally getting the go-ahead from the engineer that doing screw piles instead of deep-set piles (which are time-consuming, expensive and come with the risk of hitting goodness knows what boulders or pipes below). And to ensure access is guaranteed for the removalists, we'll wait until after we're in for the guys to lay the stone flagging.

The stone masons are doing an amazing job with all the stone. Here they are out the back. It's a bit hard to see properly but they're rebuilding the old rockery (to the left) using a mix of the old boulders and new and adding bigger and better steps from what will be lawn up to the BBQ area and onto the deck.

After a few false starts and some tiling mishaps (oops!), the bathroom tiling is well underway. The photos don't do it justice at all - the lighting or something not really working but they give you an idea. Above is the master ensuite - the back wall where the shower and toilet will go is  in small pearly white mosaics, and below is the guest ensuite with the same kind of mosaics but in gun metal.

I think the grouting will make a lot of difference!

That's all for now, folks. Have a great week!

Look, no scaffolding (and more)!

Look, no scaffolding (and more)!

Building progress Kitchens splashbacks

I can't believe what a difference scaffolding makes! Apart from being able to see the house better, without it the rooms are a million times lighter.

Nor can I believe what a difference a kitchen makes, and a wardrobe or two!

It's really beginning to look like a proper house now.

There's even door handles.

You can see a bit of the timber flooring.

And this is what it'll be like with its China Oil, semi-gloss coating.

The countdown is on!

Kookaburras, joinery, sandstone and baths

Kookaburras, joinery, sandstone and baths

Building progress Kitchens landscaping Lighting Painting Sandstone tiles wallpaper

I have a confession to make: I haven't posted all week because I didn't want to moan. It's been quite worrying the amount that has to be done prior to September 10 and it seemed as if none of it would ever happen. But I'm now pleased to say that after my visit to the house this morning, I don't have to do any moaning! Yay! Because lots has been happening and is scheduled to happen every day from here on in.

The sun was shining, it was a balmy 24 degrees and even the kookaburras were happy!

First up, pretty much all of the joinery has arrived on site.

The girls' bedroom joinery was being put in.

The sandstone is coming along at a cracking pace - it's like a jigsaw putting it together.

The back garden has turned into sandstone city.

The bath in the master bedroom ensuite has gone in and the plumbing begun.

The bathroom tiling will start next week, then the interior painting will begin and the wallpapering. The appliances and lights are ready to come on site as soon as they're given the green light and finally, the rest of the gutter corners have arrived which means the scaffolding can be taken down so the landscaping can begin.
 
It now really does feels that a home is being formed and that very soon we might be in it!
   

Goodness knows who decided to take these off and wander bare foot around a building site - unless he had something more fashionable to change into. But I like their look of laissez-faire, don't you?


So, it's adieu from me and the lone work boots lying casually on the 'lawn' by the pool.
 

Have a great weekend!

Buidling Progress: Six weeks to go! (Are you kidding?)

Buidling Progress: Six weeks to go! (Are you kidding?)

Bathrooms Building progress Laundry Painting

I don't know who's kidding who but with only six weeks to go there's still a lot to do but there is progress ...

The bathrooms are ready to be tiled. Seen here: downstairs' bathroom - the bath will go along the back wall between the windows, the vanity under the recess, the toilet where the large pipe is coming out of the wall.

The walls are ready to be painted. Seen here: guest bedroom with the hole for the niche shelving above the bed and the wardrobe behind.

The bathroom appliances are being delivered in time for their placement. Seen here: the place where the master bath will go - just in case there is any confusion!

The entry is coming along.

The garage was coming along until it turned into a storage room.

The laundry is well ... a boy's loo!

And this: the view from up the path outside the property.