Bits 'n Bobs AND a progress report

 School holidays have started here (Whoop! Whoop!) and my gorgeous nieces, aka the Glamourzons, nephew and SIL are visiting. YAY!

We're in a mess house wise, but who cares? ! We're planning on an overseas jaunt to Asia with them next year so we'll be dreaming and scheming....

The house progress is continuing. I'll do a YOTH update soon. At this point there's lots of quote gathering and budget balancing. Boring but practical foundations for getting the house finished! 

The carpet has FINALLY been ordered and although the 6-9 week lead time seems excessive, (slow boat from from New Zealand!) the time frame will probably suit us well.

I chose Cavalier Bremworth Inscape (pictured left) for all the upstairs areas and also for the insert piece in the family room, located on entry level. A less dense, shorter napped version called Verve (above, right) will go in the downstairs bedrooms to help us stay within our newly formed budget. It's the same colour (why they look different in the pics is beyond me) and both are solution dyed nylon for colour fastness and durability.

 The main bedroom robe fit out is complete and I'm slowly 'moving' things into it and unpacking stored clothes (many which no longer fit me...*sob*) 8 bags for Vinnies and counting!

I decided on simple white laminate, without drawers, which was cost effective. I added one drawer only to a 'dressing table' area. (The missing bit on the left in the image above is now fitted!) The drawers in our last home's WIR were used mostly for shoes and since we I have a designated shoe cupboard, I thought the open shelves would suffice. And of course we have bedsides and a beautiful bone-inlay chest in the main bedroom too!

I'm considering fitting the dressing table drawer with jewelery trays for ease of access. The pics on the left below, are from the 'Stackers' range available from Howard's Storage World. My inspiration  image is on the right...

 The range from HSW is limited, but an online search revealed a plethora of configurations available from UK and US stockists via Fishpond.com.au. Has anyone bought via them? Comments?

Some artwork has arrived here too in readiness for the project wrap up....(LMFAO!) 

Frustratingly, I think it's wise to not unwrap the African painting (had been on layby for eons..) nor the recently framed Kara Rosenlund print as they're better protected from the persistent dust as they are. 'Gilbert' has been slotted into a cost-effective  Country Road ready-made frame in preparation for J's bedroom.

Calm Before                                                                                 Muhammad Ali Miami 1961

My recent infatuation with Trevor Mein's photographic artwork and our fiscal predicament led me to purchasing 'Calm Before' on a whim (well, not really... I posted about it HERE) and, oops! 

 It's OK, and will fill a spot, but ultimately, I already know it's no substitute. Which leads me to the Powder room art quandary I posted about recently. 

What do you think of the Muhammad Ali underwater, boxing training artwork??? 

Ticks a few boxes....?

We have found a new tiler (Alleluia!) and I am SO excited about him starting in a few weeks. All further progress seems to hinge on him doing his bit - first! 

Renderers are engaged to start in a week and the scaffolding has been erected in preparation, so we are all systems go with finishing the exterior.

And on a family finale...both our nest leavers are on the move again, so we'll be shuffling and storing lots of additional bits 'n pieces. Gotta laugh....

Never a dull moment!

x KL

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Bits & Bobs and some wee house progress!

 There's been lots going on here lately but not enough time to post. My poor little blog has definitely been neglected! 

Of course it's holiday time and there are books to read, sunshine to enjoy and friends to catch up with after the frantic pace of Christmas and New Year. I am yet to put the tree and decor away...this afternoon is earmarked for that onerous chore and I'm procrastinating!

My West Elm gold cutlery has been packed away in a new canteen from POK.

 Mattress-gate has been resolved and we are sleeping comfortably at last. Who knew how traumatic buying a new mattress could be? ! Long story short, NEVER buy an $8K Tempur mattress if you or your partner are hot sleepers...that thing will cook you alive! When we eventual bought successfully (Sealy Posturepedic Nouvelle Plush Gardenia from Domayne; BLISS!), we bought J a new mattress too. . . and of course some new bedlinen was required. He he!

Abode Euros, Cultiver Linen, Bonnie & Neil Cushion.

 The Table-gate episode that occupied FIVE MONTHS of 2014 and that I thought was resolved HERE, wasn't. It is now though, with the item being returned and refunded. We are however, back to square one and table-less once again. Recommendations welcome! Minimum 3 m length x 1200 mm wide.

The upper floor bathrooms have seen no further progress as our tiler is still unavailable. We're looking at him starting in two weeks but I'm not going to hold my breath! In the interim, David has started prepping the top verandas so they'll be ready to tile too with the french pattern travertine bought exactly a year ago! He doesn't want to lay any timber flooring or carpet upstairs until they're completed due to potential damage. Which leads me to...

 (insert drum roll, trumpets and fanfare)

TIMBER FLOORING

Yup. Finally decided, purchased and it's ready to rock 'n roll!

21mm thick, extra wide engineered oak flooring; colour Matt silky oak. I probably would have gone for a lighter tone but decided to err on the side of caution and not be too trend specific.

One pack of our flooring laid out!

As mentioned, Davey has made a wee bit of progress here. He had planned to do more but needed to work between Christmas and New Year to finish a client's house as they wanted to move in three weeks earlier.

Thankfully, we were able to meet their request, sans shower screens and mirrors. I'll show you more pics of this one in another post.

Our latest completed, custom client home.

In the last few days, David has worked here and the top veranda outside what will be our bedroom, and the entry, now have ceiling linings. J assisted his Dad with the last piece and has shown himself to be a great help when needed.

The bar-front under the bi-fold window area is finished and now just needs sealing. 

A beautiful bone-inlay chest of drawers that has been on my 'wish list' forever, finally made it here. I'm going to use it in the main bedroom and officially announce an end to my bone-inlay obsession!

I bought this great Pony Rider pouf for J's bedroom too. It was on sale for $90 from $229 (yippee!) and it will make a great spot to sit and put on shoes etc. 

J has finished Primary School and is headed to High School this year. The end of the year was frantic as along with the usual Christmas functions we had graduation events too. I made J and a girlfriend's daughter, signature bears dressed in mini uniforms as a grad gift. Sommer loved hers and had all her mates and teachers sign it but J wouldn't even take his to school. Boys. I should have known better! LOL!

 My craft skills were more appreciated by my middle child though. I posted HERE about A's desire for a Dream-Catcher for Christmas. Below is the one I made her and which she liked. Thank God!

It was very easy to make but the materials (especially the lace) were exy so I didn't save money by making one, I just made a more spectacular version for the same outlay.

That probably brings the blog up-to-speed with the goings on here and hopefully I'll have more House Progress posts to share soon!

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback!

if a picture paints a thousand words...

..here is a forty-thousand word essay on 'what we've been doing'!

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback!

obsessing over....

 I've admitted to this before, but I'll be honest again....
Do you get a fixation on any one item for months at a time?
(Maybe it's just me....) Eeeeek!

Once upon a time, I owned no mirrors other than those fixed in the bathrooms. Then one day I saw a beautiful Venetian Mirror and became obsessed. Every time I saw a beautiful mirror it came home with me....(some I've posted about before HERE). And 20 odd mirrors later, I was done*. Disinterested and onto the next 'thing'! Scary eh! ? LOL!

*I may have recently ordered two mirrored bedside tables. Like these: He he!

Domayne Optical bedside in clear

Well my latest obsession is Bone Inlay. I just can't get enough of the stuff! 

I think if I had the money to buy one large piece then the desire for more might have waned. Maybe. 

Instead, I've gathered lots of bits and bobs, mostly black and white, but some mother-of-pearl and grey too.

*sigh*

This obsession might be on the way out though....I've started to thinking about standard lamps endlessly, though haven't purchased any...
...yet.

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback!