In - console - able

 Well, impatience has got the better of me and I've been shopping for an elusive furniture item for the still not finished house. Again. Ooops!

We have an alcove at the top of the stairs that is pretty vital interiors-wise, as it's the fist thing to be seen after entering the house and arriving, via the stairs, at the upper main living area.

                      LEFT: Council plans                                                                  RIGHT: Modified design with alcove

I've posted about our House Plans before, specifically the changes I made and why we created this alcove HERE. I want the furnished alcove to really have that 'WOW' factor and have had my heart set on a rustic console to contrast with the contemporary architecture and dark wall.

Well, here's my Progress Report:

An existing console, temporarily residing in the entry has turned legs and is way too 'country' for this house and the alcove. It serves a function for now but will be put into storage.

Bought on sale, this Freedom console I bought HERE is just too small for the scale of the room. Luckily, a girlfriend is considering buying it from me.

 This antique console was bought via eBay. It is stunning but, eeek.... too big! Will try to find somewhere else to showcase this beauty.

 So, last weekend I bought this Chinese console off Gumtree and Eureka! Perfect size, style and scale BUT...

Looking up underneath it as you walk up the stairs is less than impressive. Another FAIL!

 Soooo, I'm now back to square one with the alcove. David has suggested a low sideboard with drawers but I think I'll struggle to get something to fit within the shallow depth of 420 mm (the alcove is 2100 mm wide).

 I had a custom designed unit priced and may need to go that route but I really like the look of rustic timber against the dark wall.

Any ideas?

x KL

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Details....

Meticulous attention to detail can elevate a house from ordinary to extraordinary. They are often the little things which aren't necessarily immediately obvious but overall make a huge impact on the aesthetics, feel and function of a home. 

And this is true no matter what style the house is.

I am of the personal belief that engaging an architect or professional interior designer should ensure that important detailing does not become overlooked in a project.  There's definitely a reason why the majority of 'pinned' images are from professional portfolios!

 Unfortunately, we went it alone with this build, mostly due to budget constraints. But all those evenings studying my favourite images gathered from magazines, blogs, books and pinterest must have been effective as I had a wee 'Eureeka moment' last week.

I've posted about the niche pictured above before. HERE & HERE. After experiencing difficulty cleaning the lower ledge which is just painted plaster, I decided to get a Caesarstone top put on it.

Duh!

It looks superb. Detailed. Finished.

Now if I can just get the electrician to complete the niche lighting...

x KL

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DETAILING: Family Room

 I haven't done a building, detailing post in a long while. Mostly because these posts were a dialogue of decisions made to the top storey rooms as they were being finished. 

The middle level, where we are living, is already completed. The big building stuff anyway. 

I thought I might do some retrospective posts though to show what decisions were made in these rooms and to allow a better understanding of the house as a whole.

So... here is a plan of the family room.

 It is situated to the right after entering the house. It is deliberately kept quite separate from the entry as I wanted guests entering the house to immediately gravitate towards the stairs and the upper level, where the main living area is located. 

There will be a large retractable door / wall between the entry and the family room (rebated track image below) to isolate noise and to provide privacy when necessary. (And yes... those ceiling discolourations are water stains...if you missed the flood disaster, click HERE) 

 A stairwell to the lowest level; storeroom, plant, cellar and garage is accessed from here too. Doorway to lower area seen above RHS.

To delineate the family room from the walkway, we lowered the ceiling in the thoroughfare (marked in red on the plan above) and also added a bulkhead around the perimeter of the room to accommodate a recess for blinds.(green line) This will mean that when not in use they will not visually or physically encumber the doors and windows they were intended to cover. The bulkheads also provided easy insertion of surround sound stereo equipment as this room houses our largest T.V.

The three large panes of glass seen in the picture above (as is J!) are sliding glass doors that completely retract inside a thick nib wall on the left that I further deepened to create a niche for art. This is potentially a major line of view upon entering the house so I wanted it to be WOW! The latest decor incarnation for the niche was discussed HERE and can be seen again below.

We also doubled the wall cavity on the stairwell / family room wall to allow depth for a television niche and again, the surround sound equipment to be built in.

Provision has been made for underfloor heating which every winter I anticipate greatly! The marble flooring....600 x 600 tiles - is bought and tarped on the verandah, waiting till we move upstairs so the tiler can do his bit! (Completed bathroom marble floors shown below)

 We are also intending on dropping in a carpet piece like we did in our last house above.

TIP: A broadloom metre of carpet (average 3.6 m x length required) is cheaper than a rug any day. Even the exy pure wool ones!!! If you recess it into a tiled or timber floor it is easier to vacuum because it's the same height, looks integrated and is usually more cost effective than the hard floor itself on a completed square metre rate. (which you may then wish to put a rug on!..... Go figure!)

So, that concludes the 'family room'. At present it is our only living and dining area but I am looking forward to relinquishing it to the kids and for family entertaining / movie marathons only!

x KL

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My Saturday...

Top to Bottom, Left to Right:

Unpacked these wee Kidrobot POP Balloon animals that I found on Ebay. They are sooo cute! I bought the cheapest ones as I want to paint them all the one colour. Gold.  Like Holly from Glamourmash did. Love. (PS: Check out Holly's Blog for some awesome glamour inspiration!)

The Middle Child, A, is contemplating leaving the nest!!! *sob*  

Maybe. 

Or going to Europe. Or back to Uni... 

Just-in-case the move wins her internal debate she bought this eight seater dining setting. A $250 bargain. In as-new-condition. She's my girl! LOL! And it is now sitting upstairs in a recently cleared area. I will not repeat David's enthusiastic exclamation at it's arrival. Aunt Mary's fridge and washing machine are to join it next week. Hooray.......N O T!

All those Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma and West Elm pre-opening blogger posts have had me enthralled and glued to my iPad.  

My invite obviously got lost in the mail.

 I'm more an online shopper these days anywho... so thought I'd give them a whirl. Clickety-clack and this PB faux coral whatsie should be knocking on moi's door. Will keep you up to date on the service...

Our main bedroom, walk-in-robe and the shoe cupboard are all ready for fit-out; architraves, skirting and doors. Then we can paint! Yippee!!!! (NO prizes for what David did today!)

My secret (shhhh) Mother's Day pressie from J.Crew arrived yesterday. I first told you more about it HERE. It is absolutely beautiful and antiquey looking but sadly is going to be returned. Maybe it's the old scraggy neck and a gazillion scars but it just doesn't sit right. It's shaped so it sits off the chest in a bulky way....I do not need more bulk! The second pic shows how it's curved. Must ask Ms Moth if hers does that too? 

Had a bit of a fiddle with the niche styling. I think the rear wall needs to be painted?

See the A4 swatch on the lower LHS of the artwork? Dulux Timeless Grey. 

Whatchathunk?

Drafted some landscaping plans....a girl's gotta dream! (And I was procrastinating from cleaning out the bird cage....LOL!)

Speaking of birds....perhaps this guy can replace the necklace for Mother's Day? 

Ooooh, there's a happy thought!

Hope you had a lovely Saturday....what did you get up to?

x KL 

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arty farty stuff

 I am soooo itching to get 'upstairs' - s p r e a d  o u t  - and unpack all the treasures I've amassed and those that have been packed away for over three years! In the mean time, I swing between decorating the lower house with enthusiasm or treat it with total distain disinterest.
 (Ditto the house cleaning) Eeeek!

As mentioned once ?  (LOL) before, we are aiming at completing the unfinished areas downstairs whilst waiting for funds to allow the completion of the upper areas. I'm trying to visualise and decorate a half finished house and half finished rooms to make our current, less-than-perfect, living arrangements as comfortable and aesthetically pleasing as possible!

This is the view, upon entering the house and looking right from the entry into the family room.
(Hello S!; who declined this incredible photo opportunity!) This is a 'temporary' dining area; it will be an unencumbered walkway when we occupy upstairs and is the only good image I have of the area I wish to discuss in this post!

I created a deep 'niche' for art on the far wall as it was an obvious view line from the entry. (There will be a retractable wall / door in between to isolate when needed) This is an expected high traffic area to the family room, pool, outside entertaining, beds 3 & 4 and laundry / entertaining kitchen.
The wall was created initially as a repository for a fully retractable glass wall between the family room and outdoor entertaining area.

O.K.... so back to decorating! I bought my first carved skull for this niche (LHS pic) as I had always envisioned sculpture here. The skull created drama though, if you're interested; HERE, HERE and HERE. Apart from being disappointed in the carving quality, the skull was too small for the niche so I on-sold it on eBay and after a holiday to Bali, welcomed Bindi to our home (RHS pic)

Bindi didn't look right either though, even though better scaled for the spot so I've tried a few various arty- farty arrangements...

...and decided Bindi definitely needed a new home. She has temporarily ?  replaced an artwork on the charcoal hall wall. (Still to be hung properly though!) Thoughts?

Which left the niche still empty. Damn.
Anyhoo....then I saw a Designer Boys framed sea fan. The colour, composition and size were all perfect....SO..... here she is:

I obviously need to tidy up all the crap that magnetises itself to that ledge and also do a wee bit of styling. And Davo needs to finish the niche light....

 Ho Hum...but at least one wall has it's centerpiece finalised, right?

x KL 

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