So fa, so good....

 Do your appliances and furniture collude together and go, en-masse into retirement? Mine here do. Without any forewarning or courteous discussion regarding timing. Damn.

Whilst I've been happily planning colour schemes and mentally decorating the last of the upstairs rooms to be finished, our trusty old family room lounge suite put her toes in the air. Double damn.

Daydreaming Interior designing and timber flooring decisions have again taken a back seat, (LOL) with this new, pressing issue.

 With a budget of, um, in the negative realm, and with my husband's "don't buy a thing" words ringing in my ears, I started a tentative reconnaissance (online of course).

It wasn't that I didn't know what I wanted. It was just trying to get it for, well, nothing. Or nothing much. These were the dream lounges *sigh*:

Not very practical for a family room are they? Nor would they be wet-tog-bum friendly, this room being adjacent to the proposed pool. Oh dear. Lucky for me then this wasn't to be. Leather, although hot in summer / cold in winter, is far more robust.

My girlfriend J has the lounge I need. She bought it from another friend who couldn't accommodate it's size after moving. I tried to talk her into giving it to me but she flatly refused.
The cheek! I'd even said please.....*humph*

As it's no longer being made, I tried to track down something similar....

All the lounges I found were either too expensive or waaay too expensive. Damn!

And this is where this tale gets much more interesting because my dear friends, fate and luck came into play. Oh, and a bit of compromise too.

 I recently entered Freedom Kitchens 'Tell us about your dream kitchen' competition via The Interiors Addict. I described what I have planned for here (one day...) And I Won! 

Online I went to start dreaming of what I might purchase and I discovered Freedom Furniture were in the final days of a buy one-get one free sofa promotion!

Serendipity!

All sofas above from Freedom Furniture

There were a few restrictions and limitations with the offer. I had discounted fabric, but still on my 'wish list' was comfort, contemporary styling and generous sizing. Charcoal colouring was on that list too but I was open to what was available.

After popping into my local store, (where the service was abysmal!) I whittled the choice down to one modular. The Signature 3 seater with chaise as pictured below. Other configuration I liked were not available and other styles I found aesthetically pleasing (off floor with legs) didn't offer the comfort level I was after. I was also restricted to white. Eeek! 

Now, only because the sales persons were so dismissive, I didn't place my order on the spot. Plus, I needed to get hubby to agree to the outlay which still exceeded budget, even with my winnings deducted. But I had a plan. I didn't need TWO of these lounges and could sell the other one on eBay or Gumtree. The maths was looking good. I would also get a further 5% discount because of  my NRMA membership! Hooray!

Stay with me....the end of the tale is in sight!!!!!

So, home I went to scour eBay / Gumtree for like-minded genius's and Lo and Behold there was the exact lounge I was considering, offered at less than half the price. Locally. Brand new in packaging. It only had an hour left on the auction so I cheekily made a lower offer which was accepted!
* Major Happy Dancing*

To conclude, my SIL has bought a piece of artwork from me that I no longer wanted and my darling friend J has bought the gift cards making my total outlay for our new leather lounge $400!
 It might be very different to what I would have chosen if I had no fiscal restrictions, might even be called a bit pedestrian, however it fills the unexpected void far better than a packing crate!

Here's another pic:

Where there's a will, there's a way! 

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 
You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback!
 If you enjoy my ramblings, perhaps consider following by Email, Bloglovin' or Google+. 
Join this site via Google Friend's Connect so I can follow you too!

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

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback! If you enjoy my ramblings, perhaps consider following by Email, Bloglovin' or Google+. Join this site via Google Friend's Connect so I can follow you too!

Custom Entertainment Unit finale!

 Just before Christmas the Ceasarstone top for our custom made entertainment unit was delivered, finishing this project. Yay!!!!

 I'm thrilled with how it both looks and functions!

Certainly an big improvement on what we had....

 x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

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

If you enjoy my ramblings, perhaps consider following by Email, Bloglovin' or Google+. 

Join this site via Google Friend's Connect so I can follow you too!

Custom Entertainment Unit

Today David installed our custom made entertainment unit. After a bit of debate, we decided to wall mount it as originally intended. We concluded that wall mounting was faster, easier to clean underneath and could be achieved within a few hours. There are more deets HERE if you're interested in the prequel to today's action!

First up, we had to decide on it's position...The first picture below shows the height I had planned but it looked too high in reality so I then considered putting it on a plinth. 

We then decided to wall hang it just above the (still be fitted) skirting board, about 150 mm off the floor.

Ta Dah!!!

I'll be ordering a Ceasarstone 20 mm stone top on Monday, now I have exact measurements.

Can't wait to finally get the A/V paraphernalia hidden away and tidied up.

BEFORE and AFTER!

 Poor Davey now has the joy of sorting out and reconnecting the tangle of cables...and I can hear some mumbled expletives. Hope all the equipment fits and I measured correctly! Eeeek!
 I better make him a restorative cuppa . . .

Will post finished pictures soon!

x KL 

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback! If you enjoy my ramblings, perhaps consider following by Email, Bloglovin' or Google+. Join this site via Google Friend's Connect so I can follow you too!

More custom design!

 My lounge looks like this today....Eeeeek! But, I'm overjoyed!

The custom designed vanity and shaving cabinetry for the guest ensuite is in this lot, as well as my entertainment unit for the family room. Yee Ha!

The vanity will look the same as the one I designed for the main bathroom (posted HERE) but instead of floating over a wall of mirror, the large mirrored shaving cabinet will be above to supply copious storage. See an inspirational picture below:

Trying to get the details right was a nightmare. Simple looks easy, but getting everything to line up perfectly and be flush is very challenging. My fingers and toes are firmly crossed that when David installs it all, all those triple checked measurements are correct!!!!

I'm hoping that the custom entertainment unit is going to save my sanity too.

A tall order, I know...

As many of you are aware, living in a home being renovated is difficult, so say the least. Living in a half built house, over a long period of time, is also. Both David and I are just about 'over-it' and as David has just commenced a new project in Sydney (adding commuting to his schedule), I anticipate work here will be negligible. So, I've decided that taming the mess pictured below, is a priority.

The black Chinese cupboard can be relocated to...(? !) and all that equipment can disappear behind two-pac doors. I initially designed the unit with wide drawers but after receiving the quotation, changed them for doors which reduced the price by two thirds!!! I still have to get a ceasarstone top made for it...

I chose to have the exterior sprayed in satin two-pac (shows less fingerprinting than gloss) in the same colour as the walls; Dulux Natural White. I had planned to hang it on the wall so it floated like the ones in the images below...

 ...but am now considering adding support to make it portable should we sell this house.
Wall hung, full steel base or just legs is the next dilema!
These units are similar in idea...

I've got a fair bit of mess-sorting to do before anything more can be done so better put that to the top of the list for now! Would love to hear your thoughts...

and look forward to showing you the finished project soon!

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 
You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback! 
 If you enjoy my ramblings, perhaps consider following by Email, Bloglovin' or Google+. 
 Join this site via Google Friend's Connect so I can follow you too!

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

 Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment. I love receiving feedback! I also love watching a new pretty picture box added to my followers - would love you to join me so I can get to know you too!

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 

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment. I love receiving feedback! I also love watching a new pretty picture box added to my followers - would love you to join me so I can get to know you too!

I need it....I need it not....

If only decision making were as easy as de-nuding a flower!

If you read this little ol' blog of mine regularly, you may know that this build is progressing at a snail's pace. And I am not helping by constantly buying decor for the to-be-finished rooms.

I have the art, not the gyprock, the lounge but not the carpet. Eeeek!

Most of my purchases go straight into storage for that magic day when we can spread out, over two floors instead of being cramped onto one. This decision though is for here and now.

We need a new coffee table for the family room.  

It is our only living space at the moment and the 10 year old leather 'pouffe' is showing signs of far better days.

Already anticipating 'the next' house, I don't want to restrict myself with something too contemporary as I'm visualising a smaller, Hampton's-esque home next. Mid Century styles are therefor eliminated as are anything shiny and glass. But these steel framed, parquetry topped tables have been on my mind for about a year. They seem sturdy and timeless. Time to commit?

What do you think? Will they suit this contemporary build and a more classic style too?

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment. I love receiving feedback! I also love watching a new pretty picture box added to my followers - would love you to join me so I can get to know you too!