Bubbles...

I am so excited!

Two bedrooms upstairs (our main and J's), the playroom and lower guest bedroom are being carpeted on Wednesday! This had hinged on the timber flooring being laid in the halls adjacent to those rooms, which is what David did today!.

Yesterday we finalised little bits and pieces in the main bedroom en suite in anticipation of the 'big move' upstairs after years of living in only the lower portion of the house.

Heated Towel Rails and shelves for pretty bibs 'n bobs!

Whoop! Whoop!

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I've been unpacking some treasures and purchases from eons ago too. It all feels a bit Christmass-y to be honest! LOL!

The first thing I'd like to do after Wednesday is to have a bubble bath in our freestanding tub...
which made me realise that I have nowhere to rest my celebratory glass of Verve!

Eeeek! How on earth could I have overlooked an item of such importance ? !

Sooo...although it wont materialise before Wednesday, THE bubbly resting spot / table / stool has been on my immediate hit-list!

Here are my (seriously whittled down), main contenders:

L to R: Warren Platner Side Table, Metallic Grande Drum, Mark Tuckey Egg-cup stool, Marcel Wanders Stone Stool, Bamileke stool.

And below are some inspirational images of similar stools / tables like these in situ:

More delicious decisions! (In the interim, a box will suffice!)
But bring on the Bubbles!

x KL

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

Year of The House: update

Half way through the year, we remain committed to our January pledge to action some major progress at La Hacienda.
And I probably should stop calling it that, as there is nothing remotely Mexican about the house.
When we bought here, the existing house (now demolished) was called Sea-Spray and we kept the house-name sign to restore and re-badge the new build...
 

Sea-Spray #1!

So...., here's the latest #YOTH15 update for Sea-Spray #2: 

 JUNE
 Continued to seek quotations for joinery...
J's bathroom / powder room, shower screen and mirror installed.

 P.C.s fitted to J's bathroom / powder room. Room complete! YAY!
David & I tiled our main bedroom en suite walls. *pats self!*
Custom shaving cabinet and vanity installed to main bedroom en suite.
Main bedroom en suite, Shower screen, niche shelving, W.C door and mirror ordered and installed.

Rendering quotes received and one accepted.
Scaffolding erected to rear of house.

Electrician installed data points throughout house.
Decided on, and ordered carpet. 6-9 week lead time! WTF!?

Cavalier Bremworth Inscape and Verve: in Slate, Carpets

Main bed wardrobe fit out complete. Yippee!!!!

 
Bath installed to Main Bedroom En suite.
Joinery quote received for custom entertainment unit for playroom.
Rendering starts and coat one complete!

Finally found a new tiler!

ON A ROLL......!!!!

Renovating? Building? Got some House Projects to complete?

Join in! #YOTH15

(also on instagram of course!) 

Missed the progress? Catch up here:

April / May

February / March
January / February

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

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

Year of The House: update

You may remember when I posted HERE about our new year's commitment to instigating some 
major progress at La Hacienda. 
Well, to show our sincerity, here's a #YOTH15 update:

 FEBRUARY: 

J's bathroom floor screed has been laid.

Front main bed deck and rear top decks waterproofed. 
Drafted kitchen plans to take to joiner for quotation. 
Drafted J's bathroom and main bed ensuite vanities to give to joiner for quotation.

Ordered our oven / cooktop; 900 mm Freestanding Smeg with tepenyaki plate. 
(The Miele oven we originally bought will go into storage)
Ordered a Smeg convection / microwave / grill + trim kit for the new kitchen.
Bought a Smeg convection / microwave / grill combi oven for the laundry / kitchenette downstairs.
A very 'spensive month! 

MARCH:
Frustrated by our phantom tiler, David laid and grouted the marble floor in our main bedroom ensuite. 
Ditto, J's bathroom / powder room floor. 
The marble feature wall is complete and he has started on the white wall tiles.

Main bed ensuite floor complete, just needs cleaning. Powder Room floor and marble wall complete.

  Ordered the two custom floating vanities for these wet areas.
Appliances have been delivered and are sitting in my lounge room. Eeek!
Bought the Lido Teal Bucket Chair for J's bedroom when I saw it on sale at Freedom.
Sold the unwanted rangehood that came in the cooking package on Gumtree which means the big range was VERY reasonably priced! Yay!
Ordered a blind for the playroom glass door as I missed that when I did the windows.

David has started to tile the walls in the two bathrooms (matte, white rectified 600 x 300mm) and hopefully will get them finished over the Easter Break and then I'll have some pretty pics to share of two more finished rooms! Yippee!

Renovating? Building? Got some House Projects to complete?

Join in! #YOTH15

(also on instagram of course!) 

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

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

Year of The House 2015

House Progress here is painstakingly slow (yup, typical Builder's Home!) so in a lame attempt to motivate ourselves, I've hijacked Elsee Blog author, Laura's 2015 mantra: Year of The House 2015 or #YOTH15 for short. The concept is simple; list, tick off and post achievements so when the year concludes, a lovely collection of achievements can be found. 

H o p e f u l l y . 

2015 is THE year to get things done!

Pic via Laura from Elsee Blog

 I'm reminding myself daily that THIS IS THE YEAR and trying to be proactive accordingly! So, on the bandwagon, joiner as I am, here are our January / February #YOTH achievements. (*pats self!)

 JANUARY: 

Timber flooring for the upper level and ducted vacuum system purchased. 

Some eave soffit linings installed. 

Main Bedroom ensuite floor screed laid. 

The bar-front under the bi-fold window area was finished. 

Deets HERE.

Not the best photos....

 FEBRUARY: 

Ducted Vacuum System installed. Ye Ha! No more lugging a vacuum about! And sh*t that thing can suck!!!!

Roller Blinds installed in Playroom, Main Bedroom, Ensuite and J's bedroom.

Timber Flooring delivered, including custom made stair treads.

Our tiler is booked for tomorrow so my fingers are firmly crossed I can add more to this list very soon!

We've even dug the bath out of storage in delicious anticipation! LOL!

Renovating? Building? Got some House Projects to complete?

Join in! #YOTH15

(also on instagram of course!)

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

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

progress, presents and procrastination

Some more PROGRESS to report!

The top balcony off the dining room has its eave soffit lining complete! 

I begged Davey to use lining boards but never won the argument....he thought they would look at odds with the contemporary exterior.  Pffft.  

Anywho, plain and simple they now are. Next up is to waterproof that deck so the last and largest area underneath can be sheeted too.

Our tiler came back to work yesterday and laid the screed in our en suite. My happy dance was short lived though when he informed me of another job he has committed himself to, starting today. Then Davey will occupy him for two weeks and....well, I'm not holding my breath expecting an imminent return...Damn!

 Being holidays here, the pace for J and I has been  s l o w . You know; lazy mornings, no set bed time, mid-day movies and pj days just mooching. School is on the horizon though; high school no less and it's probably time we got back into a better routine. Dave must have thought so too as he surprised me with a 'present' today: Ducted vacuum hose, fittings and motor / barrel.  

Subtle and thoughtful. LOL.

Daughter No. 2 recently turned 23! She loves dinosaurs ( ! ? ) and i think still harbours a quiet dream of being a paleontologist. My eldest daughter organised a surprise family excursion to Taronga Zoo to celebrate coinciding with their Dinosaurs In the Wild exhibition...and Sydney kindly turned on a heatwave for us! It was a wonderful but exhausting day!

The time has come for us to replace my car too. I've been driving a Ford Territory AWD Gia and it has been a wonderful vehicle. Accommodating us all, plus friends with the seven seats when required and a sturdy and spacious 'work horse' for me collecting building and interior supplies. But the girls now live away from home and with access to a Ute and 3 tonne truck as work vehicles, J and I can scoot around in something smaller.

Top to Bottom: Mazda 3, Honda Civic, Hyundai i30

The final three contenders are the Mazda 3 Touring, Honda Civic and Hyundai i30 SE.

On moi must-have list is a hatch for rear conversion as a work vehicle. Leather seats too...it's hard to downgrade some features! 5 star safety rating, blue-tooth connectivity, maximum leg room for J when he's a rear seat passenger, rear ventilation, usb or power outlets and enough head room for Davey and J when driving as they're tall. (Yes J too as, in just over four years he'll be a driver and we are buying with the forethought of giving him the car at his first vehicle!)
I'd like SAT nav if possible (own a TomTom so not essential) and don't want heated seats or a sunroof.

We've test driven...talked and slept on 'it'. 

Tomorrow's decision day!

Get in quick with opinions!!!!

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!

Bits 'n Bobs

Davey has just informed me that as a result of my recent illness, he will need to 'catch-up' the time he lost on client projects, by working Saturdays. 

Fair enough. 

Then, I thought about it...

He is currently employed in Sydney (90 minutes south of Copacabana), and his 5:30 am start and 6:30 - 7 pm arrival home make Saturday his only day to tackle building work here at La Hacienda.

3 weeks = 21 days. 

Twenty-one Saturdays from now takes us into January 2015!!!!

I heard a casual statement ... but it was actually a loaded bomb!

There goes my fantasy of 'moving' upstairs by Christmas.

 *sob*

Anyhow,  s l o w  progress aside (nothing new really....) here are some pics of what has been happening about these parts ....

The two upstairs bathrooms are approved by council and ready for underfloor heating installation. After much debate and soul searching, I decided to purchase Carrara Marble tiles in the same size (400 mm x 400 mm) as the downstairs bathrooms for our ensuite. I just couldn't justify spending three times more for Calcutta or mosaics when we still have so much more to do. The marble is Italian and the white is really crisp though, which helped clinch the deal!

David decided that it was high time we bought a new mattress too. I wasn't much help as I was just out of hospital so couldn't lay on the display beds. He chose a Tempur one (without the folding base, which J loved!). It was a big investment so I hope it's comfortable! Our last bed was a top-of-the-line disaster because of the too soft pillow top.

 Been 'playing' with some decor pieces, motivated by a Country Road competition. If you want to enter too, click HERE.

Had a day of shopping with a girlfriend in Sydney last week. We popped into the newest Matt Blatt store in Castle Hill. I've seen their wares online but never in person. Most pieces were disappointing... but I liked this replica daybed and dining table.

We then headed to a Freedom outlet store my friend knew about. I snapped up this Freedom console which was a quarter of it's retail price!  Not sure where it will 'live' but there are a few suitable alcoves upstairs!

Newham Console from Freedom

Spotted these gorgeous external lights at Beacon Lighting. L.O.V.E. ! 

David liked them too, but we can't have them here. The finish is unsuitable for our seaside location, nor are they IP rated ie; they'll rust. Fast. 

Frustrating. Why manufacture an outside light that isn't durable?

South Hampton light fixtures

Have you started thinking about Father's Day?

I think this Bunning's Tool Chest is on David's 'wish' list. It comes complete with bar fridge, LCD TV and stereo. I think it would be too much of a distraction to work....

Keep dreaming darling....

x KL

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

bits and bobs

I have come to the conclusion that my blog will never be regularly attended to. Thank you to my regular readers for your perseverance with me...

 I do like having a record of this house's progress though (albeit slow) and life in general (whizzing by), so here's an update...

Both the Main Bedroom En suite and Guest / J's bathroom upstairs have been waterproofed. After a council inspection next week we can organise the under-floor heating guys to do their bit!

No pretty pictures - sorry!

The dilemma regarding black walls - where? was resolved. I said 'there, there and there' and the stark white is history! If I win the Lottery I might add a bit of feature wallpaper!

TIP!  Use a tinted undercoat for dark coloured walls to ensure perfect depth of colour.

Painting the dining area end wall means that I'm also committed to my black kitchen! Eeeek!

My wee upstairs linen cupboard is complete and will adequately handle the overflow from the larger / main downstairs version!

I've also discovered Gumtree ... and have / am having great success; saying goodbye to furniture from previous homes. It's also an excellent way of helping those starting out with cheap goodies or freebies! And it's more simple to list than eBay!

Bye-Bye Bali Style...

 The Gumtree discovery was prompted by the return of one of our nest leavers (yay!) who was accompanied by a house worth of recently purchased appliances and furniture (um...not so yay). Some major culling was required!

All listed on Gumtree!

Fast forward to now, just three weeks later and a new work opportunity has seen her announce she's moving to Newcastle...never a dull day!

 Her 3-month old fridge is still for sale on Gumtree!  (RR$700 $500)

P.S: NOW SOLD

 The Scalamandre Leopardo Silk Velvet fabric I bought on eBay arrived but was not the correct length. Given its poisonous value, I was very grateful that the U.S. seller replaced it. Equally disappointing was the arrival our long awaited dining room lights which were damaged. It is at times like these that I really appreciate honest vendors and good customer service policies!

J is on school holiday but has the flu. Again. After he received the flu shot. Humph.

He slept till 1:45 today....I was tip-toeing in and checking on him like a new born babe!

At least I got time to finish and frame, a trio of little artworks for a friend's daughter. They should sit above her bed nicely!

 Hopefully J and I can have some holiday fun together tomorrow...

x KL

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