My beautiful kitchen

It’s been such a long time since I added anything to this blog, recently someone asked me to post some finished photos. So here is my favorite spot, my kitchen.

Worst Blogger Ever

I lack the time and the commitment that fellow bloggers have, I love to read them and always thought I would be good at writing them….. it turns out I am poor..

We are so much further along the process now, only 4 weeks to go (builders are booked into next job so MUST be finished).  Kitchen is very close to finished, stone went in earlier this week and the cabinet maker will be back today (fingers crossed) to finish it and a number or other things today.  If all goes to plan I will be able to move my kitchen in from the little bedroom to the gorgeous big kitchen, and I may even cook up a storm to celebrate.  It’s so cold I think a big dish of Lasagna would be perfect.

The Kitchen story.

This is the Real Estate image for the kitchen in the house when we bought it.

This is what the builder put together for us while they built the new kitchen. Very handy but SOOOOOOOOOO small.

TA DA… this is the new kitchen! What I love about it is the big work bench, the huge window at the back, the storage storage storage and of course the 100mm bench top.

From out of the ground comes a FRAME!

My husband said to me last night, “have you taken a photo everyday?” I said,”just about”.  and now on looking back at my photos it’s more like one every week, or at least when there are notable changes.    Here is a series of photos taken over the past 6 weeks.  Today the heavens opened and we have a few leeks, so the house looks a little like a circus with a giant tarp over the roof.  Tomorrow the trusses arrive and we will once again have our perceptions altered.   Each step of this build we have had a different minor freak out, in this order:

1. There will be no back yard

2. The house is too big

3. The dining area is too small

4. The office/kids room is too small

5. why do we have so many bedrooms?

6. The pantry is tiny

7. The ceiling height is way to big.

I should mention that I’m not the main culprit having these concerns.  Right now, as I walk through the framed extension I am really happy with the size and layout.  It will be magic.

On ward and UPWARD

We are out of the ground. A huge step, feels like they have been digging holes for ever and we never got to see China. Stumps went in last week and the joists and bearers are now complete. Today they are dismantling the old kitchen and laying the foundations for the new bathroom.

I have walked up on the joists and only now realise how high this back part of the house will be from the ground. The boys are going to love jumping off it into the back yard!

We have also had a minor freak out at how small the back yard is going to be, but when we did the measurements it worked out to be around 60cm larger than we had before we did the demolition.
Until next time, Ciao!

Dig Dig Dig

Since my last post quite a lot has happened.  We lived in the bungalow for three weeks, not sorry to see the back of that little shack.  During that time Levi had croup (the poor little darling) which made the close quarters a blessing because I stayed awake listening to him breath, or try to breath.

So now, almost five weeks later the bungalow is totally gone, the shed is gone, the ensuite is finished and we are very happily back in the house, albeit just in the front four rooms.

Stumps go in next week before Easter and we should have some framing up by the second week of April! HOORAY.  I can’t wait to walk through the pegged out rooms and get a feel for size.  Anyone who knows me will be able to imagine me prancing through the imaginary rooms, testing them our, pretending to use the oven and washing my hands in the bathroom!

Here are a couple of shots of the demolition.  The ensuite is very dark with grey tiles, so this makes it hard to photograph.  So instead I thought I would show you where I found Levi on the day we moved back in, too little to really know where things go in a toilet!

He look quite proud of his effort. When i found him he was saying "wees wees"

Until next time! Ciao!

T minus 7 Days and counting….

Well here we are, at the pointy end of the planning.  Just 7 short days until the build begins…..oooo……super excited.  Having a home day today as I have been unwell, not good timing as there is still so much to do.

1. move family into one room bungalow for three weeks (this will be the hardest part, boys have been sharing a room for the past two months, but now they have to share with mum and dad)

2. move kitchen into bedroom 3 (will soon see what equipment I have to deal with, no oven is the biggest challenge)

3. move lounge into dining room and pack away dining room (tiny living quarters for 5 months)

4. pack up our clothes and everything in the robes in our room (big job, my ‘pre-children’ high heals will take a few boxes alone)

5. pack bathroom (or pathetic excuse for a bathroom)

6. pack laundry (or pathetic excuse for a laundry, shouldn’t be a big job as the entire room is around 1m x 1m!)

When listed so simply it doesn’t look so bad, but I have made itemised lists (I like to cross things off lists) so I feel I am achieving something each day.  Thus far today I have managed to get to the Dr for blood tests and eat some toast….hhhmmm…. this is going to be a challenge!

I look forward to updating you more.  Here are a few snaps of the before house.  I have not bothered to clean too much, as you may aswell see what it looks like most of the time.

 

Sign here…and here…..and here

Today has been a big day, we finally chose a builder. We are very happy with our selection but it was a close race right to the finish.

The builder we have chosen will apply a more collaborative approach to help up come in under budget (hopefully a lot under budget because I’ve like to be able to afford some furniture!).

The gorgeous palm trees come down tomorrow, which is sad becasue we will not have their beautiful stippled light in the back yard over summer, but it;s necessary for them to be out three months before we start so the earth has time to settle and rehydrate. So at this stage the start date looks like early Feb for the ensuite and end of Feb for the rest.
Contracts should be signed before Christmas, how exciting!

Black Kitchen

Great kitchen in Montrose, this might be my fav!

While walking through Parkdale and Mordialloc last night with a girl friend we got talking about kitchens and that we both love black kitchens at the moment.  These photos are good examples of stylish black kitchens, and in the back room with it’s 12′ ceiling height a little ‘darkness’ might be a good thing.  So to strike a balance! I will be designing the kitchen layout in the next week so the builders can accurately quote.

Pressed Tin

A few weeks ago I was thinking about how to make our master bedroom something more than just a place to rest my tired and getting older bones every night.  Some (The Numbers Man) might argue that we don’t need any glitz in our room “we just sleep there!!” I can hear him now.

So what about this idea, create a feature wall of pressed metal or pressed tin.  I’ll need to see if I can pick up some old ones that show signs of wear and tear, but I did see these images of a great wall in a living room.  I love that they are black and some are worn more than others.

Pier Post – Outdoor Shower

We live about a 10 minute walk from the beach, and so far in the 18 months we have lived here we have been swimming maybe three – four time.  I guess once the kids are a bit older they will force their “I don’t like to swim” mother into going more.  So with that in mind we think we should get an outdoor shower so the kids can wash off (and I can wash my feet) before coming in the house. We are in research phase of this and thought I would share my ideas. I do like the style that is all ready to go, on a shiny new post and can essentially go anywhere like this one.

But I would like to do something a little more rustic, my idea is to get an old pier pole like the one below, I got a price from a place in Richmond of 100per linear meter, and attach a shower and tap combination like the one shown.  If we have them over the path the water should run off into the garden or the storm water.

I know this isn’t an original idea, and I’m sure I have a photo of one in one of the many magazines I seem addicted to buying (I wonder what I could have bought with the money I spent on them?)

Until next time, SEEYA!