Six months in

Six months! Six whole months! We have been living in the new place for six months! And what have we done in that time....not a whole lot! 

I have plans. Oh, do I have plans! But I don't have a lot of time. Or available funds. Or a clear path of how I should tackle all these plans.

Im doing the whole 'do a little bit in every room at the same time so the whole house looks in renovation stage for a really, unnecessarily long time' thing.

I just get an idea, and instantly feel inspired to try it out regardless if the 5 year old's bedroom is still covered in paint swatches and pictures waiting to be hung on freshly painted walls. 

case in point.

more paint swatches and trim work

even the pergola is covered in swatches!

I started the pergola first. Ten days after we moved in I felt compelled to paint it a sultry shade of charcoal. The bits that I have done look uh-mazing!But then it got hot-waaaay hot. Then I just wasn't motivated. And now it is cold, waaaay cold. And I look out there wistfully every day imagining how awesome it will look once its finished. And I think to myself 'today I will just go out there and start painting'. But then I do something else.  

But little lady is the clear winner in this here 'battle of the rooms'. Her room is actually, very nearly DONE! I'm not even joking. She had a very clear brief. Pink. 'Pink walls Mummy'. I protested. I tried persuading her my way. I had a vision of her room and pink walls were not in that vision. But how could I resist? She is very persuasive! In the end, we have compromised. She got her pink walls, but I chose the shade and got to stick gold polka dots over them.

MY original vision for her bedroom. Vintage yellow wallpaper, reclaimed furniture, mismatched decor and bedding...

sneek peak of her actual bedroom

I  must apologise for the sh*t quality of photos. A little photography course is on my to-do list but until then, its iPhone photos all the way. 

I still need to paint the trim in her room and now that I have finally decided on which shade that will be (Dulux Vanilla Quake) , I just need a day where she doesn't mind being kicked out of her own room all day again. 

Until then, ill keep chipping away at every single room in our house, a little bit at a time, just enough to drive the husbot completely insane. 

Lisa 

The long awaited Kitchen Renovation: Part 2-'during'

The 'during' phase of our kitchen renovation was actually eighteen long months of 'nearly finished'. Once the cupboards were all installed, it was then a matter of waiting for each tradie and more $$ to finish off every.other.element.

going...

...going....

gone! ( Ok forgot to get a completely 'gone' photo so this will have to do)

new cupboards have arrived! Picture me squealing with absolute delight here!

The kitchen was installed on New Years Eve, 2011. A great end to a crappy year and a fresh new start for 2012!

I could show you more of the 'during' pics. Like what it looked like once all the cupboards were in but before the plastering was finished, before the glass splash back was on and, before our feature lighting was installed, but that would give away the ending!

But for now, how about a sneak peak?

Lisa xx

The long awaited Kitchen Renovation: Part 1-'before'

Many, many years ago in a little beach side town, way down South in the southern suburbs of Adelaide, a guy bought a block of land and had a little house built to put on it. That guy and his young girlfriend moved into that little 'starter' house with every intention of moving on to bigger and better things in the not-so-distant future.....

TWELVE LONG YEARS have passed since then and that guy and his girlfriend (who is now his wife) are STILL THERE! But now they have two children and a pup as well. All living (squishing) in to the little house.

The wife had never liked the kitchen or the bathrooms. Timber veneer cupboards with black 'marble' laminate. Really? What was he thinking?? So when the wife came to the very sad realisation that they may have to continue living in the little house for a year (or 5!) more due to the husbands hugely scary, risk-fuelled, self-employment status (note: sarcasm, banks are stupid!) she hatched a little plan to make the little house a little more comfortable. The kitchen was by far the most menacing, ugly, impractical, way-too-small-to-be-functional space in the house. It had.to.go!

But as always, there was a budget to consider. A very tight budget. The wife started perusing her huge stash of decorating mags and pinning images to her 'kitchen reno' pinterest page. They checked out ikea, bunnings and various instal-it-yourself kitchen companies. When the wife finally had the husband convinced to proceed, he pulled out the old 'well actually I know a guy that could come and build us a kitchen relatively cheap' card and voila, wheels in motion. 

Kitchen guy came over and within minutes, the wife knew they were on the same page. He had all these amazing ideas, ones she hadn't even considered. He went away and a few days later texted the husband with a rough price. It was nearly double what they were hoping to spend with the DIY approach but the husband really values his own time and to him, the extra $$ were worth it. Besides, in the grand scheme of kitchen reno's, this was still waaaaaay cheap!

So, what did it look like before......??

It was a dark, u-shaped kitchen with an angled bench and a built-in-pantry. It had one set of cutlery drawers, a useless corner cupboard and no over-head cupboards to speak of. The bench had no over-hang so it didn't have the dual purpose of being a breakfast bar as well. And the worst part of all, it didn't have a dishwasher! And, as mentioned before, orangey timber veneered cupboards with a black benchtop and white tiled splashback. 

dark and cluttered

View from the dining room
The corner pantry was huge, but it blocked a lot of natural light coming in from the sliding doors to the left of it

The view from the living room

Want to see what it looks like now? Check back in for Part 2-'during' and Part 3-'after'


Lisa xx
Wow, this is my third post in three days. On.a.roll! 

{The Grateful Project} Day 8-A clean laundry!

Today, what I am feeling so terribly grateful for, is that I finally cleaned my laundry! 

This is exciting stuff people! But the shameful thing is that it only took me just over an hour to clean, leading me to question myself as to why it took me so damn long to get around to doing it..???

Anyway, it is done now and its ready for its mini-makeover. As soon as I can decide on what exactly I'm going to do with it. 

The dreaded floor....

Oh that's right, we have black and white tiles in our laundry

Underneath all that crap, is a white bench top....

Ah, there it is

Just random crap filling precious cupboard space

Finally, a space to put the washing baskets

I was terrified of what was lurking under the sink....

Now a space for the dog food and a basket for all the vacuum cleaner and steam mop bits and pieces

This is all part of my ongoing endeavour to get organised. It doesn't come naturally to me. I hate mess and chaos, yet am surrounded by it constantly. I get started on a room or an area, and then I get distrac....ooo something shiny!

This time feels different though. I have read pretty much everything there is to read about getting organised, speed cleaning, time management so the know-how is there, I just need to get on with the actual doing of it. 

So inspired by Modern Parents Messy Kids: Project Organise Your Entire Life, I thought I would start with the laundry and, wow does it feel good to walk past that room and see the floor!


Lisa xx