A touch of toilet whimsy - wall decals

I'm not quite sure why I feel the need for a touch of whimsy in my bathroom and toilet ... something about them being cold clinical boring sort of places that need a bit of warming up. Though during a heat wave I am thinking of going to sit in the bath (without water) it is soooo cool in there!

There is the chandelier in the bathroom ... and, after today there are wall decals in the toilet ... on the wall and behind the door ...I've actually had the decals for a little while, but was really worried about putting them up. I was hoping I could drag someone in to helping me as it looked like a two person type of job ... but since it is hot outside and I've got little to do today, I thought I'd have a go ... soooo easy!! I could take off the bits that went slightly in the wrong spot and reposition them.

I am really hoping that they have told the truth and they are easy to remove in a couple of years - pretty sure this is a fad that will go out of fashion, but I'm happy to spend $35 on something that might not last!! Pretty cheap for some art work ... now I know how easy it is, wonder if I can find something to go in the kitchen ... hmmm!!

I got these from www.walldecors.com.au the one below was a quote I requested and they made it up in the font/size I wanted.

Only visible when you're in the toilet ... behind the door (ignore the taps put on the wrong way around by the plumber!!) ...
"Believe, never lose sight of your dreams"

Photo of oven and others!

Here it is .......


awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ... I could look at if for hours!!!

Below is a close up of the stainless steel bench ... still in its wrapping ... will be unwrapped for Christmas (given it was a pressie from my Mum!) ... it is nearly as beautiful as the oven!


I realised I had other photos I haven't shared ... so here goes ....

Below is my driveway on Friday afternoon ...
Rush hour!! That day we had carpenter, builder, 3 electricians, 2 tilers, 2 painters, 3 joiners ... and I'm sure I'm missing someone!!! Monday is going to be about the same ... adding in a plumber, airconditioner installer, flyscreen installer ... gas man? and maybe more?!?!

The dining room is ready to go for carpet ... was supposed to have happened this week but a bit of a mix up ... hopefully tomorrow morning (given I have guests arriving for lunch ... they'll have to carry in their own table to eat off!!). Bonus points if you can see the fatty grey poom-bah in the background!
Most of the tiling in the laundry and bathroom has been done ... I LOVE the tile ... thanks to my wonderful friend who trialled it for me ;-) ... it is quite amazing how little the dirt shows on it!! The bath is surrounded by the tile ... can't wait to see it all fitted out ... maybe tomorrow?! I suppose my brother who is staying from tomorrow night might actually LIKE his own bathroom.
I'm missing photos of the outside ... the windows have nearly all been done ... just waiting on the doors to get their final colour before I take another photo ... that will nearly be an "after" photo!

The door between two worlds opens

I've been living a bit of an illusion ... it has been as though the renovation is a house on its own ... not really connected to the part I'm living in. Two very different worlds ... but today, for the first time, the door between the worlds was opened ... we have connection!!

The door was quickly closed again to keep out the heat :-) ... but gone is my illusion of a separate existance ... and hopefully soon there will be even less of a difference between the two - they are talking about putting the floorboards in!!!


Today I came home to find many of the cornices installed ... below is the laundry hallway (with manhole or womanhole!).
The bathroom is looking closer ... the hold up on the bath is the tap company sending the wrong tap thingie (they don't seem to appreciate my re-naming of tap parts?!?!). Hopefully tomorrow they will live up to their promises and actually turn up with the right bit ... can't see why they couldn't have posted it two weeks ago ... the whole "customer care" thing seems rather silly if the care takes a whole lot longer and distrupts building!!

The last of the windows are in ... the kitchen sink window and the bay windows ... oh ... and A door. Note: only one door ... we seem to have a case of the disappearing doors. One day the french doors are there, the next they are gone ... I look in the morning and watch them install them ... then they are gone by the afternoon ... so far I think they've gone in 3 times ... and still no doors (not sure I really want to ask!!).


One of my very exciting pickups this week (it is like Christmas with all the boxes arriving!) ... were the fabrics for the window seats. First up is the dining room ... the gold stripe is Warwick Port Norris Gold for the main window seat upholstery then cushions in: the creamy one that is above the blue is a gorgeous soft fabric (Warwick ), the houndtooth one is Warwick Grove Beach ... and there is one more cushion to go - a bright gold one.


The kitchen window seat fabrics ... missing the main upholstery fabric which is a light blue ticking stripe on white, and one of the cushion colours is missing (because I haven't picked it yet ... going to be a solid bright red) .... the other cushions are: Hoad Torquay Claret (the apple green motif one), Warwick Toulouse Cherrywood (the red pattern) and Warwick Provence Marina (the blue toile). I LOVE these colours!!! So exciting to see them together ... can't wait to see them on an actual window seat!!

It only took two days ... WALLS!!

A big load of plasterboard arrived on Friday ... then Saturday, when I was only expecting one builder (who was picking something up and leaving) I got a whole lot ... and the plasterers! In just two day's they've nearly completed the walls. There are a couple of sections missing (I think they ran out) ... but otherwise it is done!

The kitchen:


The bathroom:

The dining room (which now feels bigger):

The laundry:
I can't wait to see what happens next!

Dying of thirst? Find a rose!

Today I'd planned to chop down the big Cecil Brunner type rose at the front of the house ... it's got a bit out of control and was wrapped around one of the veranda posts - which needed painting. Good thing that was my plan ... I'd gone and got the tools, to come back and find the builder and painter considering what was going to be done with it today!! Once I got it down to just a tiny bit ... everyone noticed ... the rose was DRIPPING! One of the builders put a bowl underneath to see how much was coming out ... the bowl filled over! So if you're dying of thirst ... find a rose and chop it down!! (dead soft toy donated by the puppy to complete the scene!!) Lots of other developments have happened over the last couple of days ... finally we have windows in the dining room. Click on the outside window photo to see the larger version ... you might be able to see the detail of the weatherboards they've put between each window. The bath frame is in ... can't wait to see it all tiled up!! The builder was saying he's going to put some insulation around the bath in the frame ... which might help keep the bath warm!

The back door has glass in the panels - a door would be lovely too! With the veranda posts being painted I can now see how they are turning out ... I did really like them when they were white ... but the green does look fabulous too! Maybe in a couple of years I might change them back to white. The solar hot water was supposed to go in this week ... but it has been put off for another week. It is such a pity it has to ruin this pretty roof line!

My storybook cottage

It is just sooooo pretty!! My not-so-little-anymore storybook cottage.

Above is the west side of the house ... to the left is the bay window for the kitchen, the center is the main kitchen bench window, then to the right is the dining room bay window. I do love the white (undercoat) veranda posts/window frames ... but they'll all go dark green to match the original - I know the white looks prettier, but ... I know I'd never keep it clean!

Above shows the kitchen living room new french doors, the kitchen bay window, then the dining room french doors. The veranda to the left is not quite finished yet.

They have started installing the "back" door ... the main door that will be used. The plan was to replicate the front door, which - other than some minor changes - it looks like it will be beautiful. That is my ensuite sitting under the veranda, very pleased with how that fits in (though the little window is a pain to open!).

The kitchen has its plumbing rough-in and electricals ... the bench is going to be over 5 metres long ... certainly beats the tiny area I had before! I can't wait to see how that window looks once it goes in ... it is the only one that is quite different to the originals - much wider compared to the height.





This photo shows the bathroom window - the bath will sit just below this, the vanity to the left of it. I'm glad all these decisions are already done ... nothing really left to decide in here except the light!










All the rough in electrics have been done ... so there are wires going everywhere ... and I'm not even having any fancy systems! I would have loved to go for the home automation stuff ... but that cost just was a bit beyond the budget. Hopefully the technology will become cheaper and I can look into it in the future. This photo is of the small side of the kitchen (the sort of breakfast area).


The only slight worry at the moment ... no builders for two days ....

Walls!!

The architect managed to come back in daylight ... and we went over the frame. I hope he knew what he was looking at, because I have noooo idea!! He seemed quite happy with everything. The builder was around so we went through a couple of issues I'd raised.

One issue I've been concerned about was the bay windows. I thought they were going to be sash windows but the builder pointed out that on the plan the markings indicate a casement window (I had no idea that is what those lines were). I'd sort of resigned myself that I must have not checked it over properly ... but I went back for one last look at the specs ... and on the window schedule it says "sash" ... so I wasn't wrong. The architect just made an error having sash on one document and casement on another.

After some discussions yesterday ... I'm getting my sash windows!! Yippeee!! I really didn't want fly screens inside the house ... and leaning against fly screens whilst sitting on the window seat wasn't something I thought would be nice. (oh ... and so much for the builder's comments that the windows were ordered and couldn't be changed ... he didn't even bring that up in front of the architect.

After more discussion we've also managed to reduce the amount of balkhead for the hallway section ... it is still going to look odd ... but the compromise should make it a tiny bit less obvious

By the end of the day we had the first lot of walls up ... the external weatherboards.

Also I finally got my shower screen for the ensuite ... it still is waiting on the proper vanity to come before it really is finished ... but it is my first "after" photo!!

First wall frame goes up

I got to see the first wall frame going up ... and the sudden realisation of how tall it is going to be! The old section that was demolished had much lower ceilings. Though we've hit another architect problem - due to one of the roof lines (the one I have hated all along and wish wasn't there) there is going to have to be a lower internal hallway section (and therefore a bulkhead where I don't want one to be), and it isn't going to have the neat outside lines I wanted - where it wasn't possible to see the join between the old and new section. Nothing I can do about it.

Ensuite shower was SUPPOSED to be working last night ... but no hot water!! eeekk!!! They've promised me today!

That's my heated towel rail (which is working) to the left ... it is going to be a bit squishier than I wanted getting in and out of the shower, but I couldn't see the point of having the towel rail on the other side of the bathroom! Oh - and the electricians thought I might have overkilled the heater in the bathroom - nooooooo way :-) Not at this time of year!

A slab, painting and still no phone!

The slab was poured on Friday ... standing on the outside of it, the house seems small ... once it was dry and I walked on it ... house seems large! HUGE in fact! Neighbours must think I'm mad as I "walk" through the house working out where things go.

My little cat had his first house explore ... he thinks it may be suitable for his requirements!


Ensuite - the painters were in on both Saturday and Sunday ... not quite sure if it has the final coat on yet, there was a bit of a mix up with paint colours (once again, lucky I was there) but all was sorted. I'm really really really hoping I'll be allowed to use the shower soon!

Look ... I have a new luxury ...

Yes, that's an INDOOR toilet that actually works!!!!! Can't wait for the next luxurious thing on the list - hot and cold running water!! There might be a possibility the shower could be working for the weekend - there are taps, there is a showerhead, there was water on the floor ... could these add up to a working shower?!

I think the builders will be as happy as I will be when the ensuite is working - the portable ensuite thing is just not working out and they spend lots of time fiddling with the hot water to try to make it work (which it doesn't) ... and ... they wont have me asking questions about how much longer!!

As I left this morning the builders were on site early ... apparently at 7:30 the big cement trucks were arriving ... the slab is being poured. I'm hoping the fact that it was below zero and completely frozen everywhere isn't going to cause a problem. Tonight when I get home it will all be done - hope I get there before it dries too much so I can put a date in the concrete.

The first "inside" photos

I had a thought as I was walking around after the builders left yesterday ... I can actually stand IN the extension and take photos of what it will be like - yes I know it probably isn't that amazing a thought to many, but it was the change from "I'm standing on a piece of dirt" to "I'm standing IN my house"!!!

So ... the first photos that will soon become reality!

The view from the back door:

The lounge area window seat (got to think of a new name for that area of the house, already have a living room so that doesn't fit!):

The kitchen bench to be:

The part of living room:

Still waiting on the ensuite - those drying times are just taking the time - grouting all done (thought I might have picked a colour that was too dark, but it seems to have dried much lighter and looks great), now have to wait until the seal is dry, then they can sand off the plasterwork, then painting, more drying time ... THEN they might be able to fit it out! So ... unlikely to be this weekend (sorry friends, I'll be visiting for more showers!).

Friday they hope to lay the slab - weather is looking ok ... just hoping not too much rain to ruin their preparations. Apparently the electrician is booked for next Thursday to start putting the wiring in - which means the frames will be up by then!

I'm still just amazed at the concept of IN the house!!!

Mud - glorious mud!

Once they get going, they certainly do some amazing changes in a short period of time. They have nearly finished excavating the main extension site ... cutting my phone line in the process (try calling the mobile instead!). Below is a photo showing where the rooms are going to go ... it is looking small at the moment ... I'm sure it will grow in perception once there are walls. (click on the picture to enlarge it to see the room labels)

The dining room ... with doggie in my windowseat / bay window!

The ensuite is slowly coming along - this week will be about waiting for drying times ... if all goes to plan: grouting today, sealing Tuesday, Wednesday painting, Thursday (maybe) fitting out with toilet etc ... so I may have a bathroom by the weekend. I'll be much much happier then (and all my friends can breathe a sigh of relief I wont be visiting borrowing a bathroom!!).

The dogs just LOVE the excavations - great tunnels for them to race around in and jump on each other ... of course they come back covered in mud!!!

OMG - it's a gonna!!

Seriously huge changes at home ... in two days they totally removed the back section of the house .... GONE!!! Smash and crash ... and I'm still without a finished ensuite.

They did begin tiling in the ensuite yesterday - another one of those "so glad I was at home" moments ... I went in to look at what was going on, asked the tiler if he could show me the two different tiles (floor vs wall) as I hadn't seen them together yet, and his response was "I didn't know there were two different tiles"!!! eeekkk!!! Luckily he'd only put up one tile - a floor tile on the wall - so it was in the nick of time and no major problems.

They've left me with a portable ensuite - ugh! It is fairly awful and I will go visit neighbours/friends/family/anyone rather than use the shower (I turned it on and the hot water stopped after a short time ... no way I'm standing under there in the cold waiting for the water to stop or it only occasionally working!!!). The tiling should only take a couple more days, then a day or so to fit in the other bits ... crossing my fingers before the end of the week I'll have my gorgeous heated ensuite!!