Picture ledge Inspiration

Ideas to Steal 

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KatjaR

Going Home To Roost

Romana Howells 

West Elm

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Made By Girl

Emerson's picture ledge waiting to be decorated

You can't go past a picture ledge to add a little charm to a room I think. I could easily go a crazy with them. But I am limiting myself to the one in our room and this one (above) in the nursery. I uncovered some wonderful picture ledge inspiration on pineterest, which then inspired a print purchase from Etsy (found via Pip). Now I'm thinking a vase or two, an old printers block of the letter E and perhaps some other thrifty finds are also needed...

Nursery Progress

The renovations on the house have continued quietly in the background, though it has been some time since I mentioned them or updated the House Tour page on my blog.

We've had new sliding doors installed leading out from the lounge and the master bedroom to the front deck. The old glass doors were quite worn, the locks were suspicious and the doors themselves kept slipping off their runners. Also, the fittings wouldn't allow for the addition of a sliding screen door. And in Summer in Queensland, fly screens are a must in my books. So along with the new doors, we have new screens made with marine grade steel mesh to deter kitty claws. Which is working to a degree. The builders have also installed the new eaves around the entire outside of the house. The original eaves had to be removed as they contained asbestos. We had all the asbestos removed at once (back in August?) and the poor house has been eave-less this whole time. Money is always the major factor when renovating.

There have also been the annoying jobs, like possum proofing the garage (twice. Possums are determined little things!) and re-hanging the shelves in my studio, as the special wall plugs and screws that were supposed to be able to hold the weight of the shelves and books were failing. The shelves are re-hung, but the books have been moved and a lighter display will replace them.

There has been progress in Emerson's room too since the last update. She is still sleeping in her bassinet in our room but she is fast outgrowing it.

Looking in to her room now.

Looking in to her room when we brought the house.

Still loving this thrifted $2 light fitting.

The little green chair is a Cohen addition. He brought it in from his room to 'help' at change time.

Dave installed this Ribba picture ledge for me on the weekend. Now to search for some sweet thrifty decorations to adorn it. I've been looking at some inspiration that I shall have to share with you too.

The room still needs a rug of some kind and blinds on the windows to further block out the light. I am tempted to paint that little three tiered shelf and the change table white. And like the rest of the house, the skirting board still needs painting. I ran out of time when the rest of the painting was being done because the floor was due to be sanded. Now with two little ones, moving everything to paint the skirting boards through out the house is going to be an interesting challenge!

We have a long weekend in these parts this weekend, and a list of renovations planned for it. Expect another up date soon.

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Quiet times of late. Pottering around the house and mothering a toddler with a tummy bug, though thankfully he is on the mend now. Checking in on our little veggie patch and noticing that the rain has upset some of the peas and taken with it a tomato seedling, though the corn and watermelon remains unscathed. Loving the tart  sweetness of plums. We may not have snow in Australia for Christmas, but there will be fruit!

Chicken with gravy and seasoned crunchy roasted potatoes for dinner tonight and it smells nearly done. Have a lovely evening.

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From the very first night we moved in, the new house has felt like home. Perhaps because we have been coming and going the past two months while renovating, or perhaps because we are unpacked and surrounded by our familiar items, or maybe it’s because I dreamt about it so often while we waited, trying to imagine how it would look and where things would go? But never before have we settled in anywhere quite so easily or so quickly.

While there is still so much that wants doing, we are in no rush. In the meantime I have been resting, baking, crocheting, reading, planting seeds in newspaper pots and turning over a corner of the garden in anticipation of a veggie patch. We have joined a play group, I’ve joined a book club and Cohen has gone into his toddler bed without any fuss. The nursery is coming together and I’m 22 weeks and 2 days along and enjoying every bump, kick and turn I can feel and occasionally even see.

Things may still be quiet around here for a while, as our internet could take up to a month to be connected. I hope all is well with all of you and I look forward to catching up on blogs and emails soon.

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Photographs of our newly completed polished wooden floors aren't up there in the excitement stakes for many I know*. Probably polishing floors isn't that exciting either. Though a bird breaking into the house and pooping all over the second coat of varnish did get all our hearts racing for a little while. 

What polished floors do mean though is that we are finally moving in! Even though the skirting boards need painting, even though we still have no eaves, even though the bathroom doesn't have a door, I couldn't care in the least. Those things will come. The truck has been packed and is on the way to the house as I type. So if you will excuse me, I have boxes to unpack!

I shall be back, hopefully with more exciting photos than those above, once the internet connection has been transferred over to the new house. 

*But honestly, the floor has come up well, don't you think?

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Another weekend spent renovating... with a hail storm thrown in.

I spent one whole day scraping the melted underlay off Cohen's bedroom floor. I class this as my worst job yet. Seriously, outstandingly horrible. (Though Dave says the same of painting and removing the staples left beneath the lino in the kitchen.) I kept getting stuck to the floor and was covered in little flecks of sticky black rubber. Not to mention the claw for a hand I ended up with after hours and hours of holding on to that plastering tool and scraping the tar away inch by inch. But I managed to complain and sigh my way through it, knowing it needed to be done.

Then three of us (thanks Fiona and Dylan) still needed to scrape over it again the next day to have it ready for the floor sander today. Ta-dah! 

Can't wait to see it all smooth and polished.

My dear sweet husband looking as impressed as he was probably feeling about painting again. Thanks honey!
The bathroom is so close to being finished now and most of the painting done.

The little man 'helping' by taking a nap after a busy day of stealing tools, hammering empty boxes and drumming on paint can lids.

And the entire floor - underlay, staple and nail free - ready to be sanded and polished and still on track for moving in this weekend. Hooray!

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Another busy week of renovations, which have left very little time for anything else. Undercoating, painting, carpet removal, plumbing and jack hammering. The house still looks like a job site in parts, but slowly we are reclaiming each room.

The nursery has been puttied and painted and now awaits floor polishing and the finishing enamel paint touches. 

The master bedroom is a deeper grey than this photo shows. 

Another peek of the wallpaper, found beneath the carpet in the master.

Cohen's bedroom, which we intended to paint the same colour as the nursery, but the colour threw too much lavender. Instead we mixed the paint left from the other two bedrooms to create this soft grey.

Things had been running smoothly, until we pulled up the carpet and discovered the underlay in Cohen's room and the lounge has somehow melted to the floorboards and now requires many hours of scraping to remove.

As I have said, however long you think something will take, double it. 

And then, maybe double it again.

Less than two weeks now until our intended move in day. 

My fingers are still crossed.

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Happy Monday folks! Time for a renovation progress post. This past week the tiler has been hard at work tiling the bathroom and painting has begun.

We also sat down and wrote a list of all the things that need to be undertaken before we can move in and, well, writing it down surely made it seem a lot bigger than what was in my head. But I am enthusiastically, but possibly impossibly, working towards moving in in three weeks time. Though the dates are somewhat dependent on the movements of the plasterer, floor polisher, electrician, plumber and carpenter of course. Some things will have to wait until we move in, such as the laundry and installing the new eaves. But I just want to get into my new house and get all our things out of boxes!

(Before)

Once the plasterer returns to install the cornicing in the bathroom, the ceiling can be painted and the rest of the fixtures can be installed.

Like the shaving cabinet doors, vanity, shower screen, taps, towel rails, toilet, lighting... as well as the door.

(Before)

Saturday I spent the day sugar soaping the walls of the entire upstairs level, while Dave started cutting in with the undercoat. I've never heard a man complain quite so much as my dear husband does with a paint brush in his hand. However, the budget does not extend far enough to include hiring a painter. Thankfully turning the music up and the promise of beer upon completion kept him going.

So much more painting to go...

(Before)

I just love this little bit of wall paper we uncovered behind the power point in the master.

Now there is a week of painting ahead of us. 

Previous renovation posts - one, two, three, four, five and original house tour.

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Progress...

The ceiling has been removed throughout the entire top floor of the house, leaving behind the usually hidden beams, wires and whirlybirds. And the arch has been demolished as well. Fare thee well arch!

Test patches of paint colours are dabbed here and there. Choosing paint colours is more difficult than I remember...

The bathroom has been gutted, in preparation for asbestos removal. It is likely that as well as the bathroom, the eaves, shed, laundry walls and hardiplank cladding on the outside of the upper level all contain asbestos, which will all be removed. It is legal in Australia to remove it yourself, but for safety reasons we will be hiring an A grade licensed asbestos demolition company. There is a really informative article on asbestos in Australia here. It is an added expense and a pain, but at the end of the day we want our house to be asbestos free.

And a note for anyone thinking of renovating or buying an older house, any house pre-1990 could contain asbestos. Any board or cladding could contain asbestos. Breathing in the tiny asbestos dust particles when drilling, sanding or removing the board could lead to long term health problems like lung cancer. Building inspections carried out during the purchasing process do not report on asbestos. Only a licenced asbestos demolition company will be able to identify asbestos and remove and dispose of it safely. 

I shall report back next Monday on the ongoing progress.