(Long) Weekending

Before shot here.

Before shot here.

Things to do...

Paint over purple closet doors

Give in to temptation and paint nursery furniture white

Sand, stain and varnish hand rail

Buy new fittings and hang handrail

Install 99 cent ebay light in dining room

Replace door hinges and stoppers

Hang closet doors

Go shopping all alone while children sleep

Order door knobs (top left)

Thank sister for all her help

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(I shall be back again this evening to draw the lovely Gretchenmist prints giveaway.)

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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Another item has been crossed off our long list of renovations. Tree lopping is complete. Despite starting a little veggie patch in one corner, we were yet to really start on the yard, having concentrated on the house instead. Before we could turn some of our plans into reality we needed to remove the neglected, unwanted and problem trees, giving us a clean slate to build upon. 

The past two days the tree loppers have been hard at work. Gone now are seven huge palm trees and their clusters of nuts. (I've never been a fan of palms, especially when they are taking up perfectly good space that could be used from a more productive plant, like a blueberry.) Gone too the pine tree out the front that had grown so tall and difficult, between two sets of power lines. And gone, the beautiful tree in our back yard that was sadly just too big and too close to the house for comfort. It's such a shame. It was a lovely tree, better suited to a paddock or a park than a suburban yard. Especially given it's habit of first shedding all it's leaves and then shedding all it's bark and dropping large branches. The grass, the gutters, the neighbours pool, none shall miss it I'm afraid. Thankfully the timber from the trunk and branches has been saved for a friend on property with a wood burning fire.

Not without drama, one wrong cut sent a large branch into the neighbours fence, though thankfully it has since been fixed. Sadly, a few stray branches also swiped at my little veggie patch, laying low my corn and tomato plants. I'm yet to fully inspect the damage. Though I'm hoping a little extra love and care will recover some of my first crop.

The yard has been transformed by the removal of the trees and have left us with space and light to begin slowly transforming the space, adding more veggie gardens, a chicken house, a shed, a water tank etc. As well as new trees and shrubs that are more appropriate for the size of our yard. A decision not to be made lightly in light of the cost of making the wrong choice!

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We celebrated the New Year a midst the company of friends and family (and a friendly possum). Though we welcomed it tucked up in our beds, woken by the dog at midnight, barking at the fireworks. These first days of the new year have been spent about the house. Dave has been felling trees and working in the garden, generally after a morning surf. I have been pottering, planting seeds, nesting, knitting, reading and playing in the studio, as there have been some new additions.

Coralie Bickford-Smith designed Penguin Classics

On Christmas morning there was a rather large box under the tree with my name on it. A surprise from my sweet husband. I had mentioned to him in passing that I thought the Coralie Bickford-Smith cloth bound series was beautiful. This information he filed away until the lead up to Christmas, where he called and visited many a bookshop in the City to secretly amass this collection. I had not a clue as to any of this and was delighted Christmas day to be surrounded by the most wonderful books. (Another two books are still making their way by post!)

Which lead us to the first addition to the studio. Such lovely books surely deserved shelves of their own I thought, to which my husband agreed, even braving Ikea on his own to retrieve these Lack shelves. My search for a sofa bed to add extra comfort and practicality to the space lead to the next addition. I was thrilled to win this darling for only 99 cents on ebay, which folds out to a double bed.

I'm loving how this space is coming together. A light shade, a rug, some more frames, perhaps a coat of paint on the sewing table, and it will be close to being finished for a time. One day we plan to have the concrete floor polished also.

The details - The trio of prints are by Gretchenmist, the hanging tray and white frame were thrifted, the wooden hand is from Typo and a gift from my sister, the white chair was a free road side find, the camera on the shelf is my trusty Minolta from my Uni days, the white head statue beside it I brought back from Athens, the vintage sewing baskets on the shelf below are thrifted, as are the other baskets in these shots, the pillow is a thrifted gift from my sister and the throw is a crochet one I made.

PS. Don't forget to enter the Shabby Apple giveaway. The winner will be drawn on Thursday.

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The last of the three bed rooms. This is the progress in the nursery so far, though it won't be finished until after the baby is born and we know the sex. Then we can finish decorating. In the meantime we are keeping it quite plain and neutral. This was how the room looked when we brought the house, this is how it looked after receiving a new ceiling, new paint, as well as having the carpets removed and the floor boards polished.

And this is how it is looking now-

The cot and change table were both Cohen's. The cot we brought from ebay, the change table from Ikea. The glass light cover was thrifted for $2.

This sweet old chair was my Grandmothers, the cushion was thrifted, the doll hiding in the cot was mine as a child.

This wardrobe is another ebay find we brought recently for $40. One day it will receive a new coat of paint and some new handles. And that little vintage dress? Well, I could not resist it and as we have Cohen's things should this baby be a boy, it seemed only fair to have a few things just in case it is a girl.

Thrifted 'Baby' embroidered pillowcase, baby shoes and vase. Porcelain bird house from Spotlight.

And a few more vintage dresses inside, just in case...

This room is also waiting on curtains and a rug. I can't wait to fill those little empty frames after baby is born. I have my eye out for a lamp table and a nice lamp, as well as a mobile. I love walking into this space though and imagining welcoming our new little one come March.

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The house tour continues with progress photos of our bedroom. This was our bedroom before the renovations, and these are during, while this is how our room is looking now -

The closet doors have been removed, undercoated and are half way through being painted with white enamel. (To cover the original layer of purple paint.) I am looking forward to hanging them again so I don't have to keep looking at the contents of our closets.

We still have a vintage sheet in lieu of a curtain, until we find the right ones and the budget allows. I'm looking forward to finding lamps for the bedside tables and adding a shelf above the bed to display our photos, prints and nick-nacks. I'm yet to find the right lamps though.

This lovely old piece of furniture was given to us by the parents of a friend. They knew I loved old furniture and no longer had room for it. The story is that their grandfather made this for his intended fiance as a gift and they were married for many many years.

A Kitty Horton original, a Black Apple print and a Cartier-Bresson postcard of Matisse from our recent trip to the Queensland Art Gallery.

Again, the skirting boards need painting and of course we need curtains. We're on the look out for an interesting light fitting, lamps and new handles for the closet doors. But I am loving the simplicity of grey, white and wood.