New Photos

I still don't have all my accessories, but I have changed a couple of things, so here's the new photo. If anyone has any ideas what I should do with the open shelf on the top right hand side............ideas are most welcome. I like having the glasses handy, but find all of them up there a bit boring looking. Mmmmm, maybe I need some new wine glasses lol.........

So close..........

I can nearly feel like it will feel when it's all done. I can sort of walk into my kitchen. Keeping to certain parts of certain tiles. I have dinner on, a Korma Chicken Curry in the crock pot that I just had to brown off in the fry pan first. I did that tip toeing everywhere, and then washed up and then I have to wipe out the sink cupboard, because it's not all closed off now because the dishwasher is still unconnected. Tomorrow it will be sealed, I don't know when or how I am going to get dinner organized tomorrow night. Dancing is on tomorrow and I was itching to go. At this stage, I am not so sure. If I can't get dinner organized quickly and efficiently then dancing is a non event. It's just an added stress if I am prancing around getting cranky because I want to go out. Not fair on the rest of the household. We will see..........

The floor is filthy with mortar, so when I walk everywhere on the slate, it crunches underfoot. Ooooh, how nice will it be when I can mop it over and have it all spotless again..........

Don't get me wrong, I am not whinging................just grateful that normalcy is looming close!

It's nearly done and dusted..........

I am very excited about my kitchen, and just love everything about it. In hindsight, the only thing I would change is that I would have put one power point in a slightly different spot. I am very happy that that's the only thing I would change..............such a minor inconsequential thing.

I am however, over it!~~ over the dust, the dirt, not being able to walk where I want, having crap around, having to dust and clean, and dust and clean, and dust and clean ~~ ad nauseaum!!!

I won't have my dishwasher or direct access to my sink, stove and drawers, fruit bowl.................as the slate is glued, but unwalkable, and the grout takes place tomorrow, so I MAY be able to tippy toe on it tomorrow night. It still needs sealing.........do I dare to hope it will be walkable on Tuesday night. I want my husband to have some time off~ he has worked so hard the last couple of months, and, for the most part, still did his second job as well. I am so lucky to have a man who works so hard and who is bothered to make my dream come true. I said to him one day that he was building the kitchen for me! He said 'I am building it for both of us.' I answered, 'But if I didn't want a beautiful, big kitchen, you wouldn't be building it.' He answered..........
'No - you are right, I wouldn't be building it otherwise..........'

Now that's love!!

My beautiful Kitchen

When we have a drink of an evening, we just sit and face the kitchen, so we can admire it. I haven't uploaded any pictures in the last little bit, because all the work that has been done, is time consuming, but doesn't look any different on a photo. The plastering work was extremely tedious and has been the most painful part of the whole project. Mind you, even now with the slate going down I am still looking (and touching) at dust all around me, and I cleaned, dusted and vacuumed yesterday.............It's just oozing dust - my house that is.

Peter has painted and done the wall tiles this week. It looks fantastic. Today he has started with the slate floor. This is a little difficult as you can't walk on the area, and after its been sealed, the whole house needs to be open and we all need to be out, because it is quite strong and probably toxic to breathe in for a long time.

Things I love about my kitchen
* I can bake and have all my ingredients out, while mixing and have the trays ready, all on the same counter top.
* I am anally retentive enough, that I love stacking the dishwasher. It's quite a challenge seeing how you can fit everything in. It's a great dishwasher too.
* My oven cooks so evenly and doesn't make a horrible noise when the gas flares. (The oven is electric and the cooktop is gas)
* Having everything in drawers means I am accessing things I didn't use before, because they were too difficult to get. Do you believe, I actually have a baking cupboard which has all bowls, measuring cups, sifters etc in it.
* The bench tops are so easy to wipe down. Even biscuit dough doesn't stick and slide all over it when you wipe up.
* No more cooking smells. The rangehood is awesome. I love the light over my cooktop too.
* I can set my timer on the oven and it doesn't just go 'ding' and then you can forget to turn it off because you happen to be on the toilet when it 'dings'. It beeps until you turn it off, so I can even hop into the shower. I can also set the clock for a min (I don't hop into the shower then lol) and it works. The timer on the old stove only worked if I put in over five mins.......not very practical when baking.
* A huge pantry! I can't wait to get all my Tupperware from downstairs and organize my pantry properly.

Peter and I sit there every night and admire the kitchen. It's really special. We have never, ever had anything that great, and I have never had anything before where I have been able to choose everything. I love how it turned out. I love the colours and I love the 'feel' of it. Peter paid me a huge compliment the other night, and said I should be an interior designer, because everything I picked works so well together. Needless to say I was quite touched by that remark.

I will post another photo when I have some new accessories
* new jug
* window furnishings
* anything else that matches.

Kitchenart Begins

The guys fronted up around 8am on Wednesday morning and didn't leave until after 7pm that night. They worked so hard. It took over three hours just to get the kicks level in order for them to be able to put the cupboards on top. The pantry was built in my new dining area, as it's too big to be able to fit through the front door. Terry came back on Thursday and finished the kitchen. He fitted the rangehood too. At one stage on Wednesday afternoon, we had the plumber, the gas fitter and the kitchen guys all doing their thing.......

We had take away on the Tuesday and Wednesday night. Not bad considering we thought we would be without a kitchen for a few weeks at least! I will upload some photos of the guys putting the kitchen in. I will upload the 'after' shots in a couple of weeks when all the painting and tiling is done.

My little 'kitchen bubble' was burst on Friday when Mickey shot himself in the foot with the nail gun...........so forgive me if this post isn't as 'bubbly' as one would expect. I was on such a high still on Friday and then whammo.............. If you want details, I have more on my other blog.

Updated photos

Removing the kitchen

View from new door, with some of the new kickboards.

View from front door.........look how far back it goes now. You can also see the partial wall, the fridge will be gone from there, you can still see the back of it. It will be open right through, when the fridge goes back to the new spot.

Some of the mess.......

What a day!

Gosh, what a day! I thought today was the lull before the storm, but, alas the storm has already begun. I though I'd take some time out in the morning to have my hair trimmed and my nails done. I even went to the gym.

I checked my voicemaiL as I was leaving the gym, to a message from Paul saying that the boys wanted to drop the new kitchen around!!! YIKES!! The old kitchen was still very much there. So, in a panic I rang Peter and he came home, and, with Opa's help, and even Grant's (the plumber, who is a good friend) they pulled the kitchen out so it's living on the front lawn.........looks very charming I might add.

Since the gym/nails/hair,
I have
* unpacked the pantry, trying hard to keep out necessities like tomatoe sauce, tea, milo etc.
* helped with removal of kitchen and stove
* put crap absolutely on every spare cm of my dining. and lounge area......
* vacuumed and mopped floors (twice!!) and last night all that once.
* washed dishes in laundry trough
* attended parent/teacher interview
* took kidlets to Maccy D's
* took older kidlets to footy training
* showered
* mopped and vacuumed (that was the second time today)
* did Mickey's homework with him......(very quickly)
* removed junk from kitchen table so we could eat it, because my planned picnic on the living room floor can't happen, because there isn't much floor left!!
* poured small glass of wine and sat down to write in blog............
* Peter is picking up kidlets and dinner.................

I will upload photos later. Peter is still putting up cornices and architraves, so that at least around the kitchen is done........oh I forgot to mention, the new kitchen cupboards are also being stored in my kitchen, to save them time in the morning....... I hope breakfast isn't a drama in the morning, although, with my kids........mmmm............who knows!!

Progress and a big oooooooppps!!!!

The kitchen wall which is adjacent to the lounge, was removed today. And he took the whole wall, and forgot that it was stopping a metre from the other wall. Thank goodness I was there, otherwise the gyprock would have been gone from both sides. He was a bit peeaved with himself of course, because he just created himself more work. I am really happy I was here all day, imagine if I had come home and seen the whole thing was gone, studs and all!!! Anyway, like most things, there's a positive and the electrical wires can be easily moved now to their new positions, which will save us money and the electrician won't have to go up into the roof. During the day, I didn't let the renos cause me any inconvenience. Ages ago a dear friend of mine told me about packet profiteroles, so today I made them. Unfortunately the kidlets don't like them. Peter and I think they are just divine! Now who would like to come and have one for morning tea one morning this week???

Here are some photos.

I caved in........

I caved in, and I vacuumed. I can't have the electrician come tomorrow morning and see that my carpet needs vacuuming now can I???

More new photos soon

I don't have any new photos yet, because there's nothing else much exciting happened. The floor is now totally glued and nailed down, which is great. It's been great having everything all closed this week. The little house is cosy again. I will have some more photos though on the weekend. The electrician is coming tomorrow, so then Peter can do the ceiling sheets, and we are also cutting out the wall which is adjacent to the lounge room on Sunday. So I am not dusting or vaccuuming until it's all done. We are going to cover everything of course, I don't want plaster dust in the new carpet or on the new lounge, or in my albums and books.

This week Peter also put up the battens for the ceiling plaster sheets. He worked in the afternoon/evening of the day that I worked, as he had to pick up the kids, so that was good. It means he can play golf today.

The house is lockable again

Today was another productive day on the Schimak-Orrell Construction Site. My Dad came around and lent a helping hand as Peter put the door into its new position. We are so lucky that we could use the old door. It would have saved us at least $500 and that's going on the cost of the window that we bought (which wasn't originally planned, but because a dear friend suggested we might need it, we took heed of her advice and I am so glad we did). Peter had to do some alterations to the door so that it fit into the space. He clad outside, so the hardiplank is up and he laid down the floor. He hasn't adhered it yet, but it's lying on the ground, so the cold stays out. Tomorrow he needs to buy the adhesive, ring the electrician and ring the plumber.

I have to ring Paul Bell, with some questions........

Tiles, lights and wetting the beam

On Thursday Mum, Dad and I went looking at lights and tiles. We were lucky and came across a couple of really helpful sales assistants. The lady in the Beacon Lighting store was fabulous. She went out of her way to give me ideas and to help with measuring and working out what would be best. Because we have a beam going through the room, the lighting situation becomes quite tricky as light can't travel under it easily, nor can we have downlights because there isn't the ceiling clearance in the new part. I will go back and buy the lights from that store. Peter is happy with what I chose. They are not the prettiest of lights, but they look smart and are practical and they weren't expensive either. It means I can't have my pendant light anymore. I will sell it - it's only six months old - so it's a shame. Especially as it took me five years before I could even buy a light fitting!

I also went looking at tiles. The lady in Metro Tiles was very helpful with design ideas and combinations. I fell in love with a glass tile, which was hideously expensive (of course!). I opted for white, long and narrow tiles (400mmx100mm) and an accent tile of sea green glass tiles which are just gorgeous.

I have a few photos to upload. You will see everything from Peter using the angle grinder to grind off nails, to the lights, tiles and also the beam getting bashed into place.

I can't remember if I mentioned it the other day, but the appliances are coming on the 13th June...........it's so close now.

I will ring Paul Bell on Monday to tell him that, plus to ask him the height of the splashback. I think it's 600mm over the bench and 800mm over the stove.

I will scan and upload the bench colour too........ I am hoping I am not going too white. Especially as I love colour. I don't want my kitchen to date. It's going to be such a focal piece in my home, I don't want it to look daggy and stand out in ten years time, because I went bright. I want clean, bright, modern, spacious.........and just gorgeous.

If you are taking the time to read this blog, please leave comments as Peter will read it when it's done. It will be nice for both of us to look back on.

It's getting serious

The cabinetmaker came on Monday and took the final measurements. It's all really happening now. I went yesterday and picked out my laminate colours for the doors and benchtops. I came home from the gym yesterday and smashed down tiles off the walls. I had a great time bashing at those hideous tiles. I have quite a few photos to upload. Hopefully the will be in some kind of chronological order.........who knows what blogger will do with them. I have also uploaded some pics of the outside, so you can see that the verandah is built in.

The door has now come out. Up until today it was only the window gone, now the door too. It was freezing this morning, and tomorrow will be more cold....... I am pleased we started this when we did and not a month down the track. I got home from dancing and Bunny was sitting with the heater on, and in flanellette pjs and dressing gown..........it was quite cold!!

I have also packed up my kitchen, the dinner set, glassware, tupperware, and extra tupperware, saucepans, elec appliances and bakeware. The pantry is the only full thing left and most of the drawers, which I figure I can just lift out. The boxes are standing in the lounge/dining, but we can manage with the disruption for the benefits that it will give us.

I need to pick out tiles. I also need to speak to a lighting person, because having a beam through the middle of the room, means I can't have my existing light moved. I don't know what I will do, may well go to downlights all through....

Lots of progress

I am happy now that things are progressing quite quickly. My dear husband has realized this can't be a weekend job and the quicker it gets done the better........thank goodness lol. I had visions of it not being done till Christmas!! Not quite, but you get my drift. Dh is very lucky to work for some great people who have given him time off so he can come home and build. He is able to log the hours and take them as holiday pay, while still doing the main part of his work in the morning. I love digital photography and being able to take shots at every step of the way. I have uploaded photos of the original kitchen window being moved into its new spot. I have also take photos of the mess! I did an Opa, and cleaned and vacuumed as soon as the window was removed.

* My Dad had the cleanest building site ever when he and Mum built their home about 20 years ago. And I am nearly as bad...........or now that it's come into the house, I will try and keep it as clean as I can - the dust is already over all my freshly dusted surfaces...........oh and the worst is still to come, when the plaster wall comes down.

On the weekend the hardiplank is being put up on the outside.........woohooo.......

Big Ooooops

You can never undertake a project without an oops or two. I have photos here which show that the ply is up on the outside of the building. I actually had to hold the ply in place at times, while Bunny was perched on some slats of wood..........my stomach felt ill! I can't watch him doing stuff like that so far up in the air. Anyway it's all up now, so that's good.

He picked up the window today.......................and measured to see how much packing he'd need, and discovered the window was too big!!! Hence the chiselling into the window frame. He was very upset, but I must hand it to him, he stayed calm and didn't swear. Maybe it helped that I was calm and didn't swear either. As his articulate friend Gary said, 'There are no such things as f**k ups, there are just adjustments!'

More hours spent

It's starting to look a bit like a room now. The framing up is complete. The ply is going on the outside next. The second window has been ordered this morning, after we couldn't find a good second hand one. I am happy about that, I don't like secondhand stuff, especially if it's crappy. I will be real excited once the wall is removed and the kitchen guy can come and measure up for the kitchen properly.

The work has begun

It has begun, I am living the start of the kitchen dream.

Bunny started ripping up the verandah yesterday and putting in the new floor joists.

I thought I would use a seperate blog, so I could keep an accurate account in one place. I love the age of digital. I can take as many photos as I want, and it doesn't cost anything.

Here are some photos taken from yesterday.