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.