As the builders continue to progress at a rapid pace our days of living in the house are numbered.  It won't be long until work begins inside the existing house and it would be good for the builders to have the option of working indoors with all of this wet weather.   It was also timely to have my Mum's 60th birthday this week so I decided to pack up the kids and drive to Emerald to surprise Mum.  We will stay here for a couple of weeks while Hubby M bunks down and finishes packing up the last contents of the house.

Enjoying sunny and warm Emerald.

It was a huge effort to sort and pack the items that we would need not only for the next two weeks in Emerald but for the next 3 months until the house is completed.  Add in two sick children, a kindy open day, more rain and a 14 hour drive to Emerald and it was a hectic week with very little sleep.  Of course it rained the day that Hubby M needed to move the remaining large items out of the house!  Fortunately he had the help of some lovely friends and relatives and many hands made light work.

Hubby M's efforts to combat the mud and rain.

At least the excitement of our back deck kept us motivated.  We're really happy with the addition of the balustrades and valance.  I just can't wait to remove the garden shed and plant a lovely tree in the back corner of the yard!

  

The wall frame on the western wall will be extended up to meet the bottom of the valance rather than have a gap between the two.  I hope this is the right decision.  I'm still undecided on whether to line the inside of this wall with FC sheet or chamferboard.

The scaffolding arrived and reinforced that it really was time for me and the kids to move out!  I'm still not sure where we will live when we return from Emerald. Any suggestions of a fully furnished apartment we can rent for a couple of months in Brisbane???

 

In 2006 we took the opportunity to upgrade from our first home to a property closer to the city.  We purchased a lovely little Queenslander from its original owner.  The house was very much showing its age and in need of a makeover!  The house is located in a DCP (Demolition Control Precinct) so any plans had to meet specific guidelines to maintain the character and architectural style of the home and be approved by Council.  And while the house was on a 579sqm block it was subject to the Residential Design Small Lot Code because it had an average block width of less than 15 meters.  We stayed on in our first home and left the house unoccupied for 6 months while we planned our renovation with a builder.    



Our first goal was to relocate the one and only toilet from a cupboard (on carpet!!!) in the second bedroom and close off the tiny opening allowing access from the kitchen.



What were they thinking?



Other than that, there were no major surprises or issues to deal with.  We chose to open back up the front verandah that had been enclosed at some point and close off the side sleepout to create a third bedroom or study.  We removed the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen and dining areas and added a back deck and new rear stairs.  It was an expensive exercise to replace all of the aluminium windows with traditional timber double hung windows but well worth it.  We saved money where we could by opting to paint the interior (never again!), replace the battens under the house, erect a garage and fences plus landscape ourselves.  We organised our own contractors to paint the exterior, do the tiling and polish the floors to make more savings.  It was a busy three years of hard work but we were more than happy with the results.

We completed the landscaping just as I became pregnant with our first child.  Perfect timing to relax and enjoy our family home!  But then we spotted the 'For Sale' sign on a house a few doors down the street...  and as if welcoming our first child into the world wasn't enough to worry about, we purchased another property and listed our home for sale.  I must say it was interesting having real estate agents visit us at the Mater Mothers Hospital to sign contracts and breastfeeding in the car while our house was open for inspection!  We negotiated a 60 day settlement on the sale of our house so that we had this period of time to renovate the new house up to a liveable state for Baby Master H.  Looking back, I don't know how we survived!  We were crazy to inflict this upon ourselves but I'm glad we secured a great property.
  

4 week old Master H and our Family Home.



As I've mentioned earlier, it was a long process to decide upon our plan and proceed with the renovation.  Upon purchase we completed a mini renovation inside the house so that it was comfortable for us to live in with our newborn Master H.  But that is a story for another time!  We were keen to experience life in the house to decide if we would stay long term and have a feel for how the house 'worked' before completing any major works.  Of course we wanted to make the best financial decision too. 

Existing Floor Plan

Before long it was very obvious what didn't work in the house!  It was difficult for visitors to locate the entry to the house with two doors on the lower level beside the garage door and two bedrooms with french doors opening on to the front verandah.  The 'front' door was the last place you would think!  All the doors plus the wardrobe made it difficult to fit a queen-size bed in the main bedroom.  The living room and kitchen were too hot with the afternoon sun and too dark and stuffy with the blinds drawn.  Clearly, the layout needed to change.

But the big question was whether to raise the house and build under or extend to the rear of the property.  We took full advantage of Hubby M's skills as a Mechnical Services Draftsman and would spend any spare time drawing up possible floor plans.  30 at last count! 

Originally we thought it would be most economical to leave the ground floor for parking and storage and add a master bedroom, ensuite and deck to the first floor.   We were keen to maintain high ceilings and a nice roofline so the existing roof needed to be removed right back to the top of the hip.  However when we received quotes for this plan we decided the big cost of re-roofing wasn't worth the small gain of floor space.  One of the builders who quoted suggested it would be more value for money to raise the house and build under.

 

So after a few more months and many more plans we came up with a good design for two levels that worked with the existing structure as much as possible.  Three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study/playroom on the upper level and kitchen, dining, living, forth bedroom, laundry and bathroom on the lower level.  A separate garage would need to be built in the front yard.  We thought we were on to a real winner with a structural engineer reporting that we could keep the existing slab and block walls...  

...until the quotes came in.  This time the hidden cost was in all of the earthworks and retaining walls required and the overall price was not viable. 

Megan Matsuoka Print - Etsy

Back to the drawing board!  By this stage I was pregnant with our second child and well and truly over house plans.  But I was even more fed up with living in a half-renovated, old house!  So we persisted with more late evenings on AutoCAD and committed ourselves to finding the best layout even if it meant undoing/redoing our existing work on the house.  And finally we settled on this plan. I had to laugh when I noticed Hubby M had named the AutoCAD file 'Final really this time.dwg'!



Level 1 Floor Plan

Ground Floor Plan

Front Elevation

Back Elevation

So what do you think?

This renovation has been a very long time coming!  After over three years of researching, designing, pricing, redesigning, pricing again and fine tuning work has finally begun on the house!


My view when I arrived home for the day.

I never thought I would be so excited to see a skip bin in my front yard.  I may have done a happy dance all the way up the driveway!  The renovation will start with an extension to the back of the house.



The existing back of the house upon purchase in 2010.

So the first job was a bit of demolition.

Builder B hard at work removing the existing dodgy deck.



And the deck is gone!

It is so exciting to see some real progress after years of drawing countless plans.  But more on that later.

Master H inspecting the progress.

Welcome to our Family H.O.M.E.  Our family includes Toddler Master H, Baby Miss O, Hubby M and me, Mum E. 

Hubby M, Mum E, Baby O and Master H

We reside in a Queenslander house 6kms south of Brisbane's CBD that is ripe for renovation!

Our Family Home

Pinterest and a few favourite blogs have been a huge inspiration and wealth of knowledge in creating our family home.  I first stumbled across the blogging world through The House that A-M Built.  Here I found great home design ideas and beautiful interiors.  It was especially helpful to read about another local house project in Brisbane.   A-M's blogroll led me to a wonderful selection of blogs.  The Georgica Pond blog is serious eye candy!  I really hit the jackpot when I read Fun and VJ's post about Queenslander house renovation blogs and was introduced to Bungalow Bliss, West End Cottage and Crazy House Capers.  

I must admit that I've been a 'lurker' in the blogosphere for quite some time, happily observing but not participating.  With a bit of help from Katrina from the Block's excellent tutorials, I've taken the plunge and created this little blog and I'm finally ready to contribute to this generous online community.  I hope you can join me on my journey of renovating and decorating plus all the joys that family life can bring.   I look forward to your comments and help along the way.  Oh, and join me on Instagram and Pinterest for more fun!

What blogs inspire you?

Are you a lurker like I was?  Go on, leave a comment.  I dare you!  ;-)