I've been absent from the blog but those of you following on Instagram will know that we have moved home!  As you can imagine, life has been quite hectic so it has been easier to post quick pics.  But my new toy is set up now and there's a lot to catch up on!

Our study nook.

Almost two weeks ago now we had our handover meeting and received the keys to our home!  A wave of satisfaction, relief and excitement washed over me as I walked through each room.  All of the trials were forgotten and I was thrilled with the finished result.  Well, almost finished.  We were still waiting on the bathroom bench tops and some lights and the painters needed to complete the exterior.  But nothing was going to stop us from moving in now!

Master H making himself at home during the handover meeting.

We got Mini Movers in to move the contents of the shipping container back into the house and did countless trips in the cars from the rental property.  We were very grateful that some lovely friends helped with the move and the grandparents took the children for a sleep over.

The first of many loads.

I had visions of Hubby and I enjoying our tradition of takeaway and champagne on our first night in the house but we spent the night cleaning the rental property and collapsed into bed at 1am!

I only took a few photos before we filled the house with boxes.  I'll share some pics of the completed rooms when they are not so messy!

Welcome home!

Home Sweet Home!

The initial duration given for our renovation was 14 weeks but we are still going!  While I know that 14 weeks really is a short period for the amount of work required it is disappointing that we can't move back in yet.  I had really hoped to be home for Miss O's 1st birthday this Friday.  We have experienced a couple of delays in the arrival of some materials and fixtures and last week we had a disaster with the kitchen island benchtop that had me wishing it was all over!  But the benchtop will be replaced and we have adjusted our orders to ensure the items we urgently require will arrive on time.  Now we have been given a practical completion date of 24th October.  1 more week!  So here's an overdue update on the last two week's progress...



Brick piers demolished

 

Temporary steel beams put in place

New internal doors hung

Airconditioning penetrations cut

Caesarstone benchtops installed in the kitchen.

Ensuite vanity cabinet installed

Loving it!

  

Back door and windows blocked in on ground floor

New steel posts concreted in

And all of this while the painters soldiered on to complete the massive task of painting the interior.

Can you believe we move in next weekend?  I'm not convinced!

I think I have the renovation blues this week.  Combine a severe case of decision fatigue (Ref.-Bungalow Girl), returning to work, no daycare placement for Miss O, a heat wave with all of my summer clothes packed away in the shipping container, 3 out of 4 of us being sick plus a couple of disappointments on site and I'm left feeling very weary!  But seeing our front door handle installed was a reminder that it won't be much longer before we return to our home and our life returns to normal.

Much of this week involved the builders completing the sheeting, adding the mouldings and installing the wardrobes.



New VJs for the guest bedroom wall.

 

Miss O's Bedroom door frame.

Miss O's Wardrobe.

Master Bedroom Robes and Ensuite.

 

The ensuite was lined ready for waterproofing, the installation of the vanity and tiling.  I am really looking forward to seeing the hexagon marble mosiac tiles laid.  This week I decided on some wall sconces that will look great above the vanity.

 





The retreat area windows have also been trimmed nicely to frame some more wall sconces.

The final cabinets were added to the kitchen so it is now ready for the benchtops to be installed.

For now I will dream about the house being complete and enjoying this lovely family living area.

  

I have shared the inspiration for our new kitchen and now I'd like to show you our selections and plans.  As I mentioned in my previous post we were keen to reuse as much as possible of our existing kitchen which was only three years old.  So our finishes are the same except the kitchen walls are now 1/4 strength rather than full strength Dulux 'White Duck' and white 100x200mm subway tiles will be added to the splashback.

Our fittings include our existing LG refrigerator, Miele appliances and Phoenix tap but we are upgrading to a larger double bowl Clark 'Monaco' undermount sink.

I am pleased that the extension to our house has opened up the kitchen area and allowed us to incorporate an island bench and study area.  We have also been able to add a broom cupboard and additional storage beside the pantry.


Our design was restrained by the desire to reuse as much of the existing kitchen as possible.  Careful planning allowed us to reuse all but three of our existing cabinets in the new design.  We are also able to reuse two of the three Caesarstone benchtops.  Existing cabinets are marked with dashed lines in the drawings below.

Study and Kitchen Southern Wall



Kitchen Western Wall

Kitchen Island Bench

Installation of the study and kitchen commenced last week and it is great to see our plans come to life.
 

The study and kitchen so far.

What a week!  Big progress with painting and the kitchen this week and a very busy time as I returned to work on Monday.  Now I am very much looking forward to moving back home and life returning to normal!  So I'll keep this post brief and let the pictures speak for themselves.

The painters starting adding colour to the front exterior.

The facade is looking better all the time!

The painters got busy on the interior walls of the kitchen, dining, lounge area.

Completing necessary painting before the installation of the kitchen and study nook.

The first rough sand was completed.

The new and old sanded floors in the hallway.

And wait for it...

 

The cabinet makers have started installing the study nook and kitchen.



Just a few more cabinets to add to the kitchen.

 

Study nook ready for benchtop installation.



The interior is starting to look complete with the addition of mouldings this week.  140mm skirting boards and 93mm architraves set off the windows and VJ walls beautifully in the extension area (kitchen, study, dining and lounge).  The ceilings are 3.2m high so the picture rail breaks up the wall nicely and will act as a crown moulding above the kitchen and study cabinetry.

  

 

We decided to remove the dado rail from the guest bedroom (as it was the only room in the house that had one) only to discover a split in the VJs.  So new full length VJs will need to be installed.  At least we were able to add insulation to the western wall in the process. 

To allow the builders to finish the internal wall lining and mouldings we needed to purchase and install our wardrobe inserts for our main bedroom.  The plan is to have one main clothing robe in the bedroom and a walk-through shoe and accessories robe between the bedroom and ensuite.
 

We decided to use the Pax and Komplement products from Ikea.  They have a great online planner that allowed us to play with designs and create a product list before heading instore.  This made processing our order at 6:15pm (45 minutes before closing) with two hungry and tired little people in tow very helpful indeed!  We ended up with 45 boxes and Hubby M did an amazing job of getting them all into the back of the ute and into the house!
 

    

 

The painters are still working their magic on the exterior of the house.  The facade has been primed and is looking great.  Not long now until the brick work disappears and work begins on the ground floor.