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. 

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?