Naomi V Photography



Our precious baby girl is now 1!  It really doesn't seem that long ago that we welcomed gorgeous little (or should I say chubby 9lb 10oz?!) Miss O to our family.  We were overwhelmed with joy to be blessed with a daughter and very thankful for her safe arrival after I fell down our front stairs when I was 38 weeks pregnant.



Luisa Dunn Photography

She was born with so much beautiful dark brown hair and had the most delightful chubby arms and the cutest round ears.  We marvelled at her wee little curled up legs and long toes.  She was indeed wonderfully made!

 

Luisa Dunn Photography

Master H was thrilled to meet Miss O.  He correctly guessed and had maintained the entire pregnancy that he was to have a baby sister.  His affection and protection of her is beautiful.  It is a joy to watch their relationship develop.  She loves to giggle with him. 

 

Miss O is a delight.  A beautiful, placid baby who is growing up way too fast!  She is now crawling and starting to pull herself up on furniture.  She likes to dance, giggle and read books.

We are so glad that she is part of our family.  Happy birthday darling girl!



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!

It's time to sell off all of our old doors and windows.  We will be listing the items elsewhere but I thought I would give any renovators following the blog the first opportunity to grab one of our pieces.  Please share this post with anyone you think might be interested.  Of course all items are in Brisbane and sold as is.

760x1940mm



1 of 3 - 810x2010mm



815x2025mm

4 available 620x2340mm

1030x2050mm

740x2070mm

1005x2125mm



My favourite door!  Wish we could have used this somewhere.  :-(  930x2090mm



2 of 3 810x2010mm

3 of 3 810x2010mm



6 - 515x1040mm and 2 - 460x900mm



1200x600mm

5 sets - 900x1500mm overall

Are you ready for the good, the bad and the ugly this week?  Firstly, the addition of the final mouldings and breezeways has the interior looking beautiful!  The painters have started the huge task of prep work in the existing part of the house so I will definitely deliver more of their favourite baked treats this week!

Now brace yourself for the bad.  I was initially excited to see work commence in the ensuite with the waterproofing being added but on closer inspection it appeared that our shower area was incorrect.  Rather than sticking to the FC sheet area they continued waterproofing over the VJ sheeting.  The waterstop angle where the shower screen is meant to meet the floor at 900x1500mm was fixed at 1000x1800mm!  When I arrived on site the next morning I was relieved to see the waterproofers back on site rectifying the problem.  Phew!  Thankfully, our terrific builder was already onto it. 

In fact, our builder is so impressive that our neighbour has commenced a renovation with him also!  It has worked out well, allowing access to the small lot next door through our property and coordinating trades across both sites.  This week they were concreting in the posts next door and did our back stairs landing at the same time. 



Now for the ugly.  Demolition has begun downstairs!  The garage door was removed and the existing front brick wall of the garage fell down quite easily.

Our new front wall will be set back under the house to allow for a front porch so the concrete cutter came to cut back the existing slab.

Removal of the verandah decking exposed some pretty sad looking joists that will need to be replaced.  Ouch!

Our home is now sitting pretty on back propping waiting for the removal of the brick piers, some new steel beams, posts and floor joists.

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.