wednesday evening bliss

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so good to come home from work and have a new magazine to read! yippee!

works in progress

finally unpacking the boxes in the study and tidying up..... in the midst of this i decided to waste a lot of time organising the bookshelves. i know, there's nothing new about arranging your books in colours, but there is something ridiculously satisfying about it! there's nothing better than a room full of good books and a comfy place to read them!

also, in progress, i am painting this stool to add some colour to the new bathroom. how lovely is this taubmans water based enamel in "teal flash"?

 

toilet

so excited to completely finish a room! ok, so it may be the smallest room in the house....... baby steps.

i know, what's exciting about a toilet? right?

before

 during

toilet is out, new window installed, wallpaper being removed (don't get me started on that!), concrete screed to level the floor and waterproofing.
 

during

 

floor tiles laid, wallpaper removed, gyprock patched

after

cost:

ok this might be a bit rough

tiler (from a total $4000)                         $300

floor tiles nairobi cloud (CTM)                    $22

white tile skirt (auction)                         $15

plumber                                            $200

toilet (who bathroom warehouse oxford back to wall)$300

toilet conversion kit                              $30

tap converter (concealed in cistern)               $70

primer (british paints all in one) 1L/4L           $20/$80

paint walls (british paints wet area white 1L/     $13/$50

paint trim  
(taubmans water based enamel satin white)1L/4L     $18/$60 

new door handle                                    $30

new louvre window + installation                   $370

window architrave                                  $10

toilet roll holder                                 $40

total                                              $1438

(agghhhh scary!)

stay tuned..... bathroom and laundry next.....

modern spanish

some inspiration..... loving this modern spanish house in LA thanks to Trendir

p.s did you spot the outdoor shower?

outdoor shower

we are coming close to completing our bathroom and i thought we should pay homage to our interim bathroom for the last few weeks. so this is our makeshift shower constructed for approximately $15 (not including the wood base). it connects to the garden hose and is therefore only cold water but its summer here in australia, so its actually quite refreshing on a hot night!

p.s we've decided to keep the outdoor shower; might be nice after a swim at the beach!

ok last post before bed...... check out this amazing wrapping paper  i bought today from sarbe!! there are not enough adjectives in the world to describe the amazingness of this pattern

vanger house

this might be a bit weird but i have a strange obsession with martin vanger's house in the american version of the girl with the dragon tattoo......... did anyone else notice it in the movie?? ignoring the fact that the house was used as some type of torture chamber in the movie- it is an extraordinary house (with beautiful use of glass) in stockholm, sweden....... happens to be on the market for a cool 5.62 million!! 

 

wish list 20.02.2012

amazing burnham windsor chair purchase here

love the colours and geometric pattern on this day tripper rug- found here

this table made out of planks of used wood- purchase here

donna wilson zig zag pouffes- here

natural organic tree stump turn side table on etsy- if only they could just pop it in the post to Australia!

mia oatley

love the new jungle love exhibition by sydney artist mia oatley. 

you can find more here.

old lamp revival

this was an old project i completed last year. we had an old ceramic style lamp that didn't go with anything we own so i decided to give it a face lift. because it had a gloss ceramic finish it required prepping with a spray primer first- then you can paint with any type of paint (i used a light grey acrylic paint) and a new lamp shade (puchased at freedom for around $15-$20).

before

 

after (in situ)

 

doors

today i am resuscitating the last of the old doors. they are in pretty good general condition but are painted cream (almost yellow thanks to the effects of time) with the old oil based enamel paint.  anyone who has tried to paint over oil based paint with the new acrylic paint knows its a nightmare. the new acrylic paint just peels right off the old stuff. even ordinary primer doesn't work. 

there are a couple of products that solve the problem that can be purchased at Bunnings. the best is a spray can of primer than allows you to paint acrylic over any surface (ceramic/metal/wood etc)- i have used this in the past to paint an old lamp (found here). however one can will cost you around $18 and will only cover maybe 1-2 doors.  for this project i am using esp (easy surface prep) and so far so good- no peeling!! you just wipe it on with an old rag and wait 90mins. it can be found at Bunnings in the paint section and will cost you around $15 but there is enough to do maybe 10 doors!

step 1: remove doors from frame and take outside to a clean area to paint

step 2: clean up the doors with a damp cloth (ours were caked in dust and spider webs!)

step 3: remove old door handles and check the new handles will fit the holes (you may need to adjust with a chisel and circular drill bit)


step 4: patch up holes and imperfections with wood putty, allow to dry, sand and then a light cover with some gyprock final finish (for a smooth finish) and finally another light sand


step 5: wipe over entire door with esp (easy surface prep) and wait 90 mins to dry

step 6: using an enamel roller (softer than the normal rollers to create a smooth finish) paint the door with your new acrylic paint (we used Taubmans water based enamel trim in satin white). our doors required 3 coats!


step 7: fit the new handle and hang door, voila! 

or alternatively you could just buy a new door......

the bathroom grate

here's a solution to an awkward floor waste. when renovating our bathroom we were limited by the position of the floor waste. the original bath was 'checked' into the wall and had major water leaking problems so we decided to build a bath plinth/hob away from the wall sheets. 

 

as a result the new bath + plinth was much wider than the original and took up more floor space. the floor waste was going to end up right against the bath- which would look awkward. so we decided to put in a grate and run it up along the length of the entire bath. will be great for when the water sloshes over the bath edge!  

and after a long hard day at the house we treat ourselves to an evening swim at the beach

1950's wall clock obsession


love these 1950's simplex style wall clocks

you can pick up an original on ebay for $20-$300 depending on the manufacturer, condition and age or check your local antique stores.

you can find a good selection of retro wall clocks here

house tour

front door

bar/ living room

 

 

 

 

living room

 

living room

kitchen

kitchen

 

dining

bed 3/ study

bed 3/ study

bed 2

bed 2

laundry

 

bathroom

 

bathroom

 

main bed

main bed

back patio

back patio

back of house