2 years on...

Ok...so it's been awhile and as it's a wet and no good for doing things outside weekend thought I should probably have a go at doing some updating on where we are at. Since the last post quite a bit has been chipped away at so I will try and capture what I can remember. As always there is never just one project on the go, and as always each one is still a work in progress.

As the weather has been fairly kind we have managed to get outside and get on with things out there. The paving was the first to go down and this area expanded as plans changed. A privacy screen went up on the deck and the decking was redone into a split level deck, recycling some of the old decking with the new decking, a bit of waterblasting on the old stuff  brought it pretty close to the colour of the new decking and once stained you can't tell.

Then there is the chipping away at the kitchen, the oven gave up the ghost so we had to get another one and also updated the bench set up on that side, the kitchen is a big beast and so it is still on the back burner until we are ready to take the plunge, the floor has been sanded but as yet not polished! The weather has been too good to spend it on inside stuff so every opportunity we are outside, currently the house is undergoing a paint job and Brent has very kindly set up the scaffolding for me, gotta admit, pretty scary first time up there and I was only half way up the house, he tells me it will need to go twice that height to get to the top so that should be fun! So the house looks funny with the new paint only on the bits I can reach, not a great look but should look good when finished.

So that is about it for now, I will try and do another before and after page, when I remember to locate original photos and take more from the same angle. Right now it's movie time...lol....to be continued...

oh yeah....forgot the garage pics :)

SNOW!!!

Well I couldn't let it go without doing a page in here could I? I mean, when was the last time it ever snowed in Wellington down at ground level. It was the most magic thing to walk into the lounge and see the snow falling all around outside and the ground gradually getting whiter and whiter. The previous day to what we call the big snow day we were so excited, everyone came out of their houses and camera flashes were going off left, right and centre, the snow at this stage was melting as soon as it hit the ground, but none the less, it was snow and we were excited!!! I felt so sorry for Hayley  because she was at work and missing out, I text her to tell her it was snowing and she and her workmates got to look out the rear store door so saw some of it. She was well rewarded the following day though as it just kept falling out the sky, everyone got out and played in it, even the dog who bounced around like a rabbit!

day one 

at this point we discovered if you turned the flash on you got a better result!

day two...the real deal :)

and this of course bought out the inevitable....

it was everywhere...

and that was just a  few of the photos, I miss it and wish it would come back but really, we had the perfect amount, just enough to be pretty and play with but not so much that it causes havoc when it melts, the rain that followed washed it away before it became one big slushy mess, we were very lucky in that we weren't one of the ones that lost power and the kids got the day off school due to it being closed. 

16th August 2011....a day to remember :)

snap shot of a year

in no particular order....

hallway wall, just below the pictures a huge hole has been patched, the stair rail and bannister stripped back and revarnished, still working on this...

the hole in the corner was part of putting in extra powerpoints in Rachelle's room, this soon will be patched over.

The spare room has had the carpet pulled up, and the walls undercoated. The windows were nailed shut as the fittings on them were broken, these have all been replaced and windows now open.

The kitchen had to have a few immediate things done, both benches were replaced, the oven and rangehood replaced, behind the oven wall re-gibbed, we replaced our big table with a smaller one, painted the walls and cupboards and put down lights above the sink area. The fanlight windows here were nailed shut due to broken fittings, all replaced and all windows working. We don't really want to put too much effort into this room right now as it will be fully revamped down the track when we can do it properly. 

New front door, in fact all the doors have needed replacing, all of them in one form or another had been kicked in and damaged, we still have about 4 more to replace then every single door has been done, including wardrobe doors. The only original door left in the house will be the attack door!

The dilema of where to put the dog door was solved by placing it in the lounge. Sounds odd I know but the position of our doors pretty much leaves the house with 2 front entrances and we needed the dog to be confined to the back yard. This room also had broken window latches, which have all been repaired or replaced.

still working on the stairwell....

The lounge was one of the first rooms to be painted, prior to this it was bright red, the walls needed patching in places and above the ranchslider finishing off, the ranchslider will eventually be replaced by french doors and we still plan to pull out the fireplace and replace with a woodburner. 

The laundry, a bit like the spare room has become another garage, all the painting stuff seems to end up in here, rollers, brushes etc. We have painted in here and replaced the back door. The concrete tubs will go and Brent is keen to get the hot water cylinder moved from the kitchen into here. This won't be done until we are ready to do the kitchen though.

Our room was re-gibbed and painted, a light put in above the bed, old carpet pulled up and carpet tiles put down. Broken window and fanlight window fitting repaired. Still to get the wardrobe door for in here.

The bathroom was the first room to be tackled and if you saw the original you would understand why. It's a very small space and really hard to photograph but having lived in a house with the toilet and bathroom together with 2 teenage girls  it doesn't work, not when there is only one toilet so we were not prepared to knock out the wall to make it bigger. Seperate toilet is a must in our circumstances! My idea was to colour co-ordinate this room but the girls took over with all their products so that kind of went out the window...why on earth do they need all this stuff????

Rachelle's room needed some wall repairs, has been painted, doors replaced and extra power points put in to accommodate all the electronics!

Hayley's room, much the same, wall repairs, replaced doors, more power points, similar colour scheme, but poor old Hayley, we still haven't replaced her curtains, these are what came with the house!

and the famous front door....

that concludes the tour of the inside, now for a quick skip around the outside...

This started with all the boundry fences being painted just to tidy them up, the big b

rick wall by the garage has also been painted with a texture paint to blend in with the cracked and peeling paint that was there. The garage door has been replaced along with the cladding above it, a couple of small gates and the trellis fence to define and front and back yard, mostly for the benefit of the dog. The driveway gates have been the last thing to go on and they make such a difference to the entrance. 

We will hit the garden this summer but really glad we started planting earlier as these should take off in spring, all the taro that we removed is determined to keep popping up so that is an ongoing battle, and the mounds of dirt that were there which I think formed part of their local tip have gone. I can't wait to get our hands on some paving so we can start that process and change the decking around, still lots to do......

so that's it for now...just one last pic before I go....we have come along way since this was taken!!!!