Sunday, November 1, 2015

So tired.... *Warning Ranty Post Ahead*

... of waiting! I feel like most of the process so far has just been waiting. I have avoided updating my blog as I wanted some news to write but no such luck. We are currently just waiting again. This time for loan approval. Our bank has been a total pain to deal with. We supply them with the documents they ask for and the after not hearing from them we hassle until they finally contact us and just get asked for more documents :/ It's been 2 and a half weeks now since we applied and they still haven't called our employers like they said they would. We will be giving them an angry phone call on Tues. If this continues we will just apply at a different bank. It's a bit of a blow when we have been great customers for over 10 years- never defaulting a payment. It's not even the length of time so much as the lack of communication unless we chase it up. Grrrrrr


In the mean time I have just been changing my mind on the decor again. I think partly because the process has been so long so every time I think I know what I want I change my mind so that I have something to do LOL. Haven't changed my mind dramatically but have decided I want a more Country/Scandinavian look rather than a more traditional Country look. After living in a cluttered house due to lack of storage I just want to live relatively clutter free. I don't want completely modern and minimalist Scandinavian though, more the traditional Scandinavian style of a simple colour palette and clean lines in the furniture but personality injected into it in the soft furnishings and art.


https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/createcph-1842226/my-home-new-livingroom-2204394881



http://hoytrykk.blogspot.fr/2013/05/dansk-inspirasjon.html







Hopefully next update will be a lot better. I just want to break ground dammit!!

Friday, September 4, 2015

Well That Was Quicker....

than we expected! The day after my last post we received our building permission! I was expecting it to take a couple of months not a couple of weeks Haha. No issues or changes needed so that's fantastic. I was told so many horror stories and in the end it was fast and easy so I am so pleased.

Now to move to finance. We contacted the bank today and got a checklist of what we need. We have most things but we need to save 5% deposit. Should have it in a month though and then hopefully the bank will be as easy to deal with as Council ended up being. Fingers crossed!!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

It's In...

Plans are in council for approval as of 2 weeks ago. YAY!! We didn't need to worry about half the forms and things that I thought we needed. No planning permission needed or soil tests due to a house already existing. My husband went into the council building and got them to help him fill them out to make sure we did it correctly- really wouldn't want to have to resubmit. We got an email a few days after we put them letting us know they'd been forwarded to the building surveyor.

So now we wait again....

Also I've changed my mind on almost every single colour choice (of course!) so I'll post up the newest selections soon. Don't know why I bother given how often I change them Haha.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Things Are Starting

It's been awhile... again! A lot has been happening though :D

First of all we welcomed our new baby girl into the world on the 6th of July. She's absolutely perfect and has slotted into the family very easily. We are all smitten with her! Breastfeeding has been easy for the first time and the larger gap means I'm really enjoying the newborn phase this time around. As she's definitely our last baby I'm savouring every moment :)





On house news we got our quote and it's even better than I hoped! $13, 591+GST for everything except painting, appliances, light fittings and window furnishings. That also includes doing up our existing bathroom. We've all signed the contract as of yesterday so now we can finally go to council and hope it gets through!

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Always Waiting

Just a quick post to say we are waiting once again. Still need to get a quote from my brother in law for the build. He's on holidays though so not sure when that will happen. I was hoping to get the process started with council before the birth of the baby but that won't happen now.

Which brings me to the second thing we are waiting on which is the birth of our bub. I am really getting over it now and happy to be nearing the end of this pregnancy. Only 15 more days until I get to meet my little girl (and have a glass of wine!).

I did have piccies of more paint colours but my daughter has broken my phone so it will have to wait until it's repaired. Thank goodness my husband is handy at these things!

Monday, June 1, 2015

Paint Colours

Okay back again to go through the paint colour choices so far (which as we know are very liable to change at least another 50 times)!! Please excuse my terrible photos.

First are my (new) choices for the exterior. All colours are by Dulux:



Mint Twist is the top colour. As the name suggests it's a mint colour. This one will be for the front door and for my window boxes.
Meniscus is the middle colour and is a light grey. This will be the colour for all the weatherboards.
Woodland Grey is the bottom colour. This is a colorbond colour and the colour for our roof. It's also the colour I'd like to paint the porch.
Vivid White is to the side and is the colour for all the trim. So windows, doors and posts for the verandah and porch. This will also be used inside on all the trim too :)


Next is Kitchen:



Distant Shore is the blue and it's by British Paints. I like it because it's a dirtier light blue rather than a bright one. This will go along the back wall of the kitchen and on the back and sides of the island.
Soyanut is the bench top I'd like to use. It's a good quality cut-to-measure laminate and it's pretty cheap which is important with a small budget!

Master Bedroom are all Dulux:



French Limestone up the top is for the walls.
Mildura on the bottom will be for the barn doors to add a bit of contrast.

Eldest Son's Room are also all Dulux:





Top left is Symphony Red. Not 100% sure about this red yet but the red will be used as a stripe around the room, the Union Jack on his desk and his bunk beds.
Vivid White is top left. As well as the trim he will also have it for two thinner white stripes either side of the red stripe.
Passionate Blue on the bottom will be the wall colour and his desk colour.

I grabbed so many paint samples that I forgot to grab colours for my middle son's room so will have to go back another day. So onto the Girls' room. These ones are both British Paints colours:



Temperate Tide is the top colour and is actually quite a bright aqua in real life. It didn't photograph very well. This will be the main wall colour.
Pink Perfume will be the colour of the Argyle diamonds on the feature wall as well as the colour for the cube unit.

I'll go Half Strength with these two.

So that's all for now :)

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Screen Vs Reality

There is a reason why they tell you that colours may not be truly representative on your computer to the way they are in real life! Today I went to Bunnings to actually get some paint chips. I wanted to make sure the colours I was thinking of using went as nicely together in person as on screen. I'm so glad I did because I changed my mind about at least half. They just didn't look the same or go together as well as they had on my computer!!

I ended up grabbing a whole bunch of different ones in lots of shades of colours that I wanted so that I could just start the decision making again! It was so overwhelming looking at the colours and having them not be the way I thought or not be there at all.



I also decided to go back to my original colour scheme of pink and aqua for the girls room with the argyle style feature wall. Finding a green I liked that went well with the other colours I liked was impossible. My daughter is happy to go back with pink, aqua and white though luckily :) 

I came home and sticky taped together colour schemes I liked for certain rooms. I'll post them up next time so you can see how they work together. 

We also dropped around our plans to the brother in law (our builder) the other day. So now more waiting until we get the quote. Like everyone he commented on the bath in the bedroom :P Thought it was a cool idea though. Now fingers crossed the quote isn't too scary :D


Thursday, May 28, 2015

Final Plans Take 2

Finally got all the plans and documents last night!!! So happy with them. He may have been a bit slow but he was inexpensive and thorough. We got 4 sets of A3 size plans, the Energy Assessment certificate and it seems he's also filled out most of the Building/Planning/Plumbing application forms for us!! He's told me to contact him if we have any issues with council. apparently our local council can be a bit of a pain to deal with!

Here is a picture of the new and improved electrical plan (front door is at the top of the plan):


He's actually left in an extra down light which I didn't specify (the internal entry light) but I'm glad he did. I think it actually needs a bit more light there :)

So now next step is getting a quote from BIL (he's our builder) and then tackle council. Hoping we have time to get everything submitted before baby comes but may not happen!

Monday, May 25, 2015

Final Plans and Baby Date!

So we got the final plans last Monday. There were pages and pages of them. Building regulations have gotten so much stricter. Most of it was fine but he'd done the electrical plan without any consultation with us and as such had put down lights everywhere in the Lounge, Dining/Kitchen and a couple in the Master. I have asked him to remove most of them as I'm not a huge fan. We will just have 3 above the back bench in the kitchen and the two above the bath in the Master. I'm keeping the Lounge lighting the same as what we have (except I want to change the fittings) and we will have 3 pendants over the island bench. At the moment I like these ones from Bunnings:



 Then a large pendant over the dining table. again I have found a light at Bunnings I like:



He was going to get those changes done and back to me by the next day apparently but of course it's a week later and still nothing. I've paid him now though so I'd better get something soon!


In other happy news we have a date for my c-section. I had my midwife appointment last week and asked about some pain I had been getting around my c-section scar. They wanted someone  to check me over just in case so I had a lovely registrar check me and tell me to come in if it gets worse (haven't had an issue since though). Then she asked if i wanted to make my c-section appointment now instead of waiting until my 36 week Obstetrician appointment. Of course I did- I hate not knowing things :P So anyway, long story short we will be welcoming our 4th child on July the 6th :)

Monday, May 18, 2015

The Girls

First of all I thought I had better update you on the plans. Still no full plans but the Draftsman did email me last week. Apparently he is just waiting on the energy efficiency report and then he will hand over everything (YAY) along with the invoice (BOO).

Now onto the room for my daughter and daughter-to-be. As I said earlier they will now be sharing as we didn't want to have to go two storey and we want to keep our house a manageable size to live in until we are too old. My daughter told me she wanted a pink, purple, green and blue room!! I wasn't really sure how I would manage that but after scouring Pinterest I have come up with something!

I'm planning a feature wall like this except with green instead of dark blue:




I'm thinking blue for the other walls. The final wall will have built in wardrobes in white across it. The colours I have chosen from Dulux are Iced Vovo (Pink), Blackberry Sorbet (Purple), Applegate (Green) and Wild Clary (Blue). Their bed will go along the feature wall. I'm going to go with low, white wooden bunk beds.

Toy storage-wise I have a cube unit that I'd like to get some white wicker boxes to fit into. Then I will paint the cube unit Iced Vovo at this stage.

I love these decor ideas too:














Again I haven't really picked soft furnishings. For a light though they will have a baby pink chandelier from Ivory and Deene:


Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The Middle Child

Okay onto the decorating plans for my middle child and son number 2 :)

His favourite colour is green so he wanted a vibrant green on his walls. Lime green can be a bit overwhelming so we decided to also mix in some navy and grey. His walls will be similar to my eldest's with the stripes just with different colours. So far we have picked Dulux Zatar Leaf for the walls with Dulux Passionate Blue for the large stripe and Dulux Timeless Grey accents. Here are some of the inspiration pictures:









I also want to create a bit of a rustic/industrial feel with wood and metal. He will be having the barrel cupboard I bought for the boys' current room. You can see it in this pic:



So I'd like to add a few other elements in the form of shelving and keeping his bed bare wood. Inspiration:



I also like the idea of adding some map elements. Maybe an old looking world map made into a pinboard so he can record his travels and I love the map fabric that you can choose to cover a chair with at Fantastic Furniture (I'd go the Wing Chair):




Not entirely sure yet!

Again I am yet to choose soft furnishings but there's no rush. He will also have a chrome pendant from Bunnings:

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Plans Are Here!!

Well all excitement here this morning. I was walking out the gate to walk my kids to school and noticed there was something in the letterbox. Turned out the draftsman had dropped off the Preliminary Plans :D I've had a look over them and I am very happy- they are pretty much exactly what I asked for. I only need to talk to him about two small things (he's listed the French doors as aluminium framed and I'd like timber and he appears to have left the window in our current bathroom which I'd like removed as it will become an internal room). I have pictures but you'll have to excuse them as they aren't the best.

So here's a pic of the current house layout (the porch is at the front of the house, it's a bit confusing the perspective he's drawn from):


Then this is the proposed extension (again from the backwards perspective):



And this is the view from the front with the new roof:



The draftsman has said that once we give him approval of the plans he will go ahead and do up the proper ones for council submission. Those he said he should be able to have to us early next week. Eeeeeeekkkk it's getting closer!!!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The Eldest Child

I went back and read some of my earlier posts and it's pretty funny just how much my ideas have changed. Also how much letting your kids have a say in their bedroom changes thing :P I thought I would update you on the plans for the kids rooms given the current plan is now nothing like my original idea. The kids have now given their input and we have adjusted the design so that they are happy. I'm a pretty big believer in kids having input in their own space (of course then it's my job to make sure it's something we can both live with ;) )

This post will be about my eldest son's room. He decided he really wanted a Navy bedroom. Our room sizes aren't massive but given the floors will be white we should be able to pull off the colour without it looking too dark. He also likes red and is a big fan of British TV (Dr Who is a favourite- the 9th doctor. The 4th is mine) so we decided to go with a light British theme/colour scheme. So far the blue we have picked together is Dulux Passionate Blue with Dulux Red Box and Dulux Vivid White accents.

I'd like to add some stripes to the wall to make it interesting. This gives you an idea but I'd like it lower and slightly thicker.




I don't want to be too heavy handed with the British paraphernalia but we will have a few nods in the room. He has a desk which I really want to try painting like a Union Jack:




I'd also like to paint his bed red like this one:




He's also very into Science- especially Astronomy. I'd like to add some star maps over his desk like the one here:



 I have found a cool globe light at Bunnings for only $25 which he loves. He also spotted me pinning these and wants them for his wall:






I'm yet to pick rugs, bedding and curtains that I like but I will be going for something a bit more neutral I reckon to counteract the busy-ness of everything else. I have also picked out a chrome pendant light from Bunnings:



As you know though my family and I are very fickle with these things and can change our mind at any moment :P




Friday, April 10, 2015

Wedding Anniversary

No signs of the Preliminary Plans yet, though I wasn't actually expecting to see them when I was told I would ;) However in other news it's my husband and my Wedding/Handfasting Anniversary today- together for 12 years and married for 5 :)








Also for good measure, my favourite photo of us :D


Friday, April 3, 2015

My Most Recent (and Final Hopefully) Plans

Okay I have finally uploaded a picture of the newest plans- the ones I recently gave to the draftsman so that he can use it to draw up our plans properly:



So as you can see it's very similar to the last ones I drew except without the upstairs and the second living is now a bedroom and mudroom. The circles with an X in them that you can see are where I want lights and I have my bath back in the bedroom. I had thought maybe I shouldn't have it in there and had second guessed myself. However I was rewatching one of my favourite renovation shows the other day and the host said "Makes sense [to have the bath in the bedroom]. After all the main purpose of having a bath is to relax and how can you do that if people may be coming in to relieve themselves." Very true albeit a little gross haha.

The builder also talked to us about making the gable a steep pitch. I didn't think we'd be able to because of building regulations so I had abandoned a steep gable but the draftsman was the one who suggested it so it must be fine. Knowing that it's possible we are now going back to our gothic revival style house idea. We are replacing all the windows anyway now (with double glazed ones) to make sure we meet energy requirements and to counteract our lack of wall insulation, so why not! It won't be heavily gothic though, just have a bit of that Gingerbread House look about it.

We have also made the decision to definitely stick with the weatherboards. It's going to be more expensive but in the end my husband and I just plain prefer real weatherboards. We love historical type homes and weatherboards just look nicer on older style homes, even though vinyl has come along way. I'm also tossing up cladding the bottom concrete part of our house in the stone cladding you can buy. I think it would look nice with the weatherboards. That's something we'd do down the track though- heaps more pressing and expensive things to get out of the way first! Here's a picture of what I mean- even with the same colour exterior and door I want (oh I think I forgot to tell you I'd changed my mind on that too lol):



Sunday, March 29, 2015

Plans Finally in Motion

Well the draftsman ended up cancelling that Thursday. I have to say I was getting a bit worried and thought we may have to start looking for a new one. However he came around the next Thursday and took the measurements XD He has told us that he should have some preliminary drawings for us in a week or two so I cannot wait to see them. Basically they will just be to make sure he is drawing what we want and then we can either make some changes or give him the go ahead to draw them up properly for council submission. He's taken my new drawings though and seemed to have a pretty good grasp of what I wanted so hopefully his drawings will be pretty spot on.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Draftsman Update

Just a quick update to say we finally got hold of the Draftsman. He's coming round Thursday evening to take measurements. So exciting to finally be on the way. It's taken so many mind changes and so much time to get to this stage. I'm hoping the rest is smooth sailing but that's unlikely Haha. Now I just have to try and clean the house a bit so that the Draftman can actually get to the walls to take the measurements!!

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

It's A......

We had our scan the other day and the baby appears very healthy and active. I'm getting lots of kicks now which is lovely (and lots of heartburn which is not!). We also got to find out the baby's gender and....





So that evens things up ;) As you can see I went straight out and started shopping lol. As I've said (I think) we got rid of pretty much all our baby stuff after our daughter was born thinking we were done so we are pretty much starting again. 


Not much to report yet on the House front except that we have simplified our plans so that we don't need a second storey. It does mean the two girls will have to share when the baby stops sleeping in our room. My daughter wants to share a room with someone though so that shouldn't be an issue. She's pretty happy about it at this stage :) The draftsman was supposed to be round by now to take measurements so we have to give him a call tonight. Hopefully this isn't a sign of how things are going to be!! My parents used this guy and recommended him to me though so fingers crossed it all works out.


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Draftsman

We had the draftsman come visit us a couple of weeks ago. He ran through a lot of the process with us which was great and gave us a rough estimate (which was several thousand cheaper than the other two places we'd talked to so YAY). I gave him an idea of what we wanted but have since changed it a bit (of course) because I realised I had estimated the size wrong and that it was too big for the block. Here regulations state any undercover areas can only make up 50% of the total land size including verandahs, sheds etc. So now the plan is to extend a bit out the back and then have 3 bedrooms upstairs. We will add the Lounge, WIR and Bed 1 on the ground floor. The upstairs will be above the new extension so that we don't have to worry about doing any extra structural work to the existing house to make it strong enough. The three eldest children will go upstairs and Bed 3 (which is currently our room) will likely become a Playroom. That weird spring in the corner is just how I draw spiral stairs :P


Ground Floor
First Floor


Also I received the cot and we have already set it up. it's in our room at the moment and there's not a lot of room. I am totally in love with the cot though still. Glad it was just as nice in real life: