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