New Years resolutions

1. More family time just the 3 of us...

2. Update this blog more...

It's been 18 months since we bought our beautiful but pretty much derelict queenslander, and I'm so happy to say we are finally getting to a point where we can sit back and breathe.  Whilst we have resounded to the fact that owning a queenslander means renovating is somewhat a lifestyle now, we are excited that many of our "big" projects have been ticked off and the pace can slow down some what.  

Since I was last on here we have achieved a lot...

The kitchen has had marble installed

And we couldn't be happier!!!

I ended up purchasing it from a lady on gumtree who imported around 20 slabs herself and sold the them for a fraction if the RRP so instead of costing $12k+ it only cost around $4k for the marble and install. 

The epic rangehood made by our kitchen builder extraordinaire was installed - still takes my breathe away every time I walk in

We also ordered some bi fold doors from underwood demo market which we have been very happy with.  We wanted something to match the existing doors 8 light french doors that we had installed early in the piece.  I liked these for two reasons, 1 the price was only $2200 for a 3m opening and 2 I liked how they folded back to create a large in obstructed opening.

Before

During

After

They still need to be painted and the surround arc-ed up but again we were very happy with the result.

We also have had the driveway and front path newly concreted.  This involved many discussions about expossed aggreviate vs stamped/stencilled concrete vs paved bricks... Final result was a salt n pepper exposed aggreviate.

Last minute I decided that I wanted the foot path to be done in black and white tiles like this: 

So the boys ended up just laying concrete there so the tiler can do this at a later stage.

Since then we have also laid some turf and put up fence posts, so the whole area is finally coming together.

Now the big decision up for discussion... What type of fence and pedestrian gate????? 

Kitchen progress...

Some weeks I think this kitchen will never be finished, and other weeks we make so much progress in such a short time that I can see a glimpse if the finish line in sight. This week we: 

Popped the handles (I bought a little while ago from mother of pearl and sons) on the island:

J managed to wire the power to the island so now the microwave lives in there and we have power points in situ:

(Photo bomb by Lenny ^)

J also cut a hole in the wall to recess the fridge freezer combo:

It has to have skirting board and architrave put around to finish it off but I love it already...

Mum also had a great idea to pop a flat screen above.

And we have been continuing to paint and work on the back of the house, j painted these doors (trying to decide which colour looks best - what do you think)

Hard to tell when roof still needs to go on deck and balustrade, walls etc still need painting...

Also about to order bi fold to go here:

^will take up all the windows seen here at back of house. To be honest I am in two minds about this as I don't want to take away such a beautiful feature, but the flow of the house will be incredible with a huge opening into the deck from living areas so I think we will take the plunge! 

Finally we have been slab shopping last week or so, hopefully will have more to report next week or so :-)

Bargain alert!!!

This is happening tomorrow... If you need me ill be queuing up at your local aldi for 2 air conditioners. 

Wish me luck ;-)

Updates finally...

We have had some more progress since the last post....

Stairs are in and under coated...

Will eventually paint it like this... Once balustrade is installed

We also have installed the lattice batwing doors... So happy with the shadows they cast and find myself just staring at them multiple times a day

Jeff has been busy doing little bits here and there... He put up the ship bell that Hudson chose:

Villa maison nautical lights for the kitchen that I bought of a-m about a year ago...

Finishing of the dining room roof (thanks to trav) 

And finally undercoating those doors in the kitchen... Whose idea was it to get 8 pane doors??? 

In other news we also managed to choose a fridge and freezer combination... 

When we properly install them and use the fisher paykel joining kit it should look something like this 

I know this is kinda crazy to have two fridge freezers in your kitchen, but we had the room and I got a really great deal on the fridge freezers so the whole thing came in under $2400 which for 1050 litres of fridge freezer with water and ice is unheard of. The guy at the store couldn't believe it was going in a "brisbane home" his words "I just didn't think people in brisbane had fridge freezers this big" I said u haven't met my family! I think my mum has 5 fridge freezers at her place, closet hoarders ;-) 

Anyhow if anyone is after a fridge freezer I got the one with ice and water from masters - their RRP is $2400 but everyone sells them for around $1800.  Masters reduced them to $1150 the weekend before last as they new model came out (version 4 I think) so they were clearing out the 3's so I managed to get the floor stock one for $1000... Mum got one too. I got the left hand one and joining kit from Queensland appliances for $1350, they are quite helpful and just at Bowen hills so local. 

Finally as deck is done we are looking for deck roof inspiration everywhere we go, here's my latest obsession the roof at the st barts store on James st:

I will take it all, chandelier and amazing dining chairs included please :-)

Progress...

Thought it was time again for an update to what's been happening at hudsons house... 

About 2 weeks ago we decided to take the plunge and start work on the resurecting the front butterfly stairs and building a back deck.  They had always been high on the agenda, and with Christmas fast approaching we thought why not! 

We decided to put a slab underneath it as we use that area to gain access to the laundry, and we hated that the last house had dirt under the deck esp when the puppies wee'd on it - not a pleasant door :-/ 

Once we had the slab down the blocky cane and built a retaining wall so that we could defer the water away from running under the house when it rains.

Next we ordered the timber, as we were doing the stairs as well the cost was quite high but after sourcing many quotes maxum was the best.  I found the easiest way to source quotes was to email the cut list to the suppliers and wait  for the price to come back - then haggle :-) 

Next the work commenced.  The idea behind doing both jobs simultaneously was that whilst the boys had down time waiting for posts to set (on the stairs), they could work on the deck. 

Hudson loved having a front row seat to all the action everyday.

We are not totally done still have to pop stringers on the sides of the stairs and then balustrading, the end product should look something like this 

We received a number of quotes ranging from 8.5k to 14k to make and fit the stairs inc balustrading, but we managed to be given enough 2nd hand treds from friends and our amazing house raiser to do the job.  After cleaning them up they were in really good condition so all up saved us about 2k.

For the back stairs we decided a really wide set like this would be best.  I have become obsessed with these stairs ever since I saw them on fun & Vjs blog.  Jeff wasn't to keen cause if the price per lineal meter of treds but I think it will be worth it in the end.

We also managed to get a bargain with the balustrade for the back deck. I won around 12 lineal meters plus gate of very good condition hardwood balustrading for $150 on eBay. 

Again it requires a sand and paint but u defined can't argue at that price! Here's what it looks like up so far - only half is installed... This is the view from my parents 

Funny I took a similar photo 6 mths ago when we were moving in - looks so different! 

Hopefully I can share some completed deck and stairs pics in the coming weeks ...