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 ... 

Girls weekend at Byron

My girlfriends and I spent the weekend at Byron last weekend and I honestly forgot how much I love the place! I love the happy people, beautiful scenery and zen way of life.

We stayed in the most beautiful refurbished "old dairy" in the hinterland of Byron Bay, that was the cutest place I have seen in a long time.

Very much want to take Hudson and Jeff here soon - I don't know if he would know what to do with all the open space. 

Whilst away Jeff and Allen (our cabinet maker) had installed the kitchen island, as soon as I saw it I squealed with delight.  It's even more beautiful and perfect than I imagined, and now can't wait to get the remaining in.

We are now hunting down some marble for the tops and knobs/handles for the drawers.  Love this kitchen from verandah house - might contact them about sourcing some handles like these...

Other than the above I have basically been kept busy setting up more nooks around the house, j constantly says "stop buying pretty things and but stuff we actually need like timber and concrete blend" (for the driveway) - but where's the fun in that!!!

Kitchen Progress...

We are very lucky to have an amazing cabinet maker who shares our love of Hamptons/French Provincial style kitchens, and last week we met with him to begin the process of "tarting" up our IKEA kitchen carcass that we bought and installed earlier in the year.

Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with an actual Ikea Kitchen - here's some pics of some that I think look amazing:

... we just have such a unique open space with extraordinary high ceilings and would prefer something a little more custom and our own.

So we purchased the Ikea cabinets and have since kitted them out with all the Ikea bells and whistles:

 

... and are now up to the part where we need to choose a style of door/drawer profile.  After much deliberation we have decided to go quite simple here's our inspiration pics and plans:

We have also been shopping and researching Kitchen Aapliances like crazy.  I had a hard time deciding between the Smeg 90cm stand alone and the Ilve:

They were both around the same price so finally decided to go with the Ilve T906.  I was going to buy the floor stock model from the Brisbane showroom on sale for $3500 from $5000 but ended up finding E&S Trading had it for the same price and we got a $950 kitchen gift with purchase pack - love getting stuff for free! Here's the link if you are in the market: http://www.estrading.com.au/ilve-90cm-electric-oven-with-gas-cooktop-t906lmp/w1/i1059448/ and here's the link to the redemption promo flyer http://www.ilve.com.au/pdfs/93-ILVE%20Gourmet%20Pack%20promo%20May%202013%2060-90%20Landscape.pdf

So we now have an oven - very happy lady!

Next we started looking at dishwashers.  I was adamant I wanted a fully integrated dishwasher so you couldn't see it was there, I am not keen on them looking like a feature unless it is a super duper fancy one.  Last night we finally settled on the Ikea integrated dishwasher, it was $800 and is made by Whirlpool.  I must admit the main reason I purchased it was the standard 5 year warranty it came with, I joked with the lady when we bought it and said I should just tell my employer to start paying my pay direct into their accounts! feels like that at the moment.  Anyhow here's the Ikea dishwasher:

So as you can imagine all of the above has kept us super busy at the moment but whilst doing this we have also been working on our walk in wardrobe, fence for the herb garden, front batwing doors and fixing the cladding on the exterior of the house! So busy...I'll leave with some final pics of what else we have been up to, sleep when your dead so they say...

The house survived our first official play date with Mummies Group

Huddy fishing for a prize at my old school fete last weekend

New Silver Tray and coral from the Highgate House sale

Mandarins from our Mandarin Tree

Lenny our fur baby has claimed this as his new bed - not sure how I think about that :-/

This amazing buffet from Rylo Interiors - I would love to have one of everything in the photo please :-)