After much shifting of those deck chairs of the Titanic we’ve finally been able to squeeze the new car into the garage….. after many months of living on the street with the harsh beach-side conditions.  Yes, first world problems I know, but it was always just a little bit embarrassing to neglect such a truly nice car.

September 2019 was not kind to Peregian Beach, and particularly our little section of Jacana Street.  Our plans to landscape the front yard at the end of the renovation was pushed forward as the entire area was burnt out.  Any fence work that we wanted to replace was moved forward in our timeline as well out of necessity rather than desire.

Let’s just say that when I see or read about families experiencing bush fires I have a totally new appreciation for what they go through and the extended time it takes to get back to any real semblance of normal.

So goes the best laid plans of our 2 year renovation. Our schedule has changed dramatically, but we’re still working in the right direction.

We now have a spare room with groovy blockout double blinds, built-ins and desk area (and a door).

 

Where this used to be.

The decking around the pool area has made an enormous difference to the entire area. Now we are able to access the pool area directly from the open deck upstairs outside the kitchen and BBQ.  So much easier and a natural way to use the space.  And Peter pushed it all out in time for Christmas 🎄🩱🏖

There’s nothing appealing left in our front yard now.  Even the retaining walls are wrecked.  And the front steps are needing replacing.  I guess we were going to do this anyway, but with our street appeal rating a firm zero, it’s time to focus there.

Dan used a surf and a chance for a workout as an excuse to help out one Sunday.   A 1m  foundation is much deeper than you’d imagine. Nine foundations is a massive task.  Thanks Dan.

Some adjustments were needed to our driveway to actually get our car down to the garage. It was bottoming out.  While we had the concreters there we had them create an apron to what will be an off-street parking area.

Really looking forward to being able to plant the front yard out and get back the screening from the road.  Don’t get me wrong… we love the neighbourhood and the people here. Just miss coming home to that privacy and great to restore things to the way it was or even better.

Remember when….

 

 

 

 

We now have what feels like a real hallway with the linen cupboard built in between what will be the bedroom doors either side.  After much discussion we decided to put a ceiling in the hallway. Apart from cutting down on the painting, it will look less like a cathedral and more like a home.

There’s been a long wait for our sparky to rough in the lights etc. for the bedrooms and hallway.  No worries… we found other things to do.

Sparky’s been now and the walls are going up in the bedrooms.

Insulation has gone in on the external walls (where love of even temperature surpassed the profit goal).  And now walls are going up.  Don’t know how Peter’s doing it as he dodges around mattresses, cabinets, push bikes etc.  Thanks be to the inventor of the time saving nail gun!

We spent a fruitful time at our local tile shop investigating bathroom tile options.  We both left feeling just a little weird as it wasn’t that hard to work out what we like ! Hmmm… don’t like this feeling… there’s sure to be trouble ahead… the devil will be in the detail hahaha.

The thought here is to go with grey concrete inspired square tiles on floor and walls – whether we use the same tile for both wall and floor is yet to be decided.  The marble mosaic will go behind the hand basin, and somewhere we will add the wood effect either as tiles, front of basin cabinet, or top of cabinet.

Thanks to our legion of fans (Brian) for the reminder to post progress

 

Stage 1 is the living areas and we are really happy to say that it is done!

The downstairs kitchen, dining, living area feels great to be in and worked easily over Christmas  – which we think is a good gauge for how a home works.  We’re happy we decided to leave the end wall the original brick (cleaned down and coated with sealer) as it’s a nod to the original home and also works well with the flooring.  So does the Parker original extendable table we brought from Midmodz in Peregian Village.

Upstairs the office nook is done.  We’re still working on the placement of the furniture for the rest of the space.  We are so impressed with the laser-cut screen we chose to separate the upstairs living area from the kitchen below.  It adds an architectural charm to the space while still allowing for airflow.  Also casts some intriguing shadows in the evening.

Stage 2 has begun.  This is the 3 bedrooms – upgrading from the 2 the house previously had.  Stage 2 is also the splitting of the bathroom to create an ensuite and bathroom.

Considering stage 2 does not require much work on a ladder we expect it to be completed much faster than stage 1  (lol)