Almost time to meet you little one!

Wow time flys when you are having fun! I can literally count on my hands now how many days until we meet our baby boy. That is unless he decides that we would like to meet us earlier and come out on his own terms, otherwise it will be a caesarian on Thursday 4th June 2015. Coincidently this is the exact same day that my sister from another mister (my bestie Jodi) had her baby girl last year too! We must of conceived on the same day and everything despite us having IVF! 

So our two little bundles of joy will be exactly 1 year apart & I couldn't be happier. Also adding to this years baby news, 4 of my friends are expecting from between September & December of this year so my boy will have plenty of play friends (& importantly I will have lots of mummy friends to have coffee catch ups with!!). 

Anyway right now we are just playing the waiting game. I've been on maternity leave for just over a week and am just starting to relax. I've finished the nursery and have got my creative hat on making some cool wall hooks and burp cloths. 

 

Here's a peek at what's been happening. 

I'm really happy with this little corner of the Nursery, although I love the whole room to pieces! Just need hubby to hang my super bunny print which I won from minimi store and we're all set! I went a bit print crazy in this room... I have prints from My Little Lovebird, Alma Custom Designs, Buggyboo & Minimi Store! I also purchased some hanging stars from Essi & Co which I'm hoping get delivered this week. I got the wall stickers from The Wall Sticker Company, shadow boxes from Target, shelves, cube & curtains from Ikea, the lamp shade, Mr Wolf pillow and a few other bits and pieces from KMart, my favourite most amazing chair is from House & Garden... An expensive purchase but one I will never regret! 

This is my favourite spot in the nursery to just sit and ponder my thoughts. Soon I will be feeding in here!! 

This is the WIR that hubby built for me. He turned our old pantry into this amazing space! What's better is that it fits everything (so far) including the pram! 

Me at 37 weeks with hubby. I didn't want a pregnancy photo shoot because my belly is covered in stretch marks. So we took this one only and I must say that it's pretty amazing! 

These are the cool wall hooks I'm making for the nursery & for some friends. Just need to paint eyes on the bunnies and get hubby to drill the back together and we are done! I chose black, white, gold & grey. They look great! 

Finally these are the burp cloths that I'm making.. If you know me then you know that I don't sew.. In fact I got my sewing machine for my 30th bday last year and it's still in its box! But my intentions were always to learn, and this week I shall!!

Progress update, March 2015

Well it's certainly been a while since I've blogged and let me tell you things have changed! The reno is 90% complete with just a few jobs needing to be fixed by the builder, the paving needs to be done & the nursery also needs some fixing up.

Yes, you heard me right I said nursery! I'm proud to announce that I am 6&1/2 months pregnant and expecting a boy in June 13th 2015. My husband Adam is very happy. 

So needless to say the list of things to do continues but this time with a very tight budget! Here are some pics. 

This is the demo happening in the nursery. Making way for a WIR. 

Progress update

Hooray things have started to take shape this week with plenty of tradies on site... Some for good and some for not so good reasons unfortunately! 

The good: we have roof frames and they are absolutely humungous! They have even started to extend the frame out to where our old pergola sat and you can just feel how magnificent the space is going to be when it's done. So grand! 

For the bad: an accidental spill of concrete down our laundry pipes has resulted in our cabinetry being ripped up and floor jackhammered to get to the source! What a disaster! We have a hose running onto the lawn just so we can use the washing machine and our builder is left wondering which of the tradies is going to foot the bill. Whoops! 

Here's some pics and I will throw one in of the cladding that's being used to finish it off. Amazing! Can't wait. 

Yes we are using black cladding with raw cedar bifolds and a feature stone wall just like in this picture. Stunning! 💚

Progress update and mood boarding!

We have more progress! Actually, we have a mess that's what we have... Mess everywhere ha ha! It's been a busy couple of weeks at our place with our god sons visiting from Melbourne, our huge gum tree being removed from the backyard, demolition being completed, and the rebuild beginning. 

The weather wasn't in our favor for the first week of demolition and our site turned into a mud pit. Our poor contractors were out there in the slush and rain jackhammering up concrete, digging trenches and putting together frames. Then we had the team from Mr Stumpy turn up to cut down a giant dead gumtree from the back corner of our block. Lucky they were strapped into their harnesses because the wind was ripping through them up there. 

So next stage is framing and trusses and while we wait for that we are putting together some mood boards for the kitchen and ensuite to help with selections. Our theme is contemporary with natural elements. I've taken some inspiration from becmarksthespot blog and custom homes Instagram pics. 

This is what we have come up with... 

White Stone benchtops, 

Natural timber feature doors paired with white cabinets and black back panels

Dark timber floors. 

Layout similar to this with the sink under the bifold windows to the right. I like how the cabinetry elongates both length and height. The bulk head really finishes this space and of course I get my three seater breakfast bar! Let's hope it's possible. 

I'd like to do a green wall filled with herbs and I've seen some really cool indoor hanging displays that I would love to incorporate. If you have seen some at reasonable prices let me know where I can get my hands on them!

xx

It's really happening

One thing that's shocked me this week is the realization that we are actually doing this renovation. It's all good to plan it but it's quite confronting and even a little bit scary when it actually happens for real. Knocking down our house means there's no turning back and whilst I know I should be excited, I guess it's just a bit scary to think "are we doing the right thing?" "Can we afford this", "was this the right decision?" .. Because let's face it, there is certainly no turning back now! 

Half our house has been demolished! Here's a few little pics of the progress this week. 

It's all in the plan

If you are as much of a fan as I am of reality TV shows like house rules & the block, you would know that the key elements of success are: planning & design. I am beginning to know how the contestants felt at the beginning of each new challenge having to plan every single detail from positions of power points to the layout & style of furniture. 

I guess it wasn't so difficult for us in our last home as the layout was pretty simple.. There was only one wall for the TV to go on, so that's where the TV went. But what do you do when you have multiple walls to choose from, and expensive custom built furniture that is no longer custom built for your new home? How do you decide what type of dining room table and chairs you want and whether it will look best this way or that way.. When all I have to work with is a concrete slab! 

The debate will be whether we get it right or have a massive design fail. Hang on, I mean it's not like we have two famously experienced judges coming around to critique us but, doesn't everyone want one of those houses that looks like it's straight out of a mag? Home Beautiful me up, I'm a fan of that mag too and the app is really good if you haven't downloaded it yet, do it. 

So anyway we did have a win by mapping out our kitchen last night with a bunch of chalk; and managed to work it out so that we utilize 80% of the cabinets that we already have. It seems a waste to just buy a new one when the one we have is only 18 months old, and I love it! There's nothing better than a good deep kitchen drawer! Anyway, let's see what the cabinet maker thinks of our ideas before we get too excited. 

Time to get the creative cap on for the rest of this house! 

Demolition Week

So it's school holidays time and what better way for my hubby to spend it than by starting our demo. We got a list from our builder of what to do and where to start, and my husband has been "GO" ever since! He has ripped up the floors, knocked out the laundry & bedroom walls and even taken down the 60sqm pergola! 

A big thanks to my brother and step dad for coming and helping with all the manual labour, I wouldn't have been any use with my bad back and so we couldn't have done it without them. 

Also if you are doing a renovation yourself I highly recommend doing the demo yourself. Not only can you save in labour costs but you can make some money back by selling off whatever you remove (if you do it properly). We have sold our gas heater, old cupboards, floor coverings, windows, doors and we even have some beautiful cornices and skirtings that can be recycled. Any money you can get in your pocket is better than it going in the skip! We used gumtree to list our stuff and so far we've sold 90% of it. 

My handy hubby also put up a barricade and a door to block off the work zone from the functional space in the house. He may not have a trade but he most definitely is a tradie at heart! 

Here's some pics of all his hard work: 

Blocked off from the hallway but still gives us access when we need it. 

Interior walls stripped back to frames. Ceiling to come down next. 

Back of the house after the pergola came down. You can see the frames through the windows where the renovation will happen.