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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013." via Che and Fidel

MIXED BAG
Jack: Caught out - again- playing his DS in the middle of the night.
Harry: Feeling poorly after suffering from a viral infection that has lasted for almost two weeks. 
Charlie: One hat for many purposes. One minute he is Indiana Jones - next beekeeper!
Oscar: One minute newborn - next almost two. Where has the time gone?

Reno - Week 16

This week both the plumbing and electrical rough-in was completed. And I finally locked-in the lighting selection - something I had been putting off but needed to do, particularly as there is a 10 week lead-time for the pendants that I chose for the entry hall and sitting room.

Morning light in the boys bedroom

In spite of having very detailed construction drawings it's surprising how many minor changes have already been made. Things become so much more apparent when you are actually standing in the rooms as opposed to visualising the finished result based on a set of plans. But despite all our efforts in trying to get things 'just right' I'm sure at the end of the day there will be the odd item that I wish was different.

BEFORE - bathroom

AFTER - LIVING ROOM

I'm really looking forward to next week as the bricklayers are scheduled to return. Based on their previous performance, they should have the outdoor fireplace and all the other brickwork elements knocked up in no time at all. The bricks were supposed to be delivered this week, but when the truck arrived we discovered that there wasn't enough room to unload them - there were a lot more pallets than anticipated. Oh the joys of building on a small lot. In fact delivery of materials has had to be very carefully co-ordinated due to the lack of space. So now the bricks will be delivered in two separate loads and will have to be carted by hand to the back of the house - what a job!

We are now only a matter of weeks away from reaching lock-up stage. Windows and doors are due to arrive on-site very soon, so once they are fitted the guys can complete the external cladding. And speaking of cladding, I am still undecided as to what colour to paint the weatherboards on the extension - black or white. It is likely that this decision will be made by the toss of a coin.

New Bathroom Fittings - another variation to the contract

During design development, I didn't get too involved when it came to selecting the bathroom fittings. Our architect specified the lot, which included an exposed shower set for the bathroom and ensuite. The shower was like a modern take on the old-style exposed showers of yesteryear and it happens to be a model they have used on a lot of their projects.

Last week our plumber arrived on-site to start on the rough-in. The builder had already purchased the bathroom fixtures and when we pulled the shower set out of the box something other than what we had ordered was inside - and I didn't like it one bit. We later discovered that the manufacturer had changed the design without notifying anyone about it. So at the 11th hour I was sent into a tail spin in search for a replacement.

But rather than run around the stores with kids in tow, I jumped onto the computer and did a bit of on-line window shopping. I eventually settled on this Australian made shower set by Astra Walker:

It has a large 200mm rose and an adjustable hand shower for days when you don't want to wash your hair (and is very helpful when cleaning the shower as well.) I also changed the tapware specs for the wall hung basins so they match:

I had done some research on Astra Walker several years ago, and in fact I had chosen the bathroom fittings for our previous design from this very company. I have seen their products before so I feel comfortable about purchasing these items sight unseen (they offer very good warranties too.) They have an extensive range of products to suit all tastes and a huge selection of colours and finishes to choose from. For example here is the same shower in matt black:

And in aged brass:

All images via 

So another problem sorted thanks to internet shopping. Have you renovated your bathroom lately? Any favourite brand of fittings you'd like to share?

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013." via Che and Fidel

All: OK guys - the school holidays have commenced so please, I beg you, be kind to me.

Reno - Week 15

Sheesh -  I'm still getting over yesterday's marathon 4 hour site meeting. There was certainly a lot to discuss which has resulted in several variations of one kind or another.

As you can see from the above image the roof sheets have been installed along with some of the gutters, but the roofers went MIA so the remainder of the work is still yet to be completed.  Mmmm........ is all I can say about that.

The focus this week was completing a few jobs in the old cottage, one of which was this new opening between the dining and sitting rooms. It has made the biggest impact and has opened up the views from the front to the rear of the site:

New opening between Dining and Sitting Room

Looking out towards the street

Look familiar?

The doorway is dressed with pine boards which will be painted later on and includes a decorative semi circle cut-out (which I just love) that also features in various other locations throughout the house.

We are currently waiting for the new timber windows and doors to be fabricated so as soon as they are installed, the builder can commence cladding - at which point we will be at lock-up stage. So while we are waiting for that to happen, the plumber and electrician will make a start on the rough-in.

This weekend I need to lock-in the pendant lighting so that they can be ordered - I've found this exercise quite difficult to be perfectly honest and that's why I'm thinking about installing bare bulb pendants because they are inexpensive but still look good. They can remain in place if and/or when I decide on something else. The rest of the lighting decisions were done by the architect - uplights, downlights, spot lights, wall lights, task lights, mood lights, concealed lights - far too much for me to consider with only limited time away from the kids. 

Yesterday we also discovered that the shower sets that were originally specified many months ago are no longer available, so I've been frantically looking for a replacement so that the plumbing rough-in can get done. It couldn't have happened at a worse time - school holidays have just commenced which means shopping with four smalls - Great!

So now that all the frames are up and roof is on, the rooms have taken on a whole new feel - quite different compared to seeing them drawn on paper. This photo was taken from the new section looking back towards the front door:

As you can see the stairs are yet to go in, but it shows you the extent of the change in levels (only four treads) between the existing cottage and the new addition. To make it easier to follow, I've done a quick sketch-up:

Over in the boys' bedrooms, the ceilings are pitched and it sort of feels like being in giant teepee. The bedrooms are of average size however the soaring ceilings increase the volume so they seem much, much larger:

There have been a couple of changes in here with regards to the bulkheads and shelving and overall I think the amenity of the shared bedrooms will work out really well. 

I'm off to choose the lighting and plumbing fixtures now - see you soon with another renovation update. Have a great weekend.