Reno - Week 26

There are only two weeks left before it's 'down tools' for the Christmas break so the race is on to get as much done as possible before then. There's still joinery, tiling, painting and fit-off of basins and tapware.

This week the remainder of the kitchen joinery was installed and on Thursday during our site meeting, the marble for the benchtop was delivered and fitted. The splashback in front of the kitchen window consists of a single 20mm thick piece of honed marble which, when the morning sun hits it, becomes opaque and highlights the grey veining in the stone - it looks like it's been backlit:

Although these photos don't show it very well, incorporated into the marble splashback is a stone shelf that sits on either side of the kitchen window. This shelf will be great for storage, keeping the main benchtop free from clutter. And of course there isn't a surface in this house that doesn't have a curved decorative cut-out:

The benchtop in the laundry, made from the same material, was also installed - we are still waiting for the stone upstand/shelf to go in:

Pull-out laundry hampers are fitted into the end 3 cupboards

The tiler is booked to start next week, firstly waterproofing the wet areas and then tiling the floors with the bluestone hexagon tiles I ordered more than 10 weeks ago. There have been moments where I've wished I stayed with the original tile specification but I wanted something a bit different. Let's hope they work out OK.

A clear, ventilated skylight in the ensuite shower has been installed, bathing the entire room in natural sunlight. Despite that there are no window openings in the ensuite, the light quality is fantastic and will become even brighter once the room is painted and tiled with gloss white wall tiles:

Ensuite - ready for waterproofing

Painting has commenced in the extension at the rear - the hallway and bathroom (which is a series of small rooms for the WC, shower and washbasin) has a similar feel to a built-in verandah of an old Queenslander:

And the first of the bed plinths in the kids' rooms is almost complete. (It is the exact size for a single bed mattress to fit on top). The cabinet maker constructed the 4-drawer unit which is now being encased in Blackbutt timber.

I'm guessing there is only six weeks to go before handover - packing has already commenced.