Reno - Week 32

Last week's post on the size of today's housing really struck a chord with many of you - thanks for all the comments. Perhaps there will be a future trend in smaller but better designed homes. Also, I like to think that our renovation has inspired other owners of older-style homes who can't see past the  dark, pokey rooms and flaking paint. There is so much that can be done to turn them into well functioning and beautiful family homes - you just need to have a vision.

There is definitely some pressure to get our house completed now as we must vacate our rental by Monday, 3 February - that only gives us two weeks. With so much left to do and to organise, I'm starting to get very nervous.

This week the timber battens underneath the house were fitted which has really made an impact on the overall appearance of the house:

The old girl finally has a new black skirt

As time passes, I'm finding it more and more difficult to remember the old colour scheme - that is until I start sifting through the old photos:

Not pretty - this was definitely one of the worst houses in the street. But not anymore!

An integrated gate has been put into one side of the screen which will provide access to the backyard and we are just waiting now for the garage door to be installed, a sliding motorised gate to match, which then gives us secure storage underneath the house. We still need to fit the window hoods and screens and the handrails for the stairs and that should pretty much wrap-up the external elements of the renovation.

Out the back, the bricks stairs and paths are currently being finished off:

Once the bricks are grouted they will be acid washed and then sealed. There should be very little maintenance with them after this.

There's still just a bit more external painting to complete - doors and windows. The back of the house looks like this now:

And heading inside - the floor tiles in the bathrooms have now all been laid. Here they are in the ensuite:

The subway wall tiles in the ensuite and kitchen are next in line and that will be another job ticked off the list.

Tiles in the shower

There's been so many little last minute changes along the way, the latest one being the towel rails in both bathrooms. Custom timber towel rails were originally specified but in light of the fact that we are fitting brass framed mirrored cabinets in each bathroom, we decided to add another brass element using these Futagami towel rails:

Unfortunately the supplier is out of stock at the moment - so they will need to be fitted after we have moved in but we can do without them for a couple of weeks I guess.

There is only one week remaining of the school holidays - and yes, I've survived (but only just.) We are all very much looking forward to moving into our new home.