New Christmas decorations

Just love my bargain new Christmas decorations bought in the sales! All ready for Christmas 2016 as Christmas 2015 will be spent in Germany visiting one of my brothers.

Alfresco tiles

Some of you are aware of the issues that I am having with the tiles on our alfresco slab, in fact some of you have had to enjoy a relaxing dinner surrounded by a sea of dirt which then gets trodden into the house. You may even have apologized for the mess you are making even though you have no control over it.
I clean regularly with 30 Seconds, scrubbing brush and a high pressure cleaner and it is STILL dirty.
If you too are struggling to keep your tiles clean, it may be because you have a textured or structured tile surface. When you think of ‘texture’ you tend to think of a very rough surface, but sometimes the texture can be so fine that it doesn’t look ‘textured’. In this case, you might not even realise that the texture of your tiles are causing the problem! The main giveaway for these tiles is that they mark very easily, and are very hard to clean. Textured tiles provide grip as you walk on them, but as a result the surface will rapidly accumulate dirt and become visibly dirty. However, the tile is doing what it was designed for – making sure it’s impossible for you to slip on it. This was not mentioned ONCE by the sales team at Di Lorenzo - grrr. It was suggested to purchase the outdoor version of our selected tile to prevent slipping.
In my recent actions with DiLorenzo to try and address the issue, they ALL seem to know the issues surrounding this type of tile. How frustrating. On my last visit, I purchased a product to help me clean it up for Christmas guests (NanoScrub) and I was given the business card of a company that will be able to help me problem solve (obviously at cost)

www.slique.com.au

I found this on their website.....

“I can’t keep my tiles clean!”

No matter how often you clean them, or what you clean them with, you just can’t keep your tiles clean. They might even pick up dirt from the soles of your shoes when you walk across, or they might just stay generally grimy, even if you’ve scrubbed them on your hands and knees.
There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to keep your tiles clean:

1. There could be a build-up of cleaning chemicals (see "Sticky tiles" problem page)
2. Your tiles could be textured, so they ‘hold on’ to dirt and grime (see "Textured tiles hold dirt" problem page)
3. They could just be showing signs of age (see "Dirty tiles" problem page)
4. The grout might be dirty, which makes the whole floor look dirty (see "Dirty grout" problem page)
5. The colour might be fading from the tiles (see "Fading tiles" problem page)

The mob at Slique will be visiting our home in the new year for a free consultation to see what can be done - resurfacing I think is the answer.

More new furniture

 Over the past few months more furniture has been arriving. I have been waiting until it is completely finished before posting but I think that time may be some time away. So here are some almost finished rooms.

A new rug to break up the tiles

Excuse the fitball - another 6 weeks until my chair arrives

A daybed come foldout guest bed

We will add a floating shelf above the desk early next year

LOVE the cushions

LOVE my new coffee table

A plant would go nicely in this corner

Some nice artwork over the lounge

New upstairs joinery

Yesterday saw this new addition getting puttied and painted to finish it off properly. I am yet to find the right decorator items to fit in the cubes but I have some things that will do for now. In the floating cupboards, you'll find board games, puzzles and our old photo albums that I can't bear to part with just yet.

Handyman work

Today the long list of small fiddly jobs was started by my lovely Hire-A-Hubby, Heath. There was a lot of painting and hanging on the list, including our retaining walls outside.

BEFORE - bench seat

AFTER - bench seat

BEFORE - Herb garden

AFTER - Herb garden

BEFORE

AFTER

A teaser

A sneak peek at the lounge room which isn't quite finished yet. Still waiting on the coffee table (mid December) and some decorator items.

Kids' study

...is pretty much finished now. A few more accessories to fill in shelves, a visit from the electrician and we are done. The children love using their own space for homework. Long may the novelty factor continue.

BEFORE

AFTER

Girls' desk

H's side

I love it so much. Unfortunately I didn't think it through enough at planning stage and we have had to move powerpoints and light switches to accommodate the joinery - a cost I would have preferred spending on something else.

Our first birthday!

So very hard to believe that it has been 12 months since we rushed over to Eden Brae Head Office to collect our keys. That time has simply flown by. On the other hand, it is so much our home and we cannot really remember the 12 years that we lived in Timbarra Road.
To celebrate, we are finishing off the rooms that still need completion. Kids' study joinery yesterday & tomorrow and a delivery of lounge room furniture & a new desk for me tomorrow. There may be some champagne involved too ;-)
Another big thankyou to my main supporters paid and unpaid. My wonderful designer Anastasia is ready to see the back of me, I think - it has been a BIG project. And my friend, Lucinda, has been so supportive and excited for/with me.

I will give you a sneak peek at one side of the kids' study before we finish it off....

Our bedroom nook

The area of our bedroom under the windows was vast and bare though Brad thought it was just fine as it was (read = do you really need to buy more furniture?)! My little reading nook is finished, is very comfortable and helps the room to look complete.

Some of the new joinery

There will be a small burst of activity on the blog as we head towards the end of 2014. We are waiting for some more furniture and furnishings to arrive to finish off the final rooms in the house. All ordered and paid for, just waiting on delivery.

Yesterday, our amazing joiner installed the long awaited extra bits and pieces to fill in niches and gaps. We are stoked with the outcome!

Outside the kids' study - previously the school bag dumping ground

Now a cupboard for each child

And a drawer each for Brad & I

Floating bookshelves in the media room

Screaming out for some books

Overhead cupboards in the laundry to accommodate the new hanging rail. The timber block needs to be painted.

Not sure what will go in the cupboards - so much storage considering the other side of the room houses full length cupboards!

 

 

 

We had a large niche upstairs that has been transformed but it needs some painting work to it before I reveal it. Within the next 2 weeks, Davella Kitchens will install all the desks and shelving units in the kids' study. Another exciting day in our household.

Room with a view

And this is one of the reasons I am so glad we didn't get obscure glazing in our ensuite bathroom! Pretty with a capital P!

Joinery time

I am busy behind the scenes working, with Anastasia  from re-do my space, on the final few rooms in the house. It will very exciting to get them usable and looking complete - kids' study, adult study/with sofa bed and lounge room.
We are working with a joiner, Darren from Davella Kitchens to fit out the kids' study with desks and bookcases. Here are some plans....

The girls' side of the room

 

 

 

 

My boy's desk with bookshelves and lower cupboards

While he was here, we also had plans drawn up for some other joinery to fill in niches.

Opposite kids' study for school bags and some floating shelves in the media room

The large upstairs niche will gain some floating cupboards and cubes

And the laundry will get some more cupboards so a hanging rod can be attached

Looking forward to this all being installed sometime in the next month or so.

My weekend in the garage!

For the past 9 months, I have been staring at the piles of stuff in the garage as I drive in and out 100 times a day (almost). As you can see in one of the BEFORE photos, there is a leaning tower. It was only a matter of time before it collapsed on a child or on the car. This weekend was the time to do it as the schedule was fairly clear once I got home from my daughter's netball match.

I started by clearing everything out & cleaning the ground as much as possible though I think it needs a good guerney. I drove off to Bunnings and purchased the QiqFix range of garage shelving. It proved a little difficult to get it off the shelf and into the car by myself but some helpless looks saw burly men come running! About 3 hours later the shelves were all together. There weren't too many arguments! Everything was then neatly arranged back inside the garage.

Back to Bunnings today for someplastic containers that actually would fit on the shelves and I think another trip is warranted tomorrow for some more!!

SO GLAD IT IS DONE!

BEFORE Northern side

AFTER Northern side

BEFORE Southern side

AFTER Southern side