Tag Archives: painting

The Next Step

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We are making progress on completing the lounge to the way we want it.

Some of you might remember this post from late February. Well there have been a few hiccups along the way but the window installation was finally completed today.

We will need to paint the frames both inside and outside and then I will see about choosing a blind. In the meantime, we will rehang the piece of fabric that has been covering the old window for the past couple of years. Bare glass is not a good idea at this time of the year.

The choice of louvres will be fully appreciated in the summer as they will provide good cross-ventilation.

Speaking of painting, we spent some time painting the pickets of our newish fence. It has been several months since it was installed but the weather has been either too hot or too cold and a few days ago we had rain to further delay us. Of course, we also seem to manage to be away or otherwise socially engaged. However, today was perfect. After a frosty start we were blessed with a glorious sunny day and no wind. Hopefully, there will be a few more days like today in the not too distant future to enable us to finish that project.

Beating the Birds

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I have been fully occupied for the past few days doing some writing that was not blog posts nor in any way blogworthy. It was administrative work for a local voluntary organisation that I belong to.

Today we ventured out in the garden to do a few jobs and one was to net the fruit trees to keep the birds at bay. Last year was our first summer in this house and although we harvested a bounty of fruit we did lose a portion of the crop to our local feathered friends.

We have 3 espaliered fruit trees near the side of the house – a nectarine and two nashi pears. They are now suitably enclosed for at least 3 months while the fruit mature out of harm’s way.

The raspberries are thriving in a patch near the back fence and we did cover them last year which resulted in most of the crop feeding us rather than the birds. Last year it was a pretty simple matter of throwing some netting over them. I have some slightly grander plans this time and will get onto that later this afternoon once it is a bit cooler.

Meanwhile, the building work in the pantry is complete and GMan is finishing painting the new wall and cornice. I have started rearranging some of the cupboards and shelves and I should be able to unveil it soon. Watch this space for details and plenty of pictures.

Time Out

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Apologies for radio silence as it is over 2 weeks since my last post. There has been plenty happening but it has not been suitable material for blog posts.

We enjoyed a short break in Melbourne last week and spent time with both of our adult daughters and teenage granddaughters. A highlight was a shared family dinner at an excellent suburban Mexican restaurant.

Meanwhile work has been continuing on both the new front fence and the pantry extension.

The fence is complete apart from painting the pickets and the gates. They are already finished with a white undercoat so the overall look will not really change as the finished colour of them will be white. The large gates have been hung but it will be a couple of weeks before the mechanism is installed and electricity is connected. I am really looking forward to having the whole property fenced and secured.

The view from the other side of the road.

Looking from near the front door.

The pantry is coming along nicely. Here is a progress photo taken today. There is a bit of a delay until the benchtop and drawer fronts are ready but you can get a sense of the final result.

Looking at the other end which was the original pantry area.

It will be very exciting to rearrange things so that they are more accessible. Watch this space…………..

Gorgeous Green

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One of our plans during our holidays was to do some painting. This may not sound like much of a holiday but we were happy to help out our daughter who lives interstate.

A recently completed renovation had completely transformed the bathroom and just needed some finishing touches of paint. The vanity, doors, wall and floor tiles are all white or very light coloured so she was looking for a strong, dramatic colour for the remaining small areas of wall. Green was her preference, however, there are many choices. After one previous false start with a test pot we narrowed our choice.

The internet is a great resource and much better than simply looking at a colour chart in a shop as we have done in the past. We were able to compare technical specifications such as the depth of colour, reflective capacity and formulation. Finally, there are photos of completed rooms so we were able to visualise how our choice might look with a substantial portion of white contrast.

Here is the result of our handiwork.

The colour is Dulux ‘Plasticine’. I would love to know how they come up with the names for some of these colours.

This is the image which confirmed that our idea would work. Although it is not a bathroom it does have a substantial portion of white or light coloured elements. The tan/natural colours were the inspiration for the light fitting in the toilet.

A Refresh

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I have not forgotten you even though it has been nearly 4 weeks since my last post.

After a very wet autumn our weather suddenly turned dry and cold as winter officially began here at the beginning of June. It somehow made our planned holiday very appealing. We had 9 days in north Queensland where the daytime temperatures ranged from about 26C up to 32C. It was a great opportunity to thaw out. I am still adding to the posts on my holiday blog but you can pop over here to read all about it.

We came back with renewed enthusiasm to tackle some jobs around the house. It is really a bit like spring-cleaning in winter. GMan has scrubbed all of the skirting boards, architraves and doors in the lounge/dining area and the office/library.

A bit of decluttering and rearranging of furniture ensued. One thing certainly leads to another.

Bookshelf from the lounge to the office.

Sideboard from the front lobby to the lounge.

A ‘new’ glass fronted cabinet for the lobby. I picked this bargain up on Marketplace.

Scrubbing was not enough for the front lobby so it received a fresh coat of paint.

There is more painting and rearranging in progress. More photos to come.

Painting Posts

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Yes, this is a post about painting but more importantly, we were actually painting posts.

We have a large area under our highset house which was simply an untamed soil embankment when we first came here almost 15 years ago.  This was unusable and generated a lot of dust in the house.  A few years later we had most of the area concreted.  We had no specific plan and for the last 10 years it has mostly been a storage and work area.

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Nevertheless, in the back of our minds was a half-hatched plan to turn at least part of it into an outdoor entertainment area.  Part of the reason is that this is by far the coolest area of our home during the summer.

Our half-hatched plan has developed over a few years but it was not until this year that we have had time to really get started.  We intend to screen part of the area using Ekodeck battens.  The first step of this process was to paint the steel posts.

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Most of the posts are painted dark gray to match the other exterior paintwork on the lower level of the house.  However, we painted the posts which will be in the middle of the designated area in a much lighter hue.  This will ensure that they are easily visible.  We will combine this with strategic placement of furniture and plants to minimise any risk of accidents.

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We plan to create a green screen using multiple hanging baskets hung at different levels in the section which contains the light-coloured cross-bracing.

Several weeks ago we bought the timber for the support rails.  The 21 pieces have been cut to length, painted and are stacked in preparation for the next stage of the construction.

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After much planning and preparation we are finally seeing results.  The difference between the first and third photos in this post is the result of about 5 hours work by GMan and I today.

I think we deserve a couple of rest days after that effort.  We have a lunch date planned for tomorrow and are going to the movies on Saturday.

 

 

Construction Progress

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Today I thought I would share some of the progress on a couple of construction projects.  After some time in the design and preparation phase, the cold frame is beginning to take shape.

We bought the 2 hardwood sleepers to create the back wall of the cold frame.

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They are now in position.

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The compost tumbler which can be seen in the background was quite close to where we were working so it has been moved.  GMan is yet to decide on a final location for it.

The area under the house is perfect for storage of materials and construction jobs.  The panels of wire on the left hand side are earmarked for the top of the pergola.

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The wire will be installed once a couple more crossbars are in place.  But first the crossbars need to be painted.

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We normally do the painting under the house but on a sunny and windy day like today it was perfect to paint outdoors.  The shorter pieces on the trestles at the right of the photo are the corner posts for the cold frame.

There will be more photos when the construction is completed.

Progress

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Well, the bedroom is painted and the new flooring laid.

Tonight we reassembled the bed frame, replaced the mattress and made the bed.  Now I am ready to sleep in it.

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Here is a closer view of the new floor.

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After much discussion and debate prior to making our decision, we are very happy with the finished product.  It will be much easier to keep clean.

The chest of drawers, cedar box and my dressing table will be put back on the weekend when we have more time.

 

 

One Simple Change

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A few days after Christmas we ordered a new lounge suite.  This had been on the agenda for quite some time and we finally found the time to search out what we wanted on the internet and then went to see (and sit in) it in real life.The delivery time was expected to be 10 – 12 weeks but we asked if we could make a bit longer so that it would be delivered after our holidays in April.

One of the reasons we were looking at an extended delivery time was because we knew that there were a few other jobs that we wanted to do before we had a new lounge suite in the living room.

The main priority was to have the vinyl flooring in the lounge, dining room, kitchen, hallway and study re-surfaced.  This had not been done since the flooring was first laid about 10 years ago and was well overdue.  The main problem is that since it comprises such a major area of the house it is a challenge to move all of the furniture out of the way.  This seemed like the perfect time.

So now there is furniture and contents of shelves and cupboards stacked almost anywhere I can find a space.

The guest bedroom

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The front entry

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The floors are not the only area in need of some maintenance.  The kitchen ceiling was in poor condition and was GMan’s list of jobs.  He had already noted that since the living areas of the house are open plan that he would repaint all of the ceilings.

Of course, you paint the ceiling before refinishing the floors.

The kitchen and front entry were done a couple of weeks ago.  You can read about it here.  The lounge and dining room are currently being painted.

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Our bedroom has been completely emptied and GMan repainted the walls today.  The photo is before the painting.  Tomorrow the carpet will be replaced with vinyl flooring which will be much easier to keep clean, especially since we live on acreage in a semi-rural area.

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The bed frame has been dismantled and is in the study.

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We are sleeping on the mattress on the floor in my sewing room for a couple of nights.

Once the bedroom flooring is done and that room can be reassembled things will improve a bit.  The next step will be to arrange for the resealing of the other flooring.

Moving furniture is almost as much of an impetus to declutter as moving house.  We will not necessarily be putting everything back where it came from as we have realised that times have changed and some things that were essentials 10 years ago do not necessarily have a place here anymore.  There is no rush so we will carefully consider everything as we reassemble various rooms.

There will be ‘after’ photos in due course.

Bright and Shiny

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One of the things that has needed doing for some time is repainting the ceiling in kitchen.  We had originally painted with regular ceiling paint which is a matt finish.  Unfortunately, we did not take into account the fact that we live in an area of very high humidity as well as the steam that is generated in a kitchen.  There is an efficient exhaust fan but this is not enough to keep the incessant mould at bay.

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It is much better and will be easier to clean because GMan has used a semi-gloss paint.  While this is not necessarily recommended for ceilings, we have had previous success as it was used in the bathroom almost 10 years ago and it is still immaculate.  A quick wipe over with cloth dampened with a spray of diluted clove oil removes any trace of mould.  I have done this about 3 times in 9 years.

We have decided that several sections of the house would benefit from a fresh coat of paint.  Next on the list is the front entry.  First coat of the ceiling is done with another coat tomorrow.  The walls also need doing.

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There are several other maintenance projects on the ‘to do’ list and it is quite a new experience for us.  Not actually painting etc but the fact that we have been in this house long enough to need to be redoing painting that we did 10 -12 years ago.