So this weekend we got plastered

LOL. I'm hilarious.

But seriously, I missed you guys! I didn't have time to write a post on last weekend's endeavours and I'm sure you were all wondering what we did and how it ended up (because everyone reads my blog...duh!).

We spent last weekend building the new back and side walls of the kitchen (Tim & Mike), and constructing a bazillion Ikea cupboards and drawers (lucky me). Please don't mistake us for building experts, we have exactly no idea what we are doing. There is a lot of googling before we start; panicked youtube watching halfway through, and forth-guessing ourselves once we finish. I am so SO proud of Tim for tackling every step of this project the same way a slightly educated Golden Retriever would. I love him, even if he drools.

Pictures, yay!

Ikea building station i.e. my prison for 2 days

Remember the hole we uncovered under the old fridge space? It falls under the dishwasher spot in the new island bench and needed to be repaired. We purchased a sheet of yellow tongue particle board and Tim tackled the precarious job of cutting out the rotten piece of flooring and replacing it...while dangling almost 2 metres in the air above the storage area under the house.

Peek a boo!

All fixed! You can see the re-routed pipes for the new sink poking up through the floor. Fridge is in approximate spot however is sitting a bit wonky - don't judge me :(

End of last weekend, phew!

Onto this week's endeavours! Our lovely electrician Jimmy from Jimelectric came out during the week and removed our horrible globe lights in the lounge/kitchen/hall/study and replaced them with awesome flush white downlights. I can actually see our house!

We also trading in our crappy fans that were covered in old people dust for a gorgeous, simple new Hunter Pacific Intercept ceiling fan. We will be installing matt black versions in the bedrooms a bit later on, along with the downlights. 

Ahem, ignore the patches and the mess and concentrate on those sexy, sexy lights waiting to be popped up into the ceiling once painting has finished. This is the view down the newly extended hallway towards the separate study.

Timmy the plasterer. Yeah, he totally knows what he's doing.

The study - back wall of kitchen. This will eventually be covered in floor-to-roof white cupboards that will become our new linen closet

Again with the sexy lights!!!

Waiting for the plaster to dry so we can sand and put on another coat

Keeping in mind what I said (or wrote?) earlier, we pretty much figured out how to patch and plaster as we went. We used two different types of readymade joint compound when it became apparent the 6L container we knicked from Tim's mum (sorry Ellen!! & thanks!!) was NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH to plaster our walls & ceiling. We found the Gyprock brand to be quite thick, however once watered down a teenytiny bit, it was the perfect consistency and went on super smoothly. 

To patch the old ceiling light and old fan switch holes, we purchased metal patches from the plastering section at Bunnings and basically followed the instructions. Once it became VERY apparent I suck at plastering (I have many talents, but apparently this isn't one of them), Tim took over feathering these patches into the wall and once painted you shouldn't be able to tell they were ever there. So of course I will point them all out to you if you come visit. 

NEW FLOORBOARDS. You're welcome. 

Best moment of the past week - conquering the Rangehood cabinet construction with only minor jigsaw related terror 

Not so great moment of the past week - Realising that even with a stepladder that my perfect boyfriend purchased for me, I still have to stand on my tiptoes to reach our standard 243cm ceiling #midgetlyf 

Came in like a wrecking ball...

Don't tell me I didn't get that song in your head.

Apologies for the late entry, it has been such a huge week and Tim forgot the camera last weekend so I only had crappy photos and blahblahexcusesblah.

Last weekend Tim & I got a huge amount of things done, which is surprising considering we spent 80% of our time bickering and generally calling each other names. Ahh young love, there's nothing like it <3

When I last left you, we had just finished removing the old tiles and laminate and were looking forward to sanding back the floors. Not. Well, I have to say my little belt sander and I have developed an affectionate relationship not unlike what I imagine a small toddler and parent enjoy - In the sense that every time I forgot to hold onto it tightly, it took off and ran into a wall repeatedly (and this is why I am not a parent. Also children are sticky. All the time. For no reason. It's just not right.)

I'd waffle more at you but we all know nobody cares and you're just here for the pictures.

My new toddler

Hands off, he's mine

The kitchen mid demolition

Old kitchen

Kitchen wall minus kitchen cupboards. This is the wall we demolished

Tim removed all of the cornice to assist in not damaging the roof during wall removal

Booyah

Most satisfying moment, when the big sheet of plasterboard just came off this wall in one piece

Still mine

The gigantic pile of rubbish we had to take to the tip. 3 ute loads!

The view from the front door. That wall where the stool is will be continued out to create the new back wall of kitchen

Where the new island bench will sit.

View from study

Bonus sunset pic from our driveway

The plumber has also been to move the water taps and waste for the new sink across to the new island bench spot. I love our plumber. He is Scottish and sometimes I just nod and smile and hope to god I don't end up with a spa bath in the kitchen.

Earlier tonight we finalised the cupboard heights and started assembling the kitchen cupboards. This will be my job tomorrow while Tim and his brother will be building the new wall frame. We also have to collect our new flooring and remove some old plasterboard to allow patching and painting to happen next weekend.

On another note, meet Mildred the fiddle leaf fig. Ficus Lyrata (fiddle leaf figs) are ridiculously difficult to get in Australia. However Bunnings of all places has started to stock the occasional one. Cue me telling Tim to guard the trolley with his life while I bail the poor unsuspecting horticulturist up and demand to know where I can get more Mildreds. It was clearly a reasonable response to finding a plant.
I have to get out more.

Also, our Sunroom light arrived at Beacon and I got to go pick it up :) Ours is the matt black version

Until next time! x

& so it begins....

When someone says to you "treat yourself to a haircut and style 4 days before removing your floors"; IT'S A TRAP. There is tile dust in my hair....and in between my toes...and I'm pretty sure I have an unhealthy coating on the inside of my lungs.

When we first started planning our kitchen revamp, we did what all new home-owners do - we displayed an overconfidence that has now been bruised after never-ending budget re-dos. Of course it's a great idea to replace the entire flooring in your house while simultaneously juggling a full kitchen renovation. NOT. But we're doing it anyway (who doesn't love drama?? I certainly do!)

So our first weekend of renovations surprisingly was a fairly painless affair - minimal issues, minimal (okay maybe mid) level arguing and a buttload of mess.

We started out by removing the existing kitchen window that currently looks over into the Sunroom.....and by we, I mean Tim because I am a midget with T-rex arms.

Tim's first words to me, "How do I get the window out??"....ummmm....do I look like a builder?? I toddle off to youtube 'aluminium window removal'; realise I don't really care and decide to use power tools unsupervised instead. 

That desk was no match for me and my 30ish minutes of attempting to use a drill! But guess what? I did it!!!

BAM!

Meanwhile Tim had successfully worked out how to get the window out (don't ask me how he did it, I was still in the non-caring, making random encouraging noises with my mouth stage while yelling about how I deserved some recognition for removing a screwed in desk. Priorities, right?!)

Good work, Tim. & look, plumbing that will soon be moved for sink relocation.

Let's take a step back and have a look at what we are actually changing in the house walls-wise. The below pic shows the Loungeroom from the front door. That big white wall is the back of the current kitchen solid wall. We are knocking this out in a couple of weeks and it will become our new island. The alcove to the right is the entrance to the hall and will remain, with the island bench connecting to that wall it at the end.

Another view of the wall we are removing. See the kitchen peeking through? We will be building a wall starting from the old window and finishing at the hallway. This will create parallel cupboards and a new alcove between the island and the back wall that also leads into the hall. (see this Floorplan post for a much better visual explanation).

This new plan will open up the main living area and encapsulate the Study & Master Suite into its own space. It will allow conversation to flow between the Loungeroom and Kitchen without a giant big-ass wall in the way.

Enough waffling Jess! More progress shots :)

Luckily the Loungeroom contained easy laminate flooring, I removed all of the skirting boards (and claimed a chisel as my favourite thing EVER); after that the laminate floor just came out with no force.

Unfortunately the front Entrance, Kitchen and Study were not as simple. When we moved in the floors were covered with black sheet lino including the enclosed deck (Sunroom).....old people do some weird shit - like so. 

Under this majestic monstrosity sat crappy white tiles, who knew! The tiles had to be broken with a hammer and then chipped up with a rotary hammer drill with scraper attachment. Some of the tiles come up whole; most took it upon themselves to turn into horrible little pieces and about 68 times their weight in shitty dust (aka my new, persistent hair product).

Oh look, a minion. A HUGE thank you to my littlest bro-in-law for coming to help us, he's awesome :)

A surprise found under the fridge tiles. Seems the last owners had some water damage, most likely from a leaky fridge. Tim thought the particle board looked weird, poked it, and this happened. Thankfully we will be able to fix it before our fridge falls 2m and becomes a feature of the storage area under the house. I imagine that would suck when beer o'clock came round.

Next weekend we will pack up the kitchen in preparation for the electricity and sink disconnection; and sand the floors ready for new flooring install in a month or so. After that it is old wall demolition and new wall building time!

I will never be clean again.