Family bathroom to ensuite - before and after

Before the renovation our house had one small family bathroom. As this bathroom was located right next to the main bedroom we converted it into an ensuite that you get to through our new walk in robe.

Old family bathroom, so the before.......

During....... And after converted into an ensuite .............

The Mizu shower comes with a cedar mat and depending on my mood I sometimes have it in and sometimes not...
The good thing about going with neutral tiles is you can change towel colour easily for a new look.....

As mentioned this ensuite is accessed from our main bedroom through our walk in robe. These photos I will share tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Trip to Melbourne Zoo and design ideas

Day three of Blogtoberfest and thought I would take a day break from before and after photos as today we enjoyed a sunny day at the Melbourne Zoo.

And who would of thought it would give me some design ideas both for the side of our house and our alfresco deck.

Starting with the elephant trail, love the bamboo and the idea of using this in big stone pots down the side of our house.
Then entering the orangutan enclosure love the wood slatted pitched roof and the amazing lights.

Brick path and front of house - before and after

Just before we started on the house renovation, we decided to do up our front garden, a little bit of an odd order I know, but at the time we thought we wouldn't be doing an extension for another couple of years.

These before photos also show the old brick on the front of the house (which hid the much preferred weatherboard)...............

Looking from the front porch.......

My daughter admires the new side fence and the cement in preparation for the brick path....

And now (Hubby painting a door recently). I love that the lavender pokes through the fence.....

From the front porch......

We have planted magnolias along the side fence, which are slow growing but love the flowers.....

This picture shows that the bed near the house needs work and the now exposed weatherboard needs painting and sanding, something for the next few months......

Hope you all had a great weekend and got to enjoy the outdoors like we did.

Before and afters for Blogtoberfest

Well I have decided to enter the fun of Blogtoberfest again this year which means I will be posting daily during October. To get involved yourself or find out more click on the icon in my sidebar.

Also as October is the month we started the major renovating of our house I thought now a year later it would be good to celebrate the completion of the build and show before and after photos throughout October.

Along with the photos I thought I would share some lessons learned that might help those who are about to embark on their own renovation. And for those that have already you might have some you can share too.

So to start at the beginning with house plans -

The first on the left is the house as it was some 15 years ago and then the plans on the right are what the last owners did 10 years ago.


Now we have at the front of the house changed a main bathroom into and ensuite walk in robe and at the back added more living space two more bedrooms, new laundry and family bathroom.

Shoes and bags - where do you put them?

What do you do with your shoes and bags when you come into your house? Is your place a shoes off kind of home?

Ok this is a post that says a little something about me which some of you may go, don't be so precious but here goes...

My house is a no shoe zone, has been for a while and since we have had the boards sanded and polished recently we are even more hot on it.

Of course this means my kids are well trained on this particular thing to the point of going into anyones house will immediately take shoes off. The issue I am facing at the moment is getting others to do the same. Some friends and family do easily but others need constant reminding to the point where it is getting uncomfortable. Would it be bad to put a sign in the hall saying Welcome - take shoes off here! - maybe a suggestion for one of you lovely graphic designers to do a print?


And then there is bags, now of course these are allowed in the house but the issue I have is where to put them? I am finding most people walk down the hall into the kitchen and drop them onto the central kitchen island bench. For some reason this gets to me, probably because it is my main food prep area (I like it to be clear). Or the put them on my lovely sideboard, pictured above and this I don't like much either. But I can't bring myself to ask them to put them in the nearby bookcase where I have a vacant shelf. My family who I can ask to move bags just look at me like I am a little mad!

So is there where you are going to tell am I am a little over the top? Maybe but even though I like these two things to be neater I do not run a minimalist, sterile house by any means. I love photos and kids stuff and things from our travels around the place, plus a big fan of bookcases.

So any suggestions? Do you have any house pet hates yourself?

Blackboard easel for decoration and Happy Birthday

This blackboard / white board easel from IKEA has become a bit of a feature in our new living space.

As can be seen in my previous post we have a long white wall joining the kitchen and new family area. The easel now sits proudly in the middle of it and I am finding it works really well to add that personal family touch.

We have written menus for dinner, had kids drawings and written special messages on it.

Like today it is my gorgeous Mum's birthday and my five year old decorated the easel accordingly. Mum is over from Adelaide helping out with the school holidays, which I am so grateful for. My Mum gives me so much help and support. Happy birthday Mum!

Hoping to get more pictures on this wall .......

It is also nice with this visit to have the inside of the house almost finished and a bedroom for my Mum to sleep in away from all the noise. She used to sleep in the lounge on the fold out sofa bed.

Anyway will show pictures of new bedrooms soon just want to get a bit more decorating done.

A blank canvas

Well after a break finally back and starting to enjoy the house, slowly sorting out rooms and decorating.

I have been away from the blog and even getting online outside work for the past month due to illness, being away from our house so we could get boards sanded and polished and then just getting re-settled. It has been a difficult and busy time and we are now finally coming out the other end.

So I thought initially I would share some photos of what I call 'the blank canvas' we came back to after two weeks away (well after I cleaned all the dust). And over the next month I will do some reveals, before and afters, as we settle back into the house.

So in sort of a logical sequence - as you walk in the front door and down the hall slightly first door on the right is the living room....

Then walk through the living room and look through the French doors to the dining area....

Next more in the dining area you can see the servery through to the kitchen and out towards the new family room....

Looking out the stacking doors to the garden, were we hope to have the alfresco deck built very soon.....
Turning around and looking back towards the lounge......

If you walk straight down the hall from the front door and not turn off you end up in the kitchen so in the next photo you can just see the corner of the kitchen island bench....

Looking back from family room to the kitchen (which is high on the list for re-doing).....

So that covers most of the living space. Later I will show you the new bedrooms, bathroom and laundry.

The end of October will be a year since we started the renovation and here's hoping by then I will be able to have a renovation warming party, well that's the plan anyway.