Building contract

Now for the fun and games! I was warned that the contract stage can take a while and be very frustrating but did I listen, no and now I am exactly that, frustrated.

You may be aware of this having gone through a renovation or starting on the path to one and so have been told by friends that the contract phase can take a while, especially if you are thorough which is a good thing to be.

We had the final builders contract brought around last Saturday, a thick 40 page document and lets just say we didn't get very far as we realised there were changes that needed to be made even before we started looking at it. Over the past week we have read through it and have sent our construction company, a list of questions and changes, now we play the waiting game. So now not sure about our August date for the build start.

At least I have to say our buidling group are very thorough and I am glad they put everything in the contract. As I was told by a friend that didn't have a good contract, 'you are better off finding these discrepancies now then when they start building'.

Letters

I love letters or typography and have started looking out for letters to decorate my house with the focus being on D & B, the letters that start my kids names.

These brown ones I got at the bargain price of $2 each at the Supply and Demand store on Glenferrie Road Hawthorn.

I have also got large white letters in the kids bedroom and my daughter painted letters we bought from Spotlight in multi colours to decorate the play area.

But I particularly love the red ones in the lounge.

Recently I found a place to buy great typography products through a friend who sells her own tea towels and beautiful materials - Yardage Design or at Etsy

As soon as we have finished our renovation later this year I will be getting some of these wonderful things to decorate the new rooms.

The kid factor

Something I have to keep reminding myself (not sure why I keep forgetting) is that my to do list takes a lot longer to complete then it used to because of the kid factor.

Even knowing this we still requested the build to be brought forward and now we have realised it is really happening with Robert, our Designer coming around this week to sign final contracts and technical drawings. So the plan is to start the build in August (initially we were waiting until January next year), so we can be finished in time for Christmas which we may even host - I am starting to think we are mad!

We are now in full on rush mode of choosing fittings, not easy with kids in toe, the problem being one of us always has to watch them closely as they zip around the showrooms, so no discussion, just picking things then comparing notes.

At Reece the kids hopped in and out of baths (which the lovely staff actually suggested to keep them entertained) and they loved pressing buttons to check out the water flow on different shower heads. And then I don't know what came over me but I took my almost two year old to a tile place by myself. He whipped around at high speed and kept climbing on the displays. Lets just say we stayed for all of five minutes. Thank god for the Internet where we can check a lot of things out first and for friends and family who have looked after the kids at different points (my parents are coming over from Adelaide to do just that this weekend, oh and are here for my sons second birthday).

It is going to be an interesting, full on few months with some great stories I am sure: - seeing how my daughter goes with the portable toilet (at least my son is still in nappies), how we move from one area of the house to another so we can live in the house and how we keep my son in particular away from the builders or climbing things he is not meant too!