Does size matter?

I have discovered recently that size matters to a certain extent but as long as you use what you have well and you cover what is required, bigger doesn't necessarily mean better.

Now before I go too far down this track I suppose I better explain that I am talking about house size! There is a general Australian trend for houses to get bigger and bigger hence the term McMansion. I have to say personally though that having inspected so many houses I have found the the medium size houses, with good storage and design are so much more appealing then the large ones.

Our house before we started the reno / extension was a two bedroom, one bathroom home with a toilet through a small laundry. We also lacked storage. This started to feel too small with two kids and regular interstate visitors (that would sleep in our lounge). Now by adding extra living space, two more bedrooms and extra bathroom and loads more storage the house feels huge but I know we will use every bit of space well.

A house much bigger to me means more cleaning, and also ones I have visited seem to often lack that homely feel I love. Instead one of my favourites is a friends double fronted cottage that isn't a big house by any means but is well designed and gives my friends and their three kids plus two dogs plenty of space to live. The house has such a warmth about it and you immediately feel comfortable.

What do you think? Do you love a well designed classic cottage or do you prefer a more modern larger house?

A meeting at The Block

I was fortunate to have good friends visiting from Adelaide on Friday and with one being a big fan of The Block we just had to go and visit.

On driving past we saw Tania and Rod standing on their front porch and so quickly pulled over and jumped out, but by the time we walked back they had gone back inside. Instead we then managed to see Josh and Jenna coming out and quickly got a photo of my very excited friend with them.

Once the main excitement was over we took time to look at the houses more closely. I must say on first inspection the houses all look fantastic and being a big fan of Katrina and Amie's style had to have my photo in front of theirs (see above).

On closer look though you can see with all of them that the paint jobs look a bit rushed, very streaky in spots but with the timeline they had I am not surprised. I just think about how long it is taking to paint our house.

I have to say though a big fan of the girls my favourite from the outside was Josh and Jenna's double fronted weatherboard cottage.

Wattle tree - to go or stay?

We have a large Wattle tree in the corner of our back garden and at this time of year I think it looks spectacular. I love the smell of wattle it makes me feel like the end of Winter is near.

The issue is with this beautiful tree is that Hubby wants to cut it down and I do not. Not only because I love the wattle flower but the tree gives great shade over the children's play area in what is a north facing sunny garden.


For me too I struggle to cut down any tree no matter what size and with a large one like this well what can I say, I would cry. I grew up in the Adelaide hills where there were large gums everywhere and I just love them - the smell, the noise they make in the wind and the wildlife they attract.

In hubby's defence the tree does drop a lot of bits and pieces and he has had to cut it back from annoyed neighbours properties.

Luckily for me the local council have strict laws about removing trees, especially natives and it will cost quite a bit. So I have been given a year to improve and use the space under the tree and then we will discuss again.

Any ideas for what I could do in that corner?

Bathroom sneak peak

I say sneak peak as the bathroom isn't completely finished but the bath is in and we have been using it the past two days.

I can't tell you what a difference this has made. The kids love it and it is so much easier to bath them then shower. I am looking forward to having a quite bath myself tonight when they are in bed.
I love my new freestanding tap and the tiles on the floor. Hard to show but have a stone look with slight metallic finish in certain light.

The next shot gives you some perspective on the width of the bathroom, a little tighter then I would like. Between the bath and the toilet, over the heat vent we hope to put a towel rail and then some hooks just outside the shower.

So where is the shower, well at the end of the bath but we are still waiting on a shower screen. You can just see the edge of the vanity in the photo above but once we have decorated and finished the shower I will show you more.

Hope you have had a good weekend. It was a wet one here in Melbourne but we still managed to get out for a walks.

Renovation takes over!

The renovation really seems to have taken over our lives lately. I am continually cancelling on friends and our social life has diminished a lot and I think will continue to do so for at least another month.

My little boy crashing on our new rug enjoying the sun

We are nearly there but the builders are six weeks over contract and still going. They are hoping to be out of here by mid next week, that will be major cause for celebration.

Unfortunately once the builders are finished we still have a lot to do which will impact on our weekends for the next little while - cleaning, painting, painting, painting and getting the floorboards sanded and polished, plus carpets put in the two new bedrooms. Then there is all the stuff that we have decided to do on the outside of the house ourselves - painting, replacing weatherboard and putting in new base boards. Sigh!!

I am a little over it and this is why I haven't been online much lately either.

On the positive side I am loving the new space - I often sit in these cane chairs, coffee in hand and watch my kids outside jumping on the trampoline. And even better news I have been told I can use our new bath from tonight!