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!

Tile prices

Well I have learnt today that it pays to shop around. The other weekend we saw that some of the big tile stores had sales so rushed in to see what we could get for our new family bathroom and ensuite. The tiles we picked were on sale and so we naturally thought it was a good price.

Today I went to a smaller store, Mitcham Tile Centre and discovered I could get similar or in case of the wall tiles, the same tiles for $4 cheaper per square metre, so now know that sales don't necessarily mean that it is cheaper then elsewhere.

To give you an idea of the kind of look we are after - these two photos were taken from my friend Amanda's bathroom. My bathroom inspiration. We also love the free standing bath and the tiled recess next to it with the difference being we are looking at tiling the recess with a blue / grey mosaic.

Change of plan

It has been an interesting week, following a visit from our Construction Manager hubby and I have discussed changing the order of our renovations. Initially we were going to make our current bathroom into a ensuite later this year then do the extension after Christmas to make it easier to live in the front of the house.

Now we are considering flipping it, as love to get the main part done before Christmas. The question is with our current toilet being in the back half of the house which is being knocked out, how long will we be without a toilet in the house, can my four year old survive using a portaloo?

The other big question is around timelines. We haven't got our permits yet but here's hoping they come soon and we can move forward.

Should make for an interesting extremely busy end of the year.

Inspiration - a step back

As those of you who have redecorated and or renovated your home would know, when you are starting out, or come to think of it in the middle of it and at the end you can get a little obsessed with detail, I am no exception to this.

It is all about the tiles at the moment and other bathroom fittings. Luckily in my case hubby and I have similar tastes but that doesn't keep us free of heated discussions as we have very different ways of going about things.

So after a tense Sunday morning last weekend with a bathroom discussion that was going nowhere we decided we needed to take a step back and get out of the house with the kids, heading into Melbourne on the train. We had a great time especially considering it was a cold Wintry day and was impressed with the new Federation Wharf, loved the old stone work backdrop to the cafe /bar there. A wander up Collins Street with it's French feel, also got me thinking and reminded me of what my inspirations are for how I want our home to be and feel.

Following this over the past week and lots of discussions over coffee with friends, I have been thinking more about the overall picture and what we want to achieve with the renovation / extension. For us it is all about lifestyle, we love Europe especially all things French, Italian's love for life, family, food and wine oh and the wonderful architecture and gardens in both places.

With this in mind I was reminded for me it is all about creating a place that is warm and welcoming, a wonderful home to hang out with friends and family in.

A Red wall?

If you are about to head on a renovation journey I would highly recomend buying the July edition of Home Beautiful. They have a special issue inside of real-life renovation including plans budgets, advice & lessons learned.

One part I really liked is that they list in detail components of various rooms in the houses featured such as paint colours, appliances, flooring, fixtures and the list goes on. My favourite was one called French affair. I particularly like the red feature wall around their living room fireplace, while the rest of the room is painted white. This is something I have been thinking of doing for a long while but wasn't sure as couldn't find the right red. The red featured is apparently Taubmans Easy Coat in Streetwise.

So what do you think, would it suit? I think my hubbie might need some convincing. Also let me know if you know of another great red paint.