Back of house - brick to weatherboard extension - take 1

Before the rear extension was built we had a brick house but had discovered early on that there was weatherboard underneath, so with the new build we decided to go with weatherboard to bring the house back to original character.



The rear extension consists of extra family living space (where the deck in the picture above was) and then next to this an extension out of two bedrooms, family bathroom and new laundry (the small window to the right of the deck was our laundry, now a bedroom).

Now I say take one as there are still plenty more photos of the back in a more final state (with rubbish removed), plus we are looking at putting in the wrap around deck in the next few weeks, with an alfresco dining area in the rubble spot in the picture above.

I will also show photos soon looking from the back of the house out to the garden.

So stay tuned for take two and more photos.

Bedroom design ideas?

For Blogtoberfest I have been showing before and after pictures of various parts of my house and as mentioned in yesterdays post tonight it is the main bedrooms turn, as it follows on from the ensuite and walk in robe.

What I have discovered though is that I don't really have any old pictures of the bedroom for the before and all we really did was remove old built in robes and use some of the bedroom space for the walk in robe (the door to you can see in the picture below).

And yes this is a picture of Paris above the bed......


We have over the years changed the decor slightly but the bed is one I bought some 20 years ago! So following on from this don't really have any true after photos. I still want to do more with the bedroom, it isn't quite where I want it to be but do like the general feel.

The dressing table is an antique which I do love and sits and the wall at the end of the bed....

So any tips on how to improve along the existing French theme would be appreciated.

Walk in robe - before and after for Blogtoberfest

As mentioned in my post on Tuesday the walk in robe was created to be a walk through to the new ensuite (which was the old family bathroom).

To create the walk in robe we used some of our main bedroom space as the bedroom was quite large 4.5 m by 4m. So the photos below are the sequence for this build starting with the frame built once the old built ins had been removed and a hole knocked through the wall to the old bathroom (now I know some of you have read a post on my WIR before so have added extra photos to this one).



Obviously these last couple are before we filled it with clothes, now extremely full.

Now the logical step from here is to show the main bedroom but this still hasn't got to my final 'after'. Even so I might do bedroom photos tomorrow and get some advice from you on how to stylise more.

The Mummy juggle post for Blogtoberfest day 5

As it is school holidays and a day of visitors at our house (showing the house to various friends) with more due for afternoon drinks and dinner, oh in about 10 minutes; and my three year old seems to be going through a tantrum one minute, clingy the next phase, making it hard to do anything........so today for Blogtoberfest I will not be doing a before and after post.


If I was a little more organised I would have a few pre-planned but with two young kids and so much else going on I must admit everything is a little on the fly. I am sure you all understand.

Will hopefully be back tomorrow with more before and after photos but now getting ready to have a relaxing glass of red with a good friend (who has three kids of her own so sure she will be in need too)!

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.