The walls came tumbling down

Well after months of getting things sorted, we are finally getting things started. All our trees were removed last weekend and the demolition team turned up on monday. Unfortunately bad weather meant that no work was done on Thursday and Friday, but the forecast for the rest of the week looks good, so hopefully all will be done by the end of the week and ready to start construction.

before with trees

After trees are cut down

Day 2 of demolition

I thought that maybe seeing the house being pulled to pieces would upset me, seeing we raised our babies here...However I am so glad to see the mould ridden, freezing cold/stinking hot cramped house go. 

Time to move

We have decided it is time to move, Council should be all done within the next few weeks and we really need this time to pack up and get out!
We found a place on Friday and get the keys next week, I am feeling so overwhelmed by how much I have to do. I started packing months ago however this house is so small I had to stop at some point as I had no where to put boxes without feeling like I was living in the middle of a lego building. At least the house we are moving to is big enough to store the stuff we don't need as well as live comfortably.

A council clean up or 2 will be required as well as a skip bin, I AM FREAKING OUT HERE!

This how it feels right now

Learning to be patient

Not a lot has happened in the last month, we are in limbo and patiently waiting to make our next move. Friday I spent the entire day sorting through one of the kids rooms and throwing out rubbish and broken toys, I managed to pack and throw out the majority of it, I am now left with a pile of toys, lego, duplo, barbies etc etc to sort through, some to keep and some off to charity.

We had to resubmit our landscape plan which we are currently getting done by designerscapes and I highly recommend them. We spoke to the lady assessing our council application and she said she will continue to assess it so there won't be any delay. I almost ended up in a meltdown over the whole thing...crazy I know but it has been one of those weeks! 

Started to look for a rental on Saturday, hmm I am glad it will only be temporary! There is nothing nice about these places. I do realise that our current accommodation is only worthy of demolition, but it has been our home for the past 10+ years, and I raised my children in this house. However I am not sure if  it is the accommodation we are looking for is not desirable because it is not or because of my attachment to my house that I could not wait to huff and puff and blow down! This attachment to the house has completely caught me off guard I am feeling so sad about leaving here yet I am so excited and can't wait to live in our new home its all this in-between stuff I don't like.

Hopefully I will have something more exciting to write about in the next couple of weeks, in the meantime I am having a lesson in patience.

Pre-finished Solid Timber V's Un-Finished solid timber

Right from the start we have always wanted solid timber floors, I am not a fan of tiles and I have never really liked carpet that much either.

So when faced with the question would you like Pre-finished solid timber my head started spinning! I had never heard of it, I just assumed that you could only buy the raw timber and get it sanded and polished onsite.

Obviously we have got quotes and it is a good price however is it as good a product? I don't know I can't find any arguments through google that say its completely awful or better than the traditional method. from what I can gather the only thing different is the beveled edges and the fact it is sanded and polished in a factory, and it's not enough to sway me one way or the other.

We are off to research some more today by visiting several more flooring places and hopefully we will have a clear cut decision sometime soon.


Here are a couple of photo's that I found

Pre-finished spotted gum solid timber

Solid timber spotted gum raw and polished onsite

Colour selection done!

Well that was fun! we have chosen our colours and it was so much easier than I thought! I will however be deleting a couple of extra things we threw in on the spur of the moment but other than that all good and I stuck to what we needed and maybe snuck in a couple of things, nothing like catching the other half off guard :)

Kitchen splash back, bench top, cupboards and the spotted gum floorboards, which we will get done after handover.

The outside of the house 

Kitchen again

Bathroom

all of the colours together including paint.

outside again 

Still undecided about the brick!

I have looked at lots of houses in the bricks that I like, and I am still no closer to making a decision! this is really hard, really really hard! I may have narrowed it down but I am not confident in my decision. I am usually so good with this kind of thing I know what I don't like so that has helped, but I am not sure that I like what is left over.

We have our colour appointment on Thursday so I hope I can come up with something!

Any tips or advice on choosing would be greatly appreciated

Bricks means tricks!

Go and choose a brick, they say! Pick the brick and choose the rest after, they say!
Easier said than done I SAY!!!

Pretty much spent the entire day looking at bricks and houses built in the bricks that we like or at least we thought that we did!
So we liked 4 bricks ok thats easy NOT!

Once these suckers are put together as a building they look completely different. Some of the house's we looked at today depending on how the rest of the colour scheme was put together would enhance that baby poo colour in the brick or the brick went from what I thought was brown to red it has left me spinning in confusion.

It is not just the brick but the colours you put with it as well …my anxiety levels are at an all time high!

The way I look at it, stuff up the colour in the kitchen or the tiles in your bathroom and eventually these can be changed.As for the Bricks you are stuck with those F@#%ers for life and driving up my driveway and looking at them for the next 20 years or so and hating them is not the required outcome that I wish to achieve!

So back to the drawing board and back to Austral bricks to re-research our choice in bricks!

TiMBeeeeeeeR

TREES TREES TREES…..yep we have a lot! I am thinking that these beautiful trees have to go, yes! yes they do!

I actually feel very sad about this, I Love them but they are in the way and I promise as soon as I can I will plant more but this time I will make sure they are all native and not have a ridiculous root system. One of the trees we have has a very large root system and to me this is a worry.
We have to get them removed, who does this the tree guy or the people who demolish and clear the block?

I feel my stress levels elevating with every little or big thing that has to be decided upon ARRRGGGHHH!!! I am today having a particular bad day and days like these I think what the hell have I got myself into.

Anyway if anyone has any recommendations on Demolition people or tree people that would be great I guess the best place to start is with quotes.

Crazy ideas! Decorating

I have these crazy ideas and one of them is how I want my family room space to be, this will be mine and my husbands space and I would like it to be a shabby chic meets mess look. I just love the eclectic and miss-matched look it's very much like me. My husband and I love to read and listen to music...NO TV here!

here are a few ideas that I have including the revenge chair lol....

The revenge chair

 I quite like the style of this bookcase

love this look and the lounge

I like this idea as well

love this mirror

Not sure how any of this will go in a modern house, I may very well change my mind once we move in so wont be purchasing any thing just yet!

What we will really be using as furniture for a while lol

Colours

We have our deposit variation, we want to make a few small changes one being the air conditioner and the other the glass to our bedroom we would like double glazed there even though our neighbour is rather quite I would still prefer to have it! Hopefully wont be a problem to make any necessary changes!

Our colour walk through will be in 2 weeks so I best get myself organised about what colours we would prefer and a trip to austral bricks will be required as well.....Busy Times

I am liking this sofa bed for the kids area...just getting ahead of myself and having a little dream of some furniture I would like :)

and the Spotted Gum timber floors that I would like.

 I LOVE THEM!

Our first brick

Today we made first payment to go ahead...Eek excited and terrified at the same time, we were given a nice shiny box (or as she called it our first brick) and folder to keep all our stuff in lol. I am now scared that this is all happening to fast or not fast enough, so many things to organise, the loan being one of them and then there is the removal of the trees and the house, clearing of the land omg and I think we need to have a landscape plan??? no idea what we will do there!

FEELING OVERWHELMED, EXCITED, HAPPY.....THIRSTY, a nice cold glass of Jansz to celebrate me thinks :)