Lots of things.

Tomorrow is 17 May, a greatly anticipated and important day.  Not only is it Debski's 50th (happy happy happy, dear Debsk) but it is also when we will welcome the second coming of Greg Tree, this time with companions two.  Armed with sharp wits and sharper implements the three will be transforming our choking environs into something unrecognisable.  A place with air and light.  A place with far fewer cyprus trees.  In short, they will be uncluttering our outdoors.  And this is good.


I meant to wander about today to photograph those doomed plants for posterity, however there were no spare moments in which to undertake the task.  


You see, we were buoyed by our stellar success in the fireplace stakes yesterday, so we purchased a $40 fire grate from an eBay "Buy it Now" seller in Croydon for our mini fireplace in the kitchen, and had to pop over and pick it up.  (Croydon has ENORMOUS, suburban blocks, don't you know.)


We visited Bunnings in Eltham in search of reasonably priced fireplace accessories for the kitchen hearth and I feel it is only right to warn anyone who may be tempted to go there, and let their child play on the enormous climbing frame thingumy (Milo got stuck at the top - of course he did) while they enjoy a coffee and a scroll.  DON'T DO IT.  The muck in a cup was to coffee what Charlie Sheen is to sensitivity and restraint.  And the bun.  Well, there are no words.


Fuelled by outrage and disappointment about our morning tea, and in readiness for the chaps tomorrow and their heavy machinery and their requirement to access our nether regions, Mum and I then conceived to create a pathway from the front of the somewhat overcrowded garage to the back.  This required a great deal of shuffling, dragging, piling, folding, cutting, shredding, discarding and reorganising.  Luckily Mum has a PhD in this arena and I did a short course at the CAE in the late '80s.


We collected the tiles and slate for the kitchen, whenever the hell that decides to be finished.


And at some stage too there was grocery shopping.


Oh, and I ordered the kitchen stools from Matt Blatt online.


It's all happening at the House at Porter Street.


PS  I would've squeezed in a haircut but the salon is closed for renovations.  Probably not a bad thing.  By the time the chainsawing and mulch-fest is over tomorrow, I'll be gagging for some time out and R&R on Wednesday.  Fingers crossed for that.

Glad tidings.

Mum and I dropped Milo off at kinder this morning and decided to venture outside of our regularly and well trodden path to Bunnings and the eastern / south eastern suburbs and instead pointed our ample proboscises northwards. Our reward for so doing was to discover new shops.  And amongst these new shops we found our kitchen splashback solution.


It's not a sheet of glass - it was never going to be a sheet of glass.  


It's not shimmering glass tiles of any size or configuration.  Pursuing that option would be comparable, price-wise, with the big sheet of glass once you include installation.  


It's not even high gloss porcelain - which looked too matchy matchy with the glossy cupboards.  


Mum and I have warmly embraced the option of satin finished white tiles (with white grout).  10cm x 30cm in dimension.  They compliment the benchtops beautifully and are different enough in texture and finish to not complete with the cupboards.  They also present absolutely no competition with the floor tiles.  

And best of all, the tiles themselves cost $29.95 per square metre.  Bargain.  We'll be forking out less than $200 for materials, instead of $2000.  And you have to be happy with that.

Factors.

Factors have been at play at the House at Porter Street, impacting on progress toward visualising the dream.  The most positive of these factors has been designing a few logos and business cards for folk.  It is good to have the work.  


We also had two adult visitors for a week and I'm pleased to report that the floorplan stood up well to the addition.  It would've been nice to have an extra downstairs bathroom, but hey,  wouldn't it always.


Visitors left on Wednesday afternoon, so yesterday we climbed tentatively back onto the activity horse.  I was overjoyed to inadvertently stumble on my Red Box of Adhesives as I was actually looking for a Box of Adornments in order to decorate Milo's Easter Bonnet.  Easter?  Yes, you heard right. The door on Term 1 closes today, and on Tuesday Milo was sent home from kinder with "Homework for Mummy":  turn a magnificent Milo creation into a stupendous hat for the Easter Parade to be held end of session today.


I never found the box I sought, but Yiayia came through with a couple of ribbons and we were away...

As long as he marches without moving his head, it will stay on.  Will have to make sure the teachers strap it on good and tight.  


Aunty Mad made me an Easter bonnet when I was in Grade 3, constructed from a Chinese food takeaway container, a cake tray, some red cellophane and a bit of silver belt.  It was crap and we both knew it.  But neither of us said anything because she did her best.


Mum also finished painting my workspace shelves yesterday.  Of course they're dry but I'm probably going to have to wait until Sunday to start setting up the space because Ma's paranoid about my putting stuff on the shelves before the paint has cured (!).


We went to Beaumont Tiles to look at tiles for kitchen splashback and flooring solutions for kitchen and my bedroom.  Mum decided I had to redo my whole floor because of the mess under the shelves where the desk was removed.  The quote we got for the room (5.25m x 4.3m) was around $1100 for floating laminated floor, underlay and labour.  Let me make this quite plain.  


JUST NOW, I DO NOT WANT, NOR DO I HAVE THE READIES, TO SPEND MORE THAN A K ON THE FLOOR. (I'd rather replace the peach vinyl blind, truth be told, but that's not happening either.)


We also might not be able to extend our budget to glass tiles for the kitchen splashback, but before we can settle, Mum and I have to come to some sort of agreement about what we like.  Currently we are at odds.  I find Mum's aesthetic rigid, somewhat stifled and restrictive and yesterday told her so.  She took the news remarkably well.


Also


The gutter outside Mum's upper has had ENOUGH of our house and decided to leave.

So Max Gutters will be attending next week to remedy with Shane Fixit, who will also undertake some other maintenance, like trying to resolve the mystery of the cold water tap for biggest bath which has suddenly and spontaneously stopped working - and it isn't the washer.)


Also


Mum found a light over the kitchen sink yesterday.  Very handy.

So we hijacked the painter this morning.  He arrived a little late and the tension was palpable.


With Dad for moral support, I showed the painter around the scene, pointing high and low every couple of steps.  There were audible gasps (not from us).  And when the end of the tour finally came, we were met with silence and after a moment, an enormous sigh.  


And then a promise it would all be fixed.


And by 6pm, as the father and son rinsed off their brushes, it was, in the main, all fixed.  And best of all the vibe of optimism in the house was restored.

The paint job now is by no means perfect, but it's certainly one hundred times better than what we were left with at end of day of Friday.  My feature doors are vastly improved but remain with hints of streak and drip, despite being sanded and then rolled.  Go figure.


Anyway, it's just nine days until the big move.  We kept ourselves busy by having Cozy Kitchens come to quote and getting all excited by the idea by fusion: 
glass spashbacks + tiles = glass tiles.  Sparkly, twinkly beautiful.

We also went to Ikea to look at their kitchens and bought more flatpack:  a four by four Expedit for the family room:

I'm undertaking a minor Ikea hack, too, by putting the unit on casters, even though the instructions explicitly state it's not a good idea.  I figure I can get away with it since I'm not going to be rolling the thing around, I just want the bottom shelf off the floor so it doesn't get as dusty and I can clean underneath.


We also went to Dulux and bought more gloss paint for the timber trims, 


We had the very lovely Danny from Melbourne Pet Doors come and perform a double cat-flap installation.  It's logistically difficult to have a functioning pet door in a security door and an adjacent timber door, don't you know.  But he did it like a genius.  And now a small great dane could make its way in and out of the house without any humans having to rouse themselves to help.


I am also incredibly proud to say that I erected the Expedit without even a hint of Ikea rage.  A first.  Not even when the stupid last screw just wouldn't go in did I lose my nut.  Extraordinary.


I think it helped that Dad had Milo at Riverside, so I was labouring without the accompaniment of incessant chatter.  Now however, as I sit in my room, I am overcome by the overpowering fumes of deodorant.  This has all the hallmarks of Milo tampering with Mummy's stuff.  And this is price I pay for a few hours of separation.

Floorplan

We had a letter from the vendor's agent yesterday reminding us of our right to have a pre-settlement inspection.  So in the week commencing 24 January we're going to be going through the house again.  Yay.


I need to make sure that I don't get rushed during this inspection because there are quite a few things I need to check:  

• We want to replace the stove top, rangehood, dishwasher and wall oven.  So I need to measure up the existing appliances and see if we can get a good deal on purchasing at the tail end of the January sales.  
• We need to bring the painters with us too, so we can get a quote on how much it's going to cost and how long the painting will take:  it needs to be done and dry before we move in on 22 February - that's 19 days post-settlement.
• I'd love to have the kitchen tiles painted if we could achieve this pearlescent blue finish (I may be dreaming) - but I'll ask the painters what they think.

I love the feel of this kitchen and
it's what I want to end up with...

• I've never looked beyond the surface, either, because I didn't want to invade the vendor's privacy but now, a week out from d-day, I need to look in the cupbards and wardrobes throughout so I can obsess plan how we're going to use the available storage.

There's so much more.
I'm in no way daunted.
This is going to be the best, funnest project ever.

Underfoot...

We intend to stay at the house in Porter Street until cardboard coffins and funeral pyres engulf us, so although I would love to undertake an enormous renovation the instant we take possession, it is much more prudent (and in line with reality) to plan to change/update/improve all the things that need doing, over time.  Say, over the next 20 years.

That said let me bring to your attention to the tiles that flow through the formal dining, kitchen and family room areas.  The space is vast (I'll tell you how many square metres after I've learned how to do maths) and it's wall to wall this...

We didn't buy the rug.

My rational response to these tiles is that they are probably very forgiving and practical.  I am sure they will hide a multitude of sins and they are in incredibly good nick.  The emotional response is somewhat more withering.  I think its the colour that makes them seem tired and dull.  And since there is such a huge quantity of them they a bit depressing.

It's going to be interesting to see if they seem less tired when the walls are spanking white.  My mind is open.  And hope fills my heart...

However, if this doesn't come to pass, what about these PLI Wood-like Series tiles.

PLI Wood-like Series tiles in white.

They don't just look like distressed timber boards, the blurb says they feel like them too.  They're strong enough for indoor and outdoor high traffic areas, and I think I may be in love.

Wondering if they're available in Australia : hastingstilebath.com