happy new year

Welcome to 2012!

I wish all my follow bloggers a very happy & safe New Year 

KP

some real estate professional pics...just in

 

 

KP

bold & beautiful

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Stunning metallic tropical print wallpaper. Love it!!! 

I am not sure if I could be so brave. But it would look great in our bathroom & the storage is just what I need. Have you ever had wallpaper in a bathroom? 

this is my ensuite unfinished : (

I can image the wallpaper & that storage unit & the big enormous mirror!!!!

 

this is why I don't have a mirror. Annoying.

 

We needed to spend more time going over the plans & we needed to be on site more! We are planning on moving the powerpoint to the side but can't bare the thought of cutting into more tiles. There is another power point in the bathroom so I am thinking just to disconnect this one & placing the big mirror over the top.

I would love to hear your comments. 
Have a great Saturday. 

KP

bathroom complete...

only thing left to do is to paint the window...

bathroom before pic

Nearly 12 months after the builders have left, the kid’s bathroom finally has a mirror installed!! The story is way too long why we haven’t installed mirrors in the bathrooms. 

Pressure is on to complete all the outstanding little bits & pieces. In the New Year we are leaving the ville.

Inspired by Mimi [At home with Sam & I] post Blue-Green, I painted the mirror Resene Deep Sea.The mirror is from Target.

A washer failure which destroyed an expensive vanity on a previous renovation, this time, I decided not to go with any vanities. Instead opting for basins & stand-alone storage. Sounded good to me at the time, but, I have never found the right piece of stand-alone furniture. Installing a vanity would have been an easier option. To make do I have storage baskets [from Pillow Talk] sitting on a timber bath mat [from Freedom].

Now for mirrors in the ensuite. 

KP

quintessential NQ

Gotta love living in NQ! Front page of today’s Townsville Bully included classic North Queensland stories... ‘‘First irukandji sting of the season’’, ‘‘Snake strikes’’, ‘‘Stinger net shark rescue’’, ‘‘JT [Jonathan Thurston] perfect with the boot in Four Nations Test’’ and to help you with your cyclone preparations you have the chance to win one of 10 generators! The paper isn’t complete unless there is JT story. The only thing missing is the quintessential croc story, but I think that may have been last week when a 3m+ croc was captured off Maggie Island! 

Wranglers put a bite on shark story

Oh dear, Grace is competing in a surf carnival this Saturday hopefully it will be uneventful & no front page story. The stinger nets are out & they will drag the nets first too double check for any nasties. :S

Reno update: Showers were forecast for the weekend so I didn't paint the path. However, I did start on the last of the painting inside the house. The last room I have to finish painting is the original lounge/dinning area & it is also the entrance to the house. The kids mainly use this room to watch TV & the room is the entrance to the house. I have no idea what to do with the room. Make a entrance, sitting room/lounge & study area....currently the room is a dumping ground for our surplus furniture. We have 3 sideboards! All of our everyday living is in the new part of the house.

before the move in - pic taken from the front entrance. 

After move in  - the outdoor furniture was only inside during Yasi

   How would you use/decorate this room?

picket fence complete

top soil on the grass - preparation for summer

 

Resene SilverChalice 

Resene JetStream

  JetStream colour is similar to the exterior colour of the house.

Our picket fence has finally been completed!  Thank you to my follow bloggers. Your comments, on the front fence post, persuaded me to go the picket. The fence was low priority on the to do list, but now the fence is complete it has made the biggest impact on the renovation. The picket fence is a great first impression.

This week, the goal is to paint the front path. The colour chosen is Resene SilverChalice – I think. 

I have tested a sand stone colour & a charcoal, both not quite right. 

Hopefully the SilverChalice might be okay. 

The rainbow shower trees have loads of new growth, these trees will eventually provide much needed shade in the front garden.

KP

yet another chalk paint project

Styling by Lou. (Some of the words have been censored to protect others ; )

This is my first chalk paint effort  - a revamp of Lou's bedroom furniture.

The furniture was purchased from Ikea nearly 10years ago for Grace’s bedroom. Back then NR decided to stain the furniture. The drawers had an extension for a baby change table.

When Lou came along the furniture was painted blue.

And now another revamp, this time with porter’s jungle green chalk paint, as if we haven’t had enough of chalk paint. 

I think this will be the last revamp for the furniture & I am not sure about painting with chalk paint again :s

kitchen part II

Finally brought some chairs for the kitchen from Freedom, their Mess Hall chair. The chairs look like the emeco's navy chair. I am not sure if you would call the chair a replica of the emeco's navy chair as it not quite the same. Is a replica exactly the same or slightly different? The kids now love sitting in the kitchen & being able to reach for everything that is being prepared for them to eat.

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On another subject, our old house in Brisbane has a Tasmanian Oak kitchen which I don't really love & I don't really dislike either. The kitchen is properly about 15years old. Just supposedly, should I paint it or leave it? Would you paint a Tasmanian oak kitchen? And if yes what colour?

it's raining

The kids’ just love it when it rains for the first time in a long while. After months of dry and for the past few weeks’ very hot & humid weather the rain is always welcomed. And with a day off school today it was perfect timing to rain, rain & rain.

 

As the rain got heavier there were mad dashes to round up more umbrellas, gumboots & raincoats.

 I have just finished my 4^th  load of washing towels, 

changes of clothes & soft toys all of which were soaked and very muddy. 

Back to school tomorrow.

 KP

kitchen

The kitchen is a mix & match [*hopefully not too much of a mismatch] 

The run down on the kitchen is:

The drawers use the blum pull-out systems. Some of the cupboards are pullouts for oils, herbs & oven trays.

The pantry has blum pull-out drawers.

The counter tops are essastone & stainless steel.

The cupboards are laminex in 3 different colourways.

Floors are polished pine.

The appliances are a mix of Miele [steamer, oven & warming draw], Bosch [dishwasher], Highland [rangehood], & Siemens [cooktop].

 

On my wish list when our +10year old refrigerator expires, which I don’t think will be any time soon as it is extremely robust, a Smeg retro refrigerator

 

But in what colour?

KP

The Isa

A lovely outback change was a weekend away in the Isa. There was lots of dust, lovely hot dry temperatures [much more comfortable than the humidity of the coast] & a touch of glamour of the Casa Grande Ball.

The ball is held at Casa Grande, a Spanish Mission style building, built in 1949 for the MIM mine manager.

Queen Elizabeth stayed at Casa Grande in a redecorated and refurnished suite

when she visited the town in 1970.

casa grande

the queen

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casa granda ball 2011

round up

hot & dry western Queensland

Fountain Springs - formed by a series of quartz veins

 

Have a great week!

KP

pickets

The picket fence is nearly complete, just a couple of corrections were the pattern went wrong [see if you can spot the mistake]. The gates are being mtm.

Just playing the waiting game for the carpenter to return.  

Still loving spring.

Sunset - days are beautiful at this time of year

Sunrise - the trees are still looking bare from Yasi

 Out the back the land is very dry, this year the forecast is for the rains to begin in November. Hopefully there will not be as much rain as last year.

 KP

hello spring

What a difference 6months makes! The trees planted on the nature strip prior to Cyclone Yasi & were then flatten during Yasi are thriving and have tripled in size.

   

our newly planted trees the morning after yasi : (

work in progress

 

 

 

We have decided to repair the existing path rather than go to the expense of digging up & starting again. The cracks have been cut out and the holes refilled with new cement. In about 4weeks we will paint the path. Any suggestions on a colour?

something fishy in the air

 

uylssee butterfly friendly trees : )

 

 

source unknown

Finally a weekend free to work in the garden. The wire fence has been removed & the carpenter is due on Monday to build a picket fence.

Lots & lots of new plantings this weekend : )