Renovation Nation Part 4 .....The End....

Towards the end of last year my posts were all about the on going house renovations... However I never got to finish the journey of our renovations! I got busy moving back in, , the Internet was down for the first few weeks of our move, I got busy redecorating, to be honest I got busy with everything else besides my favourite things  to do , BLOGGING and CROCHETING!  the post below was just beginning and so I decided that I would carry it on, and end the renovation journey......

 

So, 2 months on......

 

On Thursday when I wrote the last blog on my renovations my house was a TIP!!! What a difference a few days can make! OH boy OH BoY OH BOY!!!! Uh.... Excited.com!!! One week later the house is looking like my home again, vastly different, a totally new home but my home! Some rooms are done, some patiently  waiting for paint and cleaning...... Take a quick peek..... 

  

Outside Is Still A Tip!

Cupboards, Plastering And Painting

 

Bathroom And Laundry!

Can you know see why I am so very excited..... It is all starting to look like a house again and not a building site.

Right so this is the end of the post I started on the 5th of November! I also for some unknown reason and to my horror STOPPED taking photos at this stage! (I think excitement had a lots to do with it) So today I pottered around and took some picture for you to see..... Then I hit on a great idea.... why not show you all the house as we saw it and now...... so here goes....

LOUNGE


The Day we Bought



After The First Renovation



Now(A work in progress)

SUN LOUNGE



The Day We Bought



 



My Crochet Spot Has New Chairs

KITCHEN

The Day We Bought

 

A Pantry Type Thing

 

Now

DINING ROOM



The Day We Bought
 

MAIN BEDROOM

The Day We Bought

First Renovation

 

Now

Love All The Sunlight

MAIN BATHROOM

The Day We Bought

 

 

Now(My Favourite Room)

 GUEST BATHROOM

The Day We Bought - YIKES!!

Now!

LITTLE MADAME'S ROOM

The Day We Bought

Now

 

New Cupboards

 

Now let me tell you what I learnt from Renovating our house..... 

 

1. Do your homework  - look at peoples houses and see what you like

2. Do your homework - ask people who to use, people who are happy talk about it!

3. Trust your builders they know what works!

4. Have an idea of what you want to spend however be flexible  

5. Its your house do what you like - I heard this over and over from our builders

 

The wonderful, gorgeous and beautiful people who build for us have changed our lives! LITERALLY! We will never be able to thank Dave Natalie and Tilly for our home.   And that, as they say in the classics, is that! We are done and dusted and as you can see have been living back in our brand new home for 3 months! To say we love it would be an understatement. We have fallen in love with our home all over again and its  so good to be HOME! xxx

  



Tick Tock Tick Tock.....



Seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, weeks into months and suddenly you realised that times has passed you by..... time that you can never get back. Time that you have spent racing and  hurrying from one thing to the next. Time that you have not spent appreciating what is right in front of you, time that you have not spent doing what you love the most!

 

This is how I am feeling at the moment dear peeps, it has been 3 months since I sat down in front of my computer, 3 months since I came to my happy place and rambled...... 3 VERY long months. I have not blogged or crocheted, I have not baked, sewn a stitch and not and certainly not been my usual creative self... In fact I have been very unproductive and very uncreative and this makes me very unhappy to say the least.  

 

While speaking to a few friends a few days ago we realised that we all felt exactly the same..... Life normally calms down after Christmas and New Year, its back to school  and then back to life as normal, however this year has JUST NOT settled down......It has become more rushed! EEKK!! 

 

Soooo, I have resolved to stop the mania, stop the rushing, stop the rushing. Try and slow things down a bit, no, not a bit, a whole lot!! a few days after deciding to do this slow down thing I found these two beautiful post cards, instantly I knew that these beautiful cards would go onto my notice board and become my mantra for the rest of this year....

 

BREATH SLOWLY!

GROW PATIENCE!

BE HAPPY!

BE THANKFUL!

 

The last two have been added because so many times I catch myself thinking "Oh, that would make me happy" Would it really? Would a material item make me happy....... Or should I just be thankful for what I have! The best things in the world - warm hugs from little arms and the looks of love from my wonderful long-suffering-husband...... That is what is important!

 

 So while I am breathing slowly and trying to grow some patience,  expect lots of blogging and lots of catching up on things I did actually do in December, because this is my happy place and I am back! xxx 

 

Renovation Nation ...... Part 3

 

Weeks 3,4 and 5 have sort of merged together into one very long round of visiting the  wreck that was once our home......In between the rain! It has sometimes just pitter pattered down and sometime come down in buckets! The last few weeks when I have gone to look I have honestly felt despondent again, so much still to do.......  

  

 

The roof has taken ages.......  

 

The lounge wall came down......

 

We have plug points.... 

 

The ceiling went up....

An old door was for sale....(loads of rubble got taken away)

 

The patio was on its way to being complete.....

  

 

Old windows were taken out and new ones put in....

 

 

And suddenly.....

Suddenly things started to look better.....

Paint was chosen, cornicing went up, doors were made good and floors were laid...... 

 

 

And we even have our back garden back......

 

The garden is a little worst for the wear, but with ALL the rain it should be good as new in no time at all. So things are looking better all round, it is amazing what a HUMASSIVE difference a few days can make. I think we are into the home stretch now and to say I am SuPeR excited would be an understatement......xxx 

 

Renovation Nation ...... Part 2

It has rained the last few days! I normally love the rain however rain is NOT my friend right now! I have never been one to check the weather..... I mean really we cant do anything about it so why check it..... Until now! Every morning I leap (well... that a bit of an exaggeration really) out of bed, throw open the curtains (Ok... another exaggeration) to check whether it is chucking down or not!  So we are delayed by a few days?.... Not really, because lots of work has gone on inside, and huge improvement are being seen..... Yes dear peeps I was feeling loads better!

 

Last Monday  morning produced beautiful blue skies and much to my joy, when I arrived at the house to have a look see..... the roof was coming off! Yessssss!!!

However my joy was not to last that afternoon the heavens opened up again. And as week 2 and week 3 are gently merged into one long week, a lot  of  praying has happened every morning before I  even opened my eyes - Please,  PLEASE dear Lord, NO rain today!! But alas it has rained on and off for the last 2 weeks. However, I am pleased to say that walls have been built inside and plumbing has started so although we are now 1 week (not a few days anymore) behind..... Things are still happening!

These pictures were all taken on that one glorious NO-RAIN day.... Take a look
 

The old roof being removed.....



 

Piles of tiles lying on the lawn....





Gutter pipes and old roofing are lying everywhere......



No ceilings in the house....

Piles of bricks litter the garden and floors....



 

The new roof being planned, my poor garden..... 

 

 

 

There are no roof or trusses at all in the picture above,  this was a HuGe MoMeNt for me!  I realised my old home was well and truly gone... However can you see the piece of wood in the middle, that was a large piece that was thrown down in front of me. It literally disintegrated before my eyes.....OM Dazzelberry.... can you see how eaten away it is? A tiny little insect called Bora is totally responsible for this - but don't worry it is endemic to our fishing village! I could not believe the state of the wood and cannot think how the roof was still up! Yikes!  

 

And so much to my disbelief  I have become a weather watcher! The weather app on my iPhone works over time, I check it every hour on the hour and I am happy to announce that as of tomorrow, we have clear weather..... Hopefully mother nature will play nice.... And Natalie and her crew will work faster than the speed of sound.....xxx

 

My Quiet Reading Corner Is Now a Cupboard.

PS:: I am 2 days late in uploading this post, so I thought I would just mention that the sun is still shining gloriously!  

 

Renovation Nation.......Part 1

 

As you all know we are in the first stages of a renovation... Remember the 5 year plan? This post here.  We have an AWESOME team working with us on creating our dream home. Dave and Natalie, just get us! I don't say that lightly because to 'get 'me can  at times be very trying...... Ask LSO! As if the packing up was not hard enough, I am finding that the next part is even more difficult.

 

Two weeks ago when the team from Al Gusto moved onto site, I was excited,  however I am less excited right now, I am MORTIFIED to say the least !  Not in a bad way! In a totally  heart breaking way! I never realised just how in love with my house I was. No wait, that not correct!  Its not just my house its my HOME! And it is being ripped apart bit by bit! Walls are being knocked down left right and centre! Bathrooms ripped out and tiles are flying! Let me show you exactly what I mean.....

 

 But brace yourselves peeps, its not pretty! 

 

Our tranquil patio is gone, it vanished the first day....

 

Along with our bathroom...........

 



The beams in the roof were totally rotten, paper thin, not sure how the roof was being held up ......

Yikes.......

This was were the loo was......

The wall and door to the dining room is gone......

Its a hot and scary mess...............

 

 

So can you see why I am so heartbroken! I know, I KNOW............. I need to visualise the final product. The BIIIIG picture, the new and improved home.... Now to be perfectly fair Natalie did warn me that it was quiet traumatic to see your house being broken to bits and pieces! But it was ReAlLy HaRd a few days ago, and to be honest, I had a complete melt down and cried like a baby. So here is the plan- hang in, bite the bullet , grit my teeth, pull on my big girl panties and keep hoping the rain stays away..... xxx 

 

PS::.....  I did feel a bit better when I saw the new roof trusses arrive

 

 

Yay!  The new roof has arrived...........

 

PSS:: If there are any spelling mistakes please forgive me, my spell check is not working....