Paintin'

Looks a lot more 'smell the cawfee' here than in real-life.

I think anyway?  I hope so?  I hate being more beige than I feel...





All systems GO atm .. AB popped over this morning and there was a million people
there apparently.  Which is good, as we need to move back in about 3 weeks time?

- The painters worked all last week and there's only some touch up things to do.

- Our lovely cabinetmaker got very ill, but apparently our living room/tv cabinetry
  goes in today

- The tiler will be doing my splashback today. 
  Just realised no-one asked me about grout.  Bugger.

- The builders have been working on a little deck thingy off the laundry
( previously there was some concrete steps, but they got demolished - aww, so sad, too  bad )

- I think lighting goes in today too

- Tomorrow the sanders come, and I think they oil on Friday?? 

- The WIR configs arrived, but there's something wrong with them or something (?) -
   I did noticed a chunka-hunk out of the back of one of the drawer stacks - dropped perhaps? 

   They also have tres ugly handles on them ( apparently no-one cares what drawer-pulls look
   like in a robe where no-one will see them - um, hi, I do ).  Knew I was being a bit precious,
   but the drawer pulls I like cost $4 at Masters and their horrible ones $6. 

   And when AB saw them, he unprompt-ed-ly said "what's with the ugly old lady handles?". 
   See?  Justified.  Hello peeps, just ASK.  Choice of two even - you like this ... or this? 
   Choose.  Give people a choice!  Anyway, not a biggie, I just get miffed when not consulted..



 
What else needs to happen? 
Organised carpet this morning via the lovely peeps at Carpet Court.


We are SO ready to move in now.  Sick of the tiny flat with the mess everywhere as there's
nowhere to put the dirty washing, or the sports gear, or the kids...  Tired of having to do
cold-water washes over at the other house on the weekend and hoping it's a fine weather day..
and of course, we just want to be back.  The cats are desperate for some outdoor romping,
and i'm sick of the no-fridge limited cooking/lunch packing. 


And of course, I hate myself for complaining.  It's small stuff, don't sweat it etc ..
I think we're just eager to get moving, get back. 


Now there's an end in sight, we're restless and impatient and excited.

Not long to go now!

xx

Paint/Tiles Paint/Tiles

Because i'm a fussy beast, i've found and decided what I want, but keeping my options open
with a couple of new tile places suggested to me that aren't over the other side of town.

I loooove the bluestone, but i've found something even prettier I haven't seen in store yet. 
Still natural stone, still blue, but with the added interest of autumn tones..

Autumn, my favourite season ♥

Anyway.. we'll see, the race is on...



^^
this is the kitchen/living/pantry to date ..
not much visual change besides the fireplace is in place.
The stonetops are in now too, but the template remains as a protective cover, and it's
heavy and dusty, so i'll leave that reveal for another day..



In other news, i'd decided paints and was quite smug and confident.. except the painters
uh-oh .. undercoated some internal doors I think my husband was hoping to sand back
and restore.  Because we were never sure/decided on this anyway, we've decided to let them
get on with it, and if it sucks, we strip them back and start again later on down the track.

But I don't have colours for doors.

What I do know though is that I love hi-gloss enamel on doors and trims, so keep in mind
the look will be glossy.

And maybe a blue-grey.  Kinda like the bluestone I seem so fixated on ...







The main paints are:
WALLS: Dulux White Duck Half-Strength ( more a light beige )
TRIMS: Dulux Vivid White ( as name suggests .. )

DOORS: Well, as of yesterday ( armed with a dozen grey swatches .. my favourite being
Mallard Grey - it's a Mallard!  It's a duck!  Get the connection! .. but it was too red/purple ) ..
I ended up with something called Monk Grey ( it's the middle colour above the door-handle up there )

Again, I have a thing for contrast.. but am wondering if I should just keep them in white?
They look good in the pics white, but .. in real-life?  Not.so.sure.







I have a similar blue-grey on the roller blinds, which you can see a bit of, and of course,
there will be a bluestone splashback ( 99.8% sure ) and i'll be continuing those over at the
fireplace fascia..

BUT!  Will it be too dark?  And where do I stop - should I make ALL my doors dark grey,
or just those in the original end?  It seems I really am bad at decision making ;)








In fact, the more I look at these, I totes think dark grey is the way to go.
Opinions, both good & bad, always welcome..

xx
Lea

Every NO brings you closer to a YES

So i'm sorta getting there on the kitchen .. it's getting darker earlier now, so by the time
the builders leave I am playing with stuff in minimal light and the kids are whining for food.

Happy Space.






Pic 1.

Love the uneven tiling, and the colour is perfect.  Unfortunately, the finish I want doesn't come
in the colour I want, and the colour I want has a weird finish.  Working on it.






Pic 2.

Whever I see silver travertine in store, I drool over it.  Can also get my random lines of
thick/thin and differing lengths .. but when I get it home I think it's too wishy-washy and I
really need the darker contrast of above. 

Trying to source something similar in bluestone .. in a semi-polished finish. 
Have a sample of a ceramic that works to LOOK like bluestone, but the fakeness annoys me....






This is a perfect colour.  It's Graphite from Southern Splashbacks, in their Matrix range.
BUT, i've discovered I don't like the uber-reflectability of glass, and the tile patterns
are all uniform.


So .. where i'm at now:


- looking for an afforable stepped stone with a uniform profile
( not that jutty-out stacked stone you see in landscaping .. the ones above are flat-fronted )
and a polished front ( shiny, but not too shiny )

- the brushed steel under-island kicker is gone .. apparently you can do painted kraftboard
under the kicker, which means I can paint it whatever I like, and when I want to change it,
I simply do that. 
I freaking heart paint  ♥

- the pendants.  Which I love, but, depending on the splashie, may be wrongtown in tone. 
However, I figured I could make up a watery dye solution to darker/lighten/colour them
if needed.. which appeals because that also means I could colour them yellow or teal or red
if I freaking wanted, and it wouldn't matter, because hello .. paint! ..

Paint has always been my saviour..

The husbo would be horrified probably .. but hey, i'm not in love with many pendants
out there atm, and if I got ( for eg ) non-offensive, safe neutral white glass .. then that's it
for 10years or so, because changing kitchen pendants = at least $300 for new lights
+ a sparkie to change them.  That aint going to happen. 

I do like the simple 'nude' glass pendants out there atm, but know a few people that wished
they didn't due to kitchen steam/dust and they get incredibly grotty. 
Plus, you can't paint glass, can you.  No. 
So I think my concrete is more enduring.  For me. 

Even if you're horrified I might paint them..





Finally, it's a big splasie - vast .. needs breaking up.  I've *always* installed a rail or two
in every kitchen i've ever had, and this one will be no different.  I bought a couple of these
cute pots from IKEA yesterday to hang off them, like you can see in the pics above. 
I love fresh herbs and I love the pop of green.  I'll take them down when cooking,
but I like the thought of natural stone with natural living herbs.

Oh - and Tolix stools .. yeah .. dunno .. i'm unsure what all the hype is about?  
I don't mind the one I used above, and i'm not anti-Tolix .. I just think they're a little bit
overtrending atm?  A lot of people are suggesting them to me :)

I quite like these though:






I found them on Houzz. 
Love.

It's all about the Journey..

The problem with liking so much STUFF and having so much style on offer and at
your fingertips is that you could go one of many, many ways and still be completely happy. 

Or I could.

We could be Provincial .. we love that store .. wing chairs, whites and heshians,
crates and rustic things.  Beautiful. 
If i'd retained a shaker profile in my cupboards and dressed them with black knobs or pulls,
I probably wouldn't have had to return these beauties to Schots:




Nice, huh?  I told them if I bought another house and did another kitchen,
I would come back and buy them in a flash. 
I love black & white & beige.  Classic tones, sophisticated elegance..



But I went handle-less and clean lines..  that's considered rather modern. 
Am I modern? 
Did I think that far ahead? 

No, not really.. I kinda just .. do stuff .. and make things work. 
I'm more adept at *fixing* things and making bad spaces good than I am at planning
things from scratch I think. 

More experience, I suppose ;)






So it happened with the carcass went in, I realised the large black domes were not going to work.
Plus I selected a large black light for my bedroom and large black drums to go down the hall.

Overload. 


They also impeded my sightline when I entered the living area from the hall.  Too much.

So they went back. 

Look at these pics I took on my iphone throughout the day:






Unintentional, but it seems I have a mustard/grey thing going on. 
You can get all snobby and say that look was sooooo a few years ago, but then, i'm not here
to impress you, am I?  No I am not.  Besides, my mustard chairs are still going strong. 

The funny thing is, I wouldn't say I am really a fan of either mustard OR grey. 
But some things simply beckon...



So I went to Beacon on the way home and picked up the pendants 2nd on my list. 

They are made of *concrete*.  I love concrete.  I love the colour and texture and variations. 
As soon as I brought them home, I realised they were *perfect*. 
My house is starting to dress itself..







My tiles have all been wrong too.  I've got a stainless steel kicker under the island bench,
and I needed to tie them in.  Or change the kicker, which I could probably still do...
( pretty sure I can )

But I think i'm getting closer.  I decided again I needed a more matt look, some texture,
so the glass tiles, as beautiful as they were, are out.  I'm looking at stones now ..
and see that stepped stone thing my husband is holding up below?






Well, that was a bit awkward to carry, so the tile lady gave me a big tile to carry them on. 
I laughed and said 'wouldn't it be funny if this helper tile was the right tile?' .. and you know what? ..
it actually doesn't look bad in tone ( see above ).  It's semi-gloss, but it's BEIGE, pretty much
the same colour as the walls will be ( White Duck Half ) .. so that's boring ..
but it's also pretty and light.  I could add interest via tile shape maybe ...

The other option is the tiles my husband is holding up, but in a more slate colour
( these are a coffee colour I grabbed because they  were lying around as a return and
I mainly wanted to look at the shape of them ) 

I'm pretty sure this is what I will do.. ( have you heard that before? )


There will be downlights in the cupboards above to pick up colour at night etc.
What do you think?

A nice dark dramatic contrast .. or a pretty lifting palette?

Please don't think of things such as sealing or grout or oil splashes .. that's all ok..
it's more the shape of the tiles and the colour i'm interested in.. what would you do?

Also, on a final note, this is the image I have submitted for my loungeroom cabinetry/
fireplace/tele configuration.  
Again with the yellow warmth of the lighting and the painted greys ...  hmmm






I also wouldn't mind that view :)


xx
Lea

Caesarstone and Various Ramblings

Today i'm armed with the Caesarstone book.





I'm amused that it's the same book I was given in 2008 when we did our bathroom renovation ( below ).

Wook at my baybee!
Isn't he gorgeous?
He turns 5 tomorrow ♥





Anyway, enough of the motherly schmo .. back to the reno..
( See what I did there? )


In 2008 I chose Ginger. 
This year, we're going more subtle .. which is hard because I naturally gravitate to high contrasty things.  I can *admire* your white-on-white-on-white decor at YOUR house ( or your white-on-white-on-white with a smidge of pale cream ), and I often do .. but for myself ...

Look, i've lived for years in imperfect homes and have learned to make do and improvise.  One of the BEST things i've enjoyed about imperfect homes is that you can't ruin them, and you can play with them.  It's like an old favourite shirt versus that $2k designer gown you bought.  Whereas a splash of paint on your shirt is fine and kinda blends in with the grass stains and the cake mix .. that designer gown is tres tres precious, so there's no jumping on that sofa, kids.

In old homes, you can paint your bathroom blue one day, or paint your back door emerald green.  It's a temporary lift, and colour is fun.  I loved my emerald green door, and the blue bathroom sure rocked the khaki that preceded it. 

I must find a pics somewhere ( pre-digi days, on filum peoples, filum! ). 


Last night I found a hot raspberry laminex chip and told the kids we should use it in the kitchen.



But alas, I have to be a bit more grown-up when i'm spending oodles of money. 
I have to be more classic, more enduring, more .. beige.

And that's ok too, becuase I quite like a beige/white/black palette ( which is what i'm doing ).
It allows me to pick up colour in accessories and not be shut into something i'll regret in two years time.  I can still be whack in my greenhouse and play with my colour pots out there, and bring in new stuff as I fancy. 

After all these years, I still love a red sofa, and my jeweltones are back in vogue too.


So these are the colours i'm thinking for our kitchen island.  It's a "waterfall" island which means the pretty extends and falls down the sides, like the pic below from Caesarstone in NIMBUS.





NIMBUS is one of the colours I am considering, but I haven't seen any in slab form yet.. just in little tile chips.  I'm going to take a look tomorrow.  Am unsure about the big chips vis teeny tiny little chips thing over a big area .. it's something you can't glean from a chip.

Colours i'm considering:




As you can see, there's a decision to be made re: warm vs cool as well.  I'm hoping some nice chunky slabs will sort that one out.  ATM i'm thinking either Nimbus or Nougat .. we'll see .. we'll see..

What next?
Plumbing is in and the sparkies were there yesterday. 
We need to buy an extraction fan for the stove STAT to the cabinetmaker can build his framing to fit perfectly.

Tomorrow I will be buying the rangehood and checking our lighting.  Schweet!


xx
Lea