Next Door

I've lived here for 7years, next to the Orange Monolith.

Our lovely ( quiet! ) neighbours were from Uruguay and the only day I ever saw his wife was the day they moved out. 
Every Monday cleaners would come and wash windows, vacuum and do cleanerly stuff.

With two old people in a big old house I never understood how they could possibly make so much mess to warrant a professional cleaning team weekly.

I fantasised about the Monolith. I fancied decor untouched since 1971, but of the finest European quality. Lurid things, maybe some black velvet artpieces, plastic carpet-protector walkways .. all those good things.

They sold this year.

And behold, it was amazing:





Except in this neighbourhood, people have no vision ( that's how we got our house - failed at auction, we walked around with lots of sneering peeps - no vision ) .. so I was offended on behalf of my old neighbours as prices failed to rise, and people blanched at the horror of things not perfect.

SURE it needed things done, SURE it looked like an old fashioned Pizza Hut and the garden was uncool .. but .. it was solid, and liveable .. and you do what we do, and fix it up as you go.

Ok, so sometimes i'd like a pretty new perfect house too .. but this house, if you closed your eyes and imagined it with a whack of render on the outside .. and a lick of paint on the inside .. replaced the flowing swirling browny shagpile with something more retro-modern .. the LIGHT in there was heavenly .. and the layout was NOT UNLIKE those modern monoliths of today. It had like 5 bedrooms, a pool room ( complete with vinyl studded bar! ), a wine cellar, a shoe closet ( hello Imelda! ), a sauna, a dozen different zones over various levels .. I mean, in 1971, they must have had some hella coin. De-luxe!

Someone's bought it now.  They don't look very visionary.  I'm not sure of their intentions.

I wish I could have done a photoshoot in there while it still looked like this :)

Happy Camper :: Love the Look

Today I found out that I am the grand winner of the Carpet Court "Love the Look" Promotion.

I am typing very calmly, in a sensible font, but OMG, in my head it's a bubbling jumble of Comic Sans meets Jokerman RIOT.

I AM SO EXCITED!





To win I portrayed some parts of my home I absolutely love, that we have worked on, fixed up and adore.

In fact, you might get the impression i've got it all covered.

But ah, that is the magic of selective sharing ...





So here are some other glimpses of my home.

The ancient frayed rug .. a couch my kids and the cats have teamed together to make .. extra special ..

Light fittings a-la-go-go  ( the middle IKEA lamp is the only light in my kitchen )

Chipped laminex and chipboard kitchen

Leaks & cracks





And finally .. carpet ... I don't mind the petrol-coloured carpet in the boy's bedroom .. it's just a pity it doesn't reach the wall ( why? )

And, of course, the original Westminster in our bedroom .. which I kinda like for the quirk factor, and really, for 60yr old carpet, is in pretty good nick ( in parts ) ..





I'll be interested to hear what fantastic advice Stacey Kouros comes up with .. but one thing's for sure.. there's no lack of projects to choose from ;)

Thankyou Carpet Court, you're the best!

Another Project

Why not ?
It's not like we've done anything with the other one ;)

Actually re: the fireplace. It's only now costing twice as much as originally quoted. Am a bit pissed off with Agnews, who loosely quoted around $200 for installation. Um, the guy YOU recommended, quoted me $600 .. PLUS the extra fees for the plumber ( gas fittings ) and the electrician ( need to install a power outlet inside the chimney ). Of course, we have already put down a downpayment, so thanks for locking us in, Eddie. Not.

Since then, the news is that my Mum is returning home from the UK, where she has lived for the past 5yrs. She's terribly homesick and is missing her girls and grandson, so she's coming home. Which is GREAT, from my perspective - it will be good to have a babysitter have her home again ;)

So anyway, we have a pokey cold bathroom with a HWS that struggles to produce 2x warm showers per 12hr period. We also have a perfectly good ( but perfectly ugly and currently useless ) old Physiotherapist's room that is just busting to be fitted out as a bathroom.
So we're hoping to kit it out before Xmas .. maybe ..

P.S. - was there a special on blue paint at the local paint store at some stage ? I swear the ugly blue room here is in the same ugly blue shades as the ugly blue room at the last house. Weird.

P.P.S. - Flipped up a bit of that sexy lino this morning, and the floorboards underneath look clean and solid. Bonus.

Excellent

The architect came back to us today.
I'm not looking at the figures - they might hurt me ... but everything else equals 'love your work'