Week 27...

Flooring and Concrete.

Inside Barry has been busy putting down all the floor coverings while outside the concreters have been hard at work pouring the slabs for the alfresco area, porch, carport and front veranda.

We decided to go for tinted concrete and chose a dark charcoal similar to the roof colour. Although at the moment while we are surrounded by so much dirt and therefore dust it is showing up every footprint, I am hoping that once we get some turf down this should be significantly improved.

Flooring: Karndean, Van Gough series in Bunished Beech Light: Felix Pendant Light in Nickel & Clear from Schots

The dark floor in the kitchen, dining, halls etc had worked out so well. In such a large open space with so much white the darker colour has offered a welcome contrast while matching the Hamptons style perfectly. We did apparently break all the rules when deciding which way to run the planks. Instead of running them lengthways down the halls we decided to do the opposite making the planks run lengthways as you walk in the front door and I'm glad we did despite the rules. They're there to be broken anyway, aren't they?

Week 26...

This week we got LIGHTS!!!!

I'm in love with these 40cm Toledo Pendants from Schots Home Emporium 

Originally when I was designing the kitchen I had envisioned 3 pendants over the island bench, you know that whole rule about 3 or 5, but I am so glad we decided that 2 large lights was better than trying to squash in 3 smaller ones. I have a real hate for white light to me these warm yellow globes make all the difference. It turns the feel from stark and clinical to homely and inviting.

My pride and joy, the pantry, is coming along nicely too. Not only do we have a series of downlights, our amazing electrician has also added strip lighting along the bottom of all the overhead shelves and cupboards both in here and in the main part of the kitchen. And because I didn't want too much natural light (food storage and sunlight don't really go hand-in-hand) streaming in through a window I decided on a Solatube Skylight instead. This will provide enough light on a standard day to be able to duck in and grab whatever I need without having to turn lights on and off.

Weeks 24 & 25...

It's been a couple of big weeks, cabinetry has gone into the kitchen

pantry,

and bathrooms.

Ensuite

Main bathroom

The laundry is also looking almost finished, just needs tiles and appliances.

And my favourite part yet. Our Carrara Marble benchtops have been installed! I literally squealed with excitement when I walked in saw them for the first time, much to the amusement of the tradies. They are all that I have imagined and more.

The next couple of weeks will hopefully see the tiler, concreters, plumber and electrician all do their thing. Everything is sitting there ready to go, now we just need all the trades to fall into place one after another to get us in before Christmas.

Week 23...

I'd still like to believe that we'll be in by Christmas but that is just around the corner and my faith in what the builders are promising is slowly fading. However, progress is still happening and we are moving closer to the finish line every day.

The painters have been busy this week and we now have colour on the outside walls and the start of the colour inside.

Dulux Silkwort for the render, Surfmist (to match the facia) for the boards and white gloss for the pasts to match the window frames. 

Slightly of topic but how cute is our new neighbour?!?!

Just added an whole new level of beauty to the view over our back/side fence.

And not to mention this cuteness we've been working on for the past 30 weeks.

Last weeks 4D ultrasound. And part of the reason we are really feeling the  pressure to be in before Christmas. 

Now we are just waiting on the concreters and hopefully the cabinet makers next week. The cabinet maker had a slight delay when the quality of the 2 pack finish on the kitchen doors and drawers wasn't up to standard when they received them back last week so the whole install had to be delayed until they could get them refinished. Sigh... I guess delays are all apart of the building process but please cross your fingers that this is the end of it for us.