The most recent love of my life... MY KITCHEN!

It's easy to spend time in such a beautiful and elegant space (even if I do say so myself). Cooking here and in my new oven is a dream.

I've been baking, roasting, grilling and frying up a storm. Here's a sneak peak at one of my latest creations. Chewy in the middle and crunchy on top with little hidden chocolate delights.

The best ever Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

½ cup plain flour

¾ cup cocoa powder

1 ¼ cup caster. sugar

160g unsalted butter

2 eggs, cold

⅛ tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. cornflour

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup. chocolate chips

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Line a 20x20cm pan with parchment paper and set aside.

2.     In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and sugar. Heat in the microwave on high for about 1 minute and 15 seconds. Remove, stir, and cool on the counter for 5 minutes, then stir in the vanilla extract and cocoa powder.

3.     In the bowl of a stand mixer add the warm (but not hot) butter/sugar mixture. With mixing speed on low add one egg at a time, mixing just until incorporated.

4.     In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Remove bowl from stand and fold in the chocolate chips..

5.     Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the brownies are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 30-45 minutes before cutting. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Lights - Teledo Pendants from Schots Home Emporium 
Countertops - Carrara Marble from Corsi & Nicolai
Oven - Belling 110cm Richmond Duel Fuel Range Freestanding Oven from Harvey Norman
Door & Drawer hardware - Cast plain semi-circle drawer pull and Round cupboard knob from Schots
Splashback Tiles - Carrara Bianco Herringbone Mosaic from Beaumont Tiles

Week 29...

So much more tiling this week and I am now totally head over heels in love with our kitchen splash back.

Grouting not quite finished but the cabinetry is looking the goods.

And as you can see the rangehood has been fitted too.

And finally after so many times of going back and forwards we decided on and ordered a dining table.

Bordeaux Dining Table 300 x 100cm

The table is made from reclaimed Elm that is over 100 years old, which has been bleached, repaired, polished and then waxed to give it a lovely rustic finish which perfectly suits our beachy style.

To go with the table we've ordered 10 of these Ashley Dining Chairs.

We're still on the hunt for bar stools which is proving harder than I had thought. We need three to sit at the island bench, they don't need to perfectly match the dining chairs but they will be in close proximity so they will need to have some similarities. But most of all I want them to be comfortable.

Just waiting on some fabric samples to see if any of these will work.

Week 28...

Ok so I've been super slack again (sorry) but I guess this whole growing a human thing has been distracting me.

However, despite my lack of recent posts progress has been happening on site.

The floors have all been finished now including the most gorgeous carpet in the lounge room.

Foss carpet from from Carpet World

We splurged a little on the carpet in this room knowing that we will actually spend time sitting/laying on it (and we have already). I love the fact that it has the beachy look of sisal but is OHHH SO SOFT!!

We also moved the pool table into place this week so the electrician could make sure that the light was exactly centered. Loving the filament globes.

Manchester light form Schots Home Emporium

And tiles. They finally started the tiles!!!!!

Carrara Bianco Herringbone Mosaic Tiles from Beaumont Tiles

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 18...

The builders are back to finish off the eves, boards etc. And there's no messing about; 3 of them hard at work in the rain on a Sunday.
The cabinet maker has been to measure the kitchen, pantry, laundry and bathrooms to make sure his measurements are exactly right.
And the external doors have gone on so we are finally at 'LOCK UP'!

I can't wait for the renders and painters to do their thing now.

Render will be Dulux Silkwort :

 and the boards will be Surfmist to match the fascia:

  

I finally ordered the pendant lights from Schots:

and all the door and drawer hardware for the kitchen, pantry, bathrooms and laundry:

Next step is plaster and render so by next week it sound be looking even more like a house.

Week 17...

It's been a full on week this week. Multiple tradies on site each day, some days up to nearly 20!!! Not that I am complaining in the slightest. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. Brick layers, plumbers, electricians, builders etc. Not to mention all the deliveries, plaster arrived and so did the insulation, another load of sand and cement for the brickies, more electrical and plumbing supplies and the list goes on.

'Day 1 of bricks'

A big day for deliveries too - cement, plaster and insulation.

As they say "many hands makes light work", especially when it comes to brick laying it appears.

'Day 2 of bricks'

By 'Day 4 of bricks' they were pretty much done. *The unfinished section at the front is going to be boards.  

Finally I got my husband to agree on some tiles for the kitchen splashback on our trip up the coast. They are a little bigger than the ones that I had originally picked so this eases his fierce hatred of 'sh***y little tiles that look like they're from a bad 80's pub room'.

Marble tiles for the kitchen splashback to be laid in a herringbone pattern form Beaumont Tiles

 

The inside starting to take shape with the insulation going in (and sound proofing insulation for the pool room).

'Day 5 of bricks' was the last day. All finished including the wall in the outdoor area to protect us from the sou-westerly winds that come down the gully.

120 days into our build and lock-up is just around the corner. Just waiting on the boards on the front of the house, the front door and the 2nd stacker door to be installed and we will have reached the milestone.

Next week will bring the measure up for the cabinetry, the rest of the insulation and hopefully the plaster :)  

Weeks 15 & 16...

Its full steam ahead now and we've finally got to a point where rain is not nearly as much of an issue as previously. It can rain all day long and stuff still happens :)

Today we have a plumber, an electrician and his dodgy apprentice (my husband), the glaziers and two builders all on site together. Yesterday we had a visit from the project manager to make sure everything was on track and to get us to make some concrete decisions regarding cabinetry, flooring etc.

Tradies everywhere!

We have now also ordered all the plumbing fittings and my job today is to order the pendant lights and cabinetry hardware. Its been an expensive few days but it feels so good to be ordering what feels like the icing on the cake.

Our kitchen sink mixer from Astra Walker

Basin mixers from Bunnings

From the outside its hard to see all the progress but I assure you its been all happening on the inside.

The plumber and electrician have nearly finished their rough ins so there are wires and pipes everywhere. The bath is in and the bulk heads for the cabinetry have been started. Today the blue board is going up on the front of the carport and porch ready to be rendered later. The glazier is putting in our custom made 4-panel multi-direction-opening stacker door just in time for the brickies to start tomorrow. Roofing guard rails should also come down today which will make it look a bit nicer. The electrician is running the TV, Foxtel and DVD wires through the wall cavities so we can mount flat screens on the walls in the pool room, lounge and master without seeing the ugly cords. All the little things that will make the finished product seamless. 

Another trip out of town for us next week to order our freestanding oven, range hood and fridge. Once again an expensive excursion but oh so worth it to be able to pick exactly what we want.

The nursery planning/purchasing is coming along too as well as the baby to go in it.

Halfway cooked - 20 week scan

I finally found a nursing chair (although this picture makes it look a lot more fawn and cream in real life it is more grey) for the babies room while we were out of town for the scan. So now I just have to find an ottoman to go with it.

Easton Wing Chair from Pacific Furniture & Bedding

The choices are endless but I'm thinking something along these lines.

Or maybe I could make my own...

Week 14...

It's been a big week.

The house has been wrapped...

and topped with a roof.

We also received the cabinetry renderings.

I am so in love!


Along with it being a big week on the actual building front it was also a huge week for decisions. We did a trip down to Bairnsdale and had meetings with the flooring people, builders and cabinet makers. We walked into the flooring place at 8:50am to decide on floorboards, carpets and tiles, then went to the builders followed by the cabinet makers who we left at 6:00pm (we did manage a 40 minute break for lunch somewhere in there too).

We have now finally decided on a few things tho.

KITCHEN:

Carrara Marble for the kitchen benchtops.

Kitchen door and drawer hardware from Schots Home Emporium

The whole stones benchtop thing has been a real learning experience for all involved. It has worked out that, mainly because of slab size (when buying stone for benchtops you have to buy it per slab as apposed to by the meter to fit to your bench sizes) the natural marble (bigger slabs) that we originally wanted is actually going to be cheaper. Finally something went our way. This has also meant that there will be enough stone after the kitchen is done to do the vanity top in the main bathroom aswell. Another win for us.

PANTRY:

In the pantry we are going for a diamond gloss benchtop in White Valencia

With a white subway tile splashback

I like the contrast of the white tiles with the dark grout

As there are no windows into the pantry (the only natural light will come from a solar tube) we are using a lot of white to keep it nice and bright.

ENSUITE BATHROOM:

For the vanity top in here (because it is bigger than the main bathroom, therefore too big to use up the marble off cut) we are going to use a diamond gloss benchtop with the new square edging.

and something along these lines for the tiles

Next week we are off to the plumbing store to choose our tapware, shower roses, vanities etc
Bring on another big week of decisions.