The blind man came!

Our folding arm awning was installed today. At last...some much-needed shade for the sliding door:



The frame comes in limited colours, so we've matched it to the stone beige window frames. The cassette is available in the full range of Colorbond colours, so we matched that to the spouting. I chose the dark blind fabric just because. :)

Because of the western aspect, we've had the awning angled downwards, right to the top of the fence, to block out maximum sun.



Apart from a couple of hours in the evening, the glass should be well shaded most of the day. You can see in the above photo that the sun angles in from the side - once my feijoas grow, that should be less of a drama though.

I'm sure it's going to be much more pleasant in here this summer.

Beating the heat

We had a real problem with our west-facing sliding door on the studio. In summer it was unbearable in the afternoons - even with blockout Roman blinds and the evaporative cooling running.

We were originally going to build a pergola outside to provide shade, but there's a major drama in the form of a sewer easement, which means that getting a permit is unlikely. So we thought maybe a shade sail - as a bonus, that can be taken down in winter to let the sun in for some natural light and heating.

After getting some quotes and doing some extra research this week, we've decided on a folding arm awning instead. This sort of thing:

Now you see it


Now you don't


No posts, no permits required, and it folds out of sight in winter when we want the sun to shine in. We'll be ordering it tomorrow so we can have it made to order and installed before Christmas.

Now that a decision's been made, I can finally finish off the strip of garden out the back.

Slackety McSlackster

This poor old blog is feeling sad and neglected. Oops.

Yes, the three month maintenance stuff finally got done. Only....some of it isn't really up to an acceptable standard. The biggish crack in the family room cornice/ceiling has been so badly repaired that it actually looked less of an eyesore before it was done. Some patched-up mortar along the brick sill under the French doors is a bit of a dog's breakfast. The tiny damage that the plumbers did to the wall in the ensuite hasn't been repaired at all, in spite of being on the list and being specifically pointed out to the maintenance guys. And the plaster that they did fix in there still looks a bit ordinary, plus they only did a paint touch-up, after we had a discussion about how Wattyl ID can't be touched up and the whole wall has to be repainted.

*sigh* So guess what's going on the top of the list for the 12 month maintenance inspection? No doubt we'll go through a similar farce in November...

We've also had it confirmed that there are no insulation batts under the steel deck roofing at the front of the house. Hmm. I'm sure our contract says "batts to ceilings" and not "batts to ceilings except where we can't be arsed". Something to discuss with Porter Davis.

On a more positive note, the front garden is growing well, and once my tax refund arrives, I plan to hurry down to the garden supply place and order materials to do that strip of landscaping along the back fence that I was going to do at Easter. Oh well, you don't want to rush these things. ;o) Then I can have some more fun with plants.

I may even use my PD Rewards card and get down to Plantmark to take advantage of trade prices.

I've also finally made a decision on blinds for the bifolds. Type, anyway, but still no idea about colour, fabric or plain/patterned. I used to be indecisive, but now I'm just not sure....

I'll try to update again soon(ish). If anyone's still reading.

Clear or not?

We're very happy with our blinds. But there is one tiny little detail that slipped past us. The French doors in the ensuite.

We have clear glass in all our windows, including bathrooms and toilet. I was happy with that, and never considered an upgrade to anything else. I love the look, and privacy shouldn't be an issue with venetians. Except for this....

Good light control, and the blinds match the timber doors pretty closely.

Closed. We have total privacy....or do we?

Um. The toilet is to one side of the doors, the shower to the other. And because the blinds can't be even partially recessed, there's a gap.



A pretty BIG gap....I could wave to the brickies working next door, while sitting on the loo.



We decided that we'd replace the blinds at some point with plantation shutters, custom-made to fit, but that in the meantime we'd get a privacy film applied to the glass, so we can live with what we have. We did some research and discovered that to get a company to come out and apply privacy film to the existing glass was about $250. Whaaat? It would only cost $200 to have the clear glass replaced with translucent.

I really didn't want a permanent change - I still like to be able to see out when I want to.

Then I came across this website. A translucent film that you can buy on a roll and apply yourself. For around $16. I emailed the company (they're in Thomastown) and they told me that Bunnings stock the product, or I can buy it direct from them. Today I found it in the flywire aisle at Bunnings. Problem solved!

We can't apply it just yet, as one of the doors is being replaced due to warping. But I'll post up some photos when we do.



Thought it might be a useful product for others to know about. :o)

Photo update

Things are still happening, just a bit slower now. Everything takes so much time - and the heatwave made it impossible to do any outdoor stuff. This week has seen a few changes though.

We finally ditched the Redi-shades and got our real blinds installed on Monday. We have timber venetians throughout most of the house, like this one:



The kids' rooms have roller blinds and there's a Roman blind for the sliding door in the rumpus room. No photos of those though...sorry. It's nice to be able to block out the light, and to be able to easily open and close blinds feels like luxury.

Then the landscaping guys turned up Tuesday morning, and this is the result:



We spread the sunset toppings and added a few pavers, but all the rest was done for us. :o)

We're happy with the design - it's very linear, but so is the house facade, so I think it suits. It looks a bit desert-like at the moment, but once they come back to do the planting, it'll be a different story. That should be within the next couple of weeks.

The painter also arrived early on Monday morning to finally do the touch-ups we've been waiting for. And he did the feature walls in the kids' rooms for us. This is The Middle Child's room (it was the only one neat enough for public viewing). The colour is Wattyl Blue Earth, which I picked in about a minute flat from a brochure....and it turned out great! Thank goodness.

Getting closer to finished

Our blinds are ready for installation - they don't have anyone available to do it this week, but we're booked in for next Monday.

The RediShades have been great, but I'm a bit sick of the extra effort it takes to open them, and the pegs hanging off them aren't exactly a decorating statement. Also, they flap around in the breeze, which is pretty annoying when you have windows open. Or when you open or close doors.

Can't wait to pull them down and chuck them away!

LOL - I'm being picky now, aren't I? It could be worse, I might have had to put up with sheets for the past six weeks.

Shiny, shiny, shiny!

Bike Boy is extremely excited about the new stove. I'm extremely excited about what he's going to cook me on the new stove. :o)



Must order those damn light fittings....



The dishwasher is in there somewhere. No close-ups though - I need to clean all the fingerprints off it. Ick.



Appliance cupboard. We had one of these in our old kitchen and I miss it a lot. It'll be nice to shut the doors on the toaster. And all the toast crumbs that my kids are incapable of cleaning up. Now you see it:



Now you don't:



See? I said I had just the thing for that feature niche. Turquoise wine glasses. Don't tell anyone they cost me $2 at the Reject Shop....




It's all coming together. Our fixing items have all been taken care of, the appliances are in, the Bath Magic guy is coming back to clean the pantry shelves, the lights that weren't working have been fixed, the painter is now coming on Saturday (Gah! We're moving IN on Saturday....), the bifold door service is booked, and the cracked tile in the bathroom has been noted by our SS, who will get someone to fix it. Lucky I kept the leftover tiles. Heating and cooling work a treat - let's hope we don't need the heating for several months. It is Melbourne though, so you never know...

Even the fences are mostly up, and the fence guy is going to hang our side gate for us for a token cash amount.

The only new problem is that one of the burners on our stove doesn't work. Whatever - someone will contact us about that.

Carpets are being laid tomorrow, I'll be confirming the order for our blinds and we need to do something about a shed. I also have my eye on a hall table and a couple of perfect glass shelves for the showers that might be a wee bit exxy. OK, so Bike Boy almost had a coronary when I showed him the brochure and the $200+ price tag on those. He's stingy, what can I say? ;o)

No sheets here!

It's well known that I absolutely detest sheets hanging at the windows. I refused to have them 20+ years ago when we moved into our first home, and I'm not having them now. Sheets belong on beds. And maybe on small children if you're one of those irritating people who sends their little darlings out to annoy total strangers by trick or treating.

Back then, I solved the problem by buying a big roll of heavy scrim fabric (it was the 80s....) and making privacy curtains for lounge and main bedroom. I also made blockout drapes for our bedroom. And we had some terylene curtains that had once belonged to Bike Boy's Nan, so those went in the spare bedrooms. Kitchen and family room, we just lived with bare glass for a while.

This time around, we've organised blinds for all windows. But thanks to all the builder delays and the uncertaintly about when we'd be moving, we weren't able to get our order in until it was too late to have them installed before Christmas. Which is why I've bought a stack of Redi Shade temporary blinds, to get us through the next month or two.

Here they are on one set of bifolds. I think these are staying up until I figure out what I want to do here permanently... I need to trim the length on the one on the right, in case you're wondering why it hangs lower than the others.

If you want to open the blinds, you just fold them up and clip on the little white pegs that come with them.

See? Much better than sheets! Makes the place look occupied. :o)

And our completed but very dusty floating floor, looking from the front door. Hmm, no hint of the colour feast for your eyes that waits inside....


By the way, the Redi Shade product that Bunning sells is identical in design, material and so on to the ones I ordered over the phone. BUT....they're only 900mm wide, and mine are 1220mm.

Come to think of it, Bunnings may have had a wider one....