Going home - Reno Day 130

Well, here we are, the final week in a five month renovation. And look, there they are, those shiny gloss floors that have caused so much drama. By some miracle, the magical product was found to remove all the silicone and the floors were fixed for a grand total of $200 and one extra day of work. Thank goodness it's all over and we can finally move home. I am loving the floors, especially how they reflect all the light and the trees, in my opinion all that reflection actually distracts from any grot on the floors rather than making it more visible.

While we had limited access to the house this week due to the floors, we didn't get anywhere near as much done as we had planned. However, we did manage to complete Liongirl's bedroom. Yep, even the skirts, arcs and windows by some miracle. The first and only finished room in the house.

Whenever the grot and dust and peeling paint and unfinished bits in the rest of the house were getting to  me, what a lovely little space to hang out in and swoon over all the perfect whiteness.

The only small problem is when you are using Vivid White (ie pure white with no tint) it takes a good six coats to get even coverage. Yep, three undercoats and three topcoats. Needless to say, when Liongirl turned around and said she wanted a pink room, I told her to get back to me in say about a year or two. I figure by the time she strews all her pink possessions around the room, that will be all the pink required. And I need to save my wrists for the rest of the house.

Since we were locked out while the floors dried, we wasted no time and got stuck into some exterior jobs. Legoman was in charge of oiling the deck,

And I made some sort of commitment to an exterior colour. Let me just say I'm still not entirely sure. The blasted thing changes colour depending whether it's in sun or shade and is completely confounding me. Time will tell if it stays or it gets tweaked.

And lastly, while there are many unfinished bits in the house (bathroom sink, doorknobs, lighting, kitchen drawers fronts, a whole lot of cruddy walls), there is one really significant bit of our kitchen that is still pending. A sneaky bit that I left out of my sketched plans. Let me give you clue with a little peek at the work in progress.

So, we are off to pack up all our goods, chattels and children and find our way back to the new, improved and incomplete Betsy. At this point it is probably wise to point out that this is not going to be one of those renovation blogs where there is a big reveal of a complete and perfect house. Nope, unfortunately not. But if you enjoy watching a house grow beautiful, room by room, with lots of love and white paint, then this is that kind of blog. Me, I'm looking forward to going back to a normal life, with more time for creative pursuits.

Woolly walls,new old floors,vj sheets and colour debate - Reno Day 64

There have been some big and exciting changes for Betsy this week. For a start we have our first batch of vj sheeted walls and ceilings going up in the lounge room. And my first view outside with the bifold doors open. Hopefully this is how they will be much of the time when the weather starts to warm up.

The side lounge room wall is complete. While the ceiling has been lined with VJ (vertical join) mdf sheeting, the side wall (pine coloured section) has been completed in new tongue and groove timber boards.

Due to the thickness of the original boards, the sheeting did not match here and timber boards had to be used instead. These are made from smaller pine offcuts joined together but will look seamless when painted.

We also have lots of white woolly walls appearing as insulation goes in.

And the huge pile of reclaimed hoop pine flooring we had been carefully collecting and stashing over the last year, has been decimated as the floors have been completed in the lounge, kitchen and laundry.

At the moment they look like a real mish mash, but hopefully when they are sanded back, the true honey colour will appear.

We have some new deck handrails.

And I have been outside undercoating weatherboards and slapping on some sample pots of exterior paint. I think I have whittled it down to two contenders.

Of course, no one is in agreement over this either. Legoman and Roboboy like one of these and Feng Shui Nonna and I like the other. (Actually Feng Shui Nonna is not actually sure about the whole grey thing full stop but is still happy to provide an opinion).

It gets even more confusing when you put the same colour in a different spot and people then say they really, really don't like the colour they previously chose.

Anyway, since it's coming at me in all directions, feel free to share your opinions on this too. The lighter colour or the darker colour? Legoman wanted to canvas the builders via a poll and run with their  choice (obviously thinking that the boys would all stick together) but they have wisely chosen to stay out of it!