60's House - Update

The renovations of our 60's house have slowed somewhat, 
as we let life take over and enjoy just living here.

Our house still needs a lot of work and being patient about this 
is not my strong point but it is a lesson I am learning  . . . slowly.

We have added and completed many tasks in the last year, 
one of the major ones being the front deck.

We completed it just before Christmas last year and I have loved
how it has changed how we use the space. Outside is now inviting 
and used often for twilight dinners or picinic lunches on the weekends.

I love how, when we open up the large glass sliding door from the 
lounge room to outside, the kids footsteps don't even miss a beat 
as they run through; playing and enjoying both spaces.

Rosie refuses to call it a deck, she corrects us and insists that it's
called a stage instead. And there has been many a concert performance
in the last year believe me.

I also love that we built it ourselves. Luke and his ever brilliant design,
me and my motivational, rose coloured glasses outlook - pushing forward
to make it happen. The kids helping and laying out planks, countersinking
the screw holes. It is all of our sweat that made it happen. And now we 
get to enjoy it. And I can honestly say I can build a deck. 

And as we slowly plod through the never ending list of jobs that will 
invertibley take us years to complete, we take pleasure in the small things.

Like this great fabric that came to us as a present and made just the right
kind of artwork for our vast bedroom wall. Just the right shade of grey and
ever so retro in it's colour and patterns.

We take pleasure in the small things and learn to wait for the rest.

Fairy Garden Magic

Been busy in the garden cleaning up and finding lots of logs and cut up tree stumps . . .

And with some paint we now have a fairy toadstool at the bottom of the garden.

The kids have already had many meals and snacks there.

Some of the junk left by the previous owners in and around our house is useless, 

but some is magical and precious indeed.

60's House: PAINT!

We spent the Easter break painting the 60's House.

Some break ... painting with 2 kids but we did it. 

Our colour scheme tries to reflect the original exterior colours.

Very similar to this great picture I found on this site about retro renovation.

 retrorenovation.com

Before we painted  . . .

 And after.

And a touch of 60's mustard yellow and chocolate brown.

For good retro measure.

60's House: The fence that we built.

There has been many a night or even morn, that I have gone out the front door

in my dressing gown to put something in the wheelie bin only to discover that 

the peak hour traffic or group of teens getting off the bus have seen me. 

And with the main road RIGHT THERE it's no wonder.

And so we built a fence.

Luke in all his amazing wisdom had the plan, set it out and then

executed it brilliantly. He is actually very good at this building thing . . .

pity he hates it so much! Mind you the satisfaction at the end is worth it!

He has done a lot of standing with hands on hips looking at it.

So here it goes  . . . from start to finish.

 Top tips for building a fence:

* Do "dial before you dig" - get the amenities and boundary plans for your property

so you know where the electrical / water and sewerage runs

and so you don't build it on your neighbour's land.

*Mark it all out. Walk it. Visualize it. 

Ask other people what they think.

*Get one of those motorized hole digging machines.

It will save your back and your marriage.

*Ask for help.
We could not have done this without 

Luke's family.

*If you do want to paint your fence, wait for 

the graffiti to happen first!

The mango smoothie I made for Luke upon the triumphant completion.

*Have lots of cold beverages ready.

This is thirsty work.

12 Days of a Crafty Christmas.

The 3rd Day of a Crafty Christmas: 60's House Plans

As a special gift for Christmas I got Luke -

[by way of much stealth and many a secret meeting with the lovely 

Cheryl who grew up as a girl in our house]

- the original blue print working drawings for our 60's house.

I spent a whole afternoon cutting the board to size and 

what felt like hours getting it to sit right in the frame.

But after all that it does look great and he was super surprised.

 It has been great having a relationship with the person 

who knows so much about our house, and she is so genuinely glad that

we are restoring it.

And without that relationship we would not have 

had the privilege of being able to copy the house plans.

Or know that some walls were originally pink!

Having these drawings is so important to Luke and 

to see him pour over them makes me happy too.

Even though when he points at dotted lines and says

"see how there was supposed to be a wall there",

I have no idea. Lucky he can read them!

12 Days of a Crafty Christmas.

The 9th Day of a Crafty Christmas: Table Makeovers [for family feasts!]

In order for us to have more than two other people over for dinner

we needed to think about getting a bigger dinning room table.

So when my mum offered me her old one,

I said yes - actually I said yes please!

I spent a few hours sanding it back,

with an orbital sander to make it easier,

it still took some super muscle to 

get it back to the original timbers.

 

After just one coat of "Black Japan" stain it was ready for it's first use.

I held back from making it look shiny and sleek and perfect,

so it fits nicely into our well-loved home.

Bring on festive feasts and family dinners.

60's House: The Story So Far . . .

Okay so here is what we have been up to for the last month or so.

Loving this "Jellybean" Rug from spotlight and 

my handmade art, a canvas covered with IKEA

fabric called "GULLVI".

The Lego now has a place as does the funky ironing board.

I think it's funny Luke put them together . . . 

something he loves and something he hates.

The breakfast bar hole is now bigger and 

it has it's bench - just needs a coat of varnish!

The TV is set up and DVD's now have a home.

This was the first thing Luke did on the day we moved in.

Some pictures up and the iconic clock 

has pride of place of the still dirty fireplace.

 

Kids art up on the wall and 

all the good china is safely away in the retro sideboard.

Kitchen shelves are up and ready 

for some serious cooking.

The bathroom is in full use . . . and already is

overdue for a good clean.

So much to do still, but we are in and loving our funky and potential-filled home.

How to paint a house in a day!

Well not quite the whole house but close to it.

We really had no choice about how 

we would paint our ceiling in the lounge and dinning

as it is made from molded plaster.

This ceiling would have been espeically made for this space 

and the molding is very decorative and specific to the 60's era.

You could not use a roller, it would not get into all the little bumps,

and you would be there for months doing it with a brush so we 

hired a paint sprayer from City Hire at Kelvin Grove.

This machine pumps the paint out of the tin, 

through a hose and is attached to a spray gun 

that gives a light spray of paint.

It does a great job of painting large spaces with 

maximum efficiency and as long as you are using

the same colour throughout, it will cover ceilings 

and walls in no time at all.

What time you save in actually painting 

is no doubt taken up in the preparation.

As I am quickly learning, 

the art to a great paint job is all 

about the prep work you do.

And there is heaps!

The puttying and sanding, 

filling cracks with "no more gaps",

filling the nail holes and sanding them,

wiping and washing the walls, 

covering the windows and other fixtures with plastic,

Taking the light fittings off.

The list goes on.

 To get these rooms ready to paint has taken well over a week. 

This is so not my favourite part.

I much prefer the shopping bit!

In need of inspiration.

I have been looking for inspiration lately for the renovations at our house.

This is what I have found.

I love these beautiful wallpapers from the 50's collection at 

the Wallpaper Shop located in Murray's Wallpaper & Curtain Gallery 

on Osborne Rd at Mitchelton.

Then I fell in love with this electric blue, lace metal setting outside Harvey Norman.

And I could not resist these very retro lights I found wandering 

around Beacon Lighting at Windsor.

I really do love the looking and the shopping and the dreaming 

and all the ideas I get laying at bed just before I go to sleep. 

Dare I say that I am actually really, really enjoying this? Ask me again at the end!

Three Don Rex TV Chairs

The most recent acquisition in the land of the 60's house 

has been these three Don Rex TV Chairs.

Don Rex was and Australian furniture designer in the 1960's and many 

Aussie homes would have displayed one of his pieces, particularly his chairs.

These three chairs need a refurb, 

so I will be attempting to overhaul them myself.

I have come across a lovely blogger who has made an 

art form of bringing old things back to life and found that 

Don Rex makes an appearance in this post over at Flourish and Blume.

These girls have done some wonderful things to old chairs.

Check out one of a pair of chairs before:

And here they are after:

I only hope mine look that good at the end!

I will let you know how I go.

PS: Yes, there has been a lot of renos done 

in the last few weeks and the kitchen and bathroom are almost done.

I will post pics when it's completely finished - til then no peeking!