Game on!

Our site start date has been issued, so it's game on!

Watch this space - We'll be kicking off on 20 January 2012 (my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary!), if not a couple of days before.  Lots of happiness and joyful anticipation here!

Wishing you and yours all the best for a fantastic year ahead!

Signing off for 2011...

We did it! We bought a sofa!

After hours of intensive sofa testing, we made a purchase yesterday at Domayne.  Unfortunately, the Sitta at Freedom just didn't cut the mustard price and fabric-wise.  Anyhoo, good news, after all the sofa stress we had experienced here and here.  (I know, the important things in life, right?!)

So, this is what we bought...

Jigsaw sofa

In this colour...

Profile Showtime in Mink

The package we purchased comprises two x two seaters (one right arm, one left), one armless two seater and the ottoman you see on the right.  It gives us lots of options for comfy configurations - very helpful as we haven't determined our TV wall yet! - and fits all of us on it with room to spare.

It will take 12 - 14 weeks to be custom made, and we got a great saving so are really excited.

We also have been chatting with the builder and are getting closer to being issued a site start date.  Can you guess who is holding us up?  Our ever trusty and reliable b.a.n.k.  Seriously, I don't know how some people hold onto their jobs.  It's just one piece of paper, peeps!

We are just mooching around home this week, but every day feels like Sunday which is fantastic.  I hope you're having a lovely break (if you're lucky enough to be having one).

Hopefully next time I see you, we'll have that elusive site start date!

There's no escape...

Even when we're not talking about the house, we're playing house!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  We are recovering by teaching the kids how to play Monopoly.  Good times!!

Welcome to our new followers, hopefully there'll be lots for you to enjoy over the coming months.


I don't think there'll be much to report over the next few days, so the little blog might be neglected.  I do, however, have a couple of leads on sofas, so you never know.

Looking forward

When you are building, or when you have built before, what are the things that you really look forward to?

Is it a particular item/fitting/fixture in the new house?  Is it just about getting out of your dodgy rental?

I am really looking forward to:

Flick Mixers

  

Phoenix Argo

Window furnishings that ARE NOT vertical blinds

here

here

My big oven

here

Relatively simple things, really, that we've previously taken for granted and obviously don't have in the dodgy rental.  (Hanging around waiting for yet another tradie to fix yet another problem here.  Just glad I'm not paying!)

Are you counting down the sleeps until the big guy visits yet?  I've been partying too hard and am feeling it today.  Last day of work before a week off, thank goodness.

Have a great Thursday!

The spirit!

Around here, we're getting into the Christmas spirit!

I'm doing my best to teach our little ones that not everyone is as fortunate at them at Christmas time, but it is a bit tricky when they still believe in Santa.  Why wouldn't Santa get everyone the same kinds of gifts?  I managed to dodge that bullet, so we wrapped up a gift and delivered it to the Kmart Wishing Tree (have been meaning to do this for yeeears).

We decided the gift would be perfect for a five year old girl and stuck our gift tag on.  The lady at Kmart was so genuinely grateful and encouraging of the children, so we took a quick photo to mark the beginning of this new tradition in our house.

The boy wasn't interested, and the girls got a little bit of reindeer treatment!

Tonight, we're celebrating a special baby's first Christmas.  One more working day and then I can really get excited!

Masters Home Improvement

I keep thinking today is Saturday, as we all spent the day together as a family today.  That doesn't often happen on a Friday, does it?

So, what does a family like ours do when we have a free day together?  We head out to check out Masters Home Improvement, of course!

Goodness gracious me.  This place (we went to Morayfield, a decent drive from home, but so worth it) was amazeballs and a half.  It was air-conditioned for starters - probably too cold, truth be told.

I found the flooring for the new house.  I've moved away from the bamboo that I was lusting after, and towards an engineered timber floor.  I found more carpet than I knew what to do with, thus haven't made a choice yet.  There was paint galore.  We sourced the timber to build the new sofa table (plans still to come).

I found an artwork, which has inspired a whole new look for our big girl's bedroom.  I bought the cheapest Christmas decorations I've ever seen in my life.

They even had the fridge we're planning to buy, that we hadn't actually seen in the flesh yet.  Let me tell you, that fridge is a winner.

Anyhoo, this is not a sponsored post, but I just needed to share with you the awesomeness that was Masters!  Do yourself a favour, as Molly would say (get well soon, Molly).

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thankful Thursday (and a floorplan!)

Today, I am thankful that we've received building approval and things can finally get under way in the new year. No doubt, I am thankful for lots of other things, but this is number one in our house this week!!

As promised (the little people did not permit scanning and uploading activities yesterday), here is our floorplan...

Copyright Coral Homes

And, the front elevation...

Copyright Coral Homes

Just tilt your head a little to get a straight on view of the elevation.  My scanning assistant is only 7!

We know our Master Bedroom is relatively small, but because of the confines of the block, that was how it had to be.  The Ensuite more than makes up for it, and we will have a lovely little deck/retreat directly off the Master Bedroom - I'm hoping that will become my favourite spot in the house.

Bed Five is also teeny tiny, but it will be a Guest Room/Storage Space, and will serve it's purpose well.

Oh, and the other thing, if you are new to the blog, is that our block is a crazy shape, hence the Outdoor Entertaining space is to the front.  It will all become clear once we get started and I can show you photos of how it all comes together.

So, there it is, hopefully we will be very happy together.  We should receive notification of our site start date next week.  Merry Christmas to us!

I hope you've had a great week, and have equally awesome things to be thankful for in your life.

PS: Welcome to all our new followers.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Stop the presses

Today's scheduled blog post is interrupted by the news that we received notice of our Building Approval in the mail yesterday.

here

Can I get a boo-yeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh???

Anyhoo, that means that I can now confidently share our plans with you, which I will do later on today (small children permitting).

Have a great day, I'm walking on air!

PS: Safe travels to anyone who might be starting a rather long drive today!

Stencil Love

A little while ago, we were talking about wallpaper in the laundry.  Of course, me being ever so impractical, didn't consider the condensation issues that would arise - luckily my lovely commenters did!

However, Anna suggested a stencil - an idea with which I immediately fell in love!  Me being me, I didn't really give it any more thought until I came across this post on Kate's blog.

I am now stalking working my way through all the images on this site, and devising a plan for my laundry, bedroom, study, family room...  Okay, settle down, let's just start with the laundry!

Here are some of my favourite stencils:

All images can be found here.  Yes - they ship to Australia!

Husband's My to do list is just growing by the day.  I'd better slow down, and warn you that once we're in the house, none of this will be happening over night.

I hope you're having a bright, sunshiney day!

A little/medium/big boy's room

Hi everyone!

Before I get started, a big thank you to Jode, who has also nominated me for a Liebster Award.  There are lots of adventures happening over on her blog, so make sure you check it out!

I'm not sure if I've shared the make-up of our little family, but we have two girls and one boy.  He's the middle child and obviously the only boy, and for various other reasons, he has a very special place in his Mumma's heart.  My mission in the new house is to create a room for him that sheds his little boy image and really positions him as the big guy on campus.  Haha, he's 5!

As a bit of background, here is his room in the old house...

Anyhoo, we need to buy him some new furniture, so I really want it to be furniture that will look classic, yet boyish all at once, and last him for a really long time (or, at least, until I change my mind!).  And, as per my MO of mixing the more expensive with the less expensive, this is the look I've come up with for the new house...

The top paint colour is the White Duck that will be throughout the house, and I'm after a dark grey feature wall, but the jury is still out on the exact colour.  The robot will be 135cm high - awesome - and red, so that it will well and truly 'pop' against the dark grey.

So, what do you think?  Any grey suggestions will be gratefully welcomed.

I hope the start to your week has been a good one!

Liebster Blog Award

Well, how special do I feel today?  Mellissa from Down Ruby Lane has nominated me for a Liebster award, my first ever blogging award.

Liebster is a German word meaning 'dearest' and the award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers.  (My Year 10 German teacher would be so proud!)

The award has a few stipulations:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.  Check.

2. Reveal your five blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.  Check (see below)

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.  Check.

4. Hope that the people you have sent the award to forward it on to their favourite bloggers.  Check.

So, my top five at the moment, are (drum roll please...):
The Journey Begins - Kylie has recently finished building her gorgeous house, and is now sharing the decorating and 'back to real life' journey with us.
B is building a house - B and her trusty sidekick, Mr B, have owner built their amazing house, and are now working through the finishing touches as they 'camp' in their masterpiece.
Cute as Buttons - Mrs Button creates wonderful attire for your little people, and is just a downright lovely lady!
The House - Just before she took off on a gorgeous Italian holiday, Jodie and her family moved into their new home.  It is amazing 'how it all came together!'
Design by Penny, Paid by Jason - Penny is building on the beautiful GC.  Check out the amazing views from her house-to-be!

Does anyone have big plans for the weekend?  We are lucky enough to be working on little girl's bedroom makeover today.  I can't wait to see the look on her little face when we handover her new room.  Working on a Saturday has never been such fun!

I hope the nasty weather doesn't get in the way of your day!  (I don't even want to THINK about what Chermside is like today!)

This time last year...

All this rain and chilliness (I gave in and put a jumper on yesterday) had me reminiscing about this time last year.  We escaped town and spent a week in Fiji.  So, if you're feeling the chill too, these pics might do a little to warm your spirits.

Hey, Summer, come back from your holiday and warm us up!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

The waiting game

Just checking in today to say that we're still waiting on council approval.  Everything is with the Certifier, and should be back before Christmas.

Hopefully all this rain will get out of the way so that we can get started on site in early January and have a clear run.

LESS OF THIS!

MORE OF THIS!

Here

Is it just me, or does this kind of rain make other people nervous, after the events of the last twelve months?

Little treasures

I was lucky enough to receive a gift card from Freedom for my birthday recently.  Yesterday, I got to put it through it's paces.  Here are some pictures of what I came home with.

All from here

I also got quite a few Christmas decorations that I'll photograph during the week and post.  After the purchases on the weekend, I think navy and red have won in the accent colour arena.

If you've started holidays, like we have, I hope you didn't cop any 'I'm boooooored's today.  I'm so pleased that we managed the first day without hearing that phrase!

New sofa love - The One

So, it turns out that my sofa disappointment was short lived.  I managed a solo visit to Freedom today (unheard of!) and came across the Sitta modular sofa.

Here

It looks a lot deeper in real life, which is what we're after.  The dimensions are perfect.  The armless section can be positioned on either side of the main sofa, making it very versatile.  The price is doable, too.  (The best news of all).  The fabric we choose will more than likely be different to the example above, but I'm pretty confident that this new find is 'The One'.

I've also started working on a sofa table design, that Husband has agreed to build.  Sooooo excited.  I'll share the design with you once it's drawn up properly.

Hope you've all had a great weekend!!

Dream Sofa Update #2 and Final

We finally went to check out our dream sofa in person today.  You may remember it from posts such as this and this.  It was lovely.  The shape was lovely, the fabric was lovely, the timber was lovely.  The ottoman was ugly and not in scale to the sofa.  Whatever, just decided we wouldn't buy it.

We saw a salesperson approach, so quickly got up (we had children everywhere, testing to ensure that the sofa would hold everyone at once!), and tried to escape.

We didn't escape.

He told us (and he was kinda weird) that the manufacturer had gone into voluntary administration and no more of these sofas would be ordered.  Cue sad face.  'But, I'll sell you this one off the floor', he said.  Long story short, Husband made an offer and the salesperson said no.  Yep, real keen to sell it!!  And, he told us we'd have to buy the matching two seater sofa and uncool ottoman if we wanted the modular.  Um, yep, no.  What would we do with the two seater.  Sell it on eBay, he suggested.  What, so we could get $200 for something you want $2000 for.

See ya, wouldn't wanna to be ya!

So ends the saga of the Dream Sofa, that we should have bought on sale a couple of months ago.  Now, I'm seeking a furniture maker in Brisbane to build me something similar.  Recommendations and testimonials are welcome.  Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

A bullet point list is always a great way to communicate lots of information.  Today, I am thankful for:

• One more sleep until Husband comes home
• A fantastic seven year old's fantastic Year Two report card
• The influence of a fantastic Year Two teacher on the fantastic seven year old's fantastic report card
• Hearing my little buddy excitedly share with everyone he meets the name of his Prep teacher for 2012 and the name of his class
• The fact that two of my BFF's children are in my two school-aged children's classes.  An absolute logistical blessing.
• The fact that lots of other cool kids (and their equally cool parents) are in my kids' classes next year
• A three year old who has kicked a yucky virus, and has not kicked me in the face in the last 24 hours
• One more sleep until Husband comes home
• School holidays (although I'm sure in seven weeks I'll be telling you how thankful I am that school is going back)
• Beautiful, fantastic, supportive friends and family
• Gorgeous design and real life blogs that inspire and motivate me every day
• The book 'I don't know how she does it'.  Need to now get myself to the movie
• An awesome photographer - check out this amazing woman!
• One more sleep until Husband comes home

Finishes Appointment - Laundry Selections

And, here are the Laundry selections.

In the tradition of my same-same; but different (I love that that saying has taken off, I've been using it for aaages!) approach to design, the Laundry follows the Bathroom theme, but with a Laminex benchtop.

Also here

I'm starting to get a bit excited!!