It runs in the family

It has been an inspirational and exciting four weeks since the last post, getting so much done and being fortunate enough to receive much-needed (and appreciated) help from family.

Matty’s father and his partner, Di flew from New Zealand to give us a hand with cabinetry and other timber related features of the house, like the breakfast bar and the bathroom vanity. Both Matty and Dad got to play their talents whilst spending quality father-son time, which was really what it was all about :)  Dad used to be a builder/carpenter back in the day, and Matty had wanted his help even before we bought Cooinda.

To top off all the achievements with Dad and Di, in no particular order:

Kitchen fit out and cabinetry – Dad and Di retrofitted the second-hand kitchen to suit our new home…but first we needed to move it from the main shed to the house.  We all were happy to find that the kitchen fit our space like a glove, with some cutting and nailing of course ;)  The timber surfaces still need the finishing touches like sanding and varnishing, but other than that, they’re good to go.  The kitchen island, breakfast bar and bathroom vanity had to be taken to the main shed as we need to finish tiling first.  Our neighbour Ken was kind enough to lend us his tractor for some of this heavy lifting.

Precarious moving tactics by Dad and Di, moving the kitchen from the shed to the house

Piecing it all together

Chookens in the kitchen

Second hand kitchen retrofitted

Breakfast bar in progress

The Breakfast bar is an old wool press about 100 years old, that needed some remodelling to suit our needs

Kitchen Island and Breakfast Bar

Brekky Bar with red gum top, the red gum top belonged to a bar prior to serving in its new home

The vanity table complete, this is an old wood working bench retrofitted to fit the bathroom space

Moving the wool press back in the shed for storage

The moving fun continues with Dad taking the stride

Internal and external doors – Matty constructed all three internal doors from recycled timber floor boards, he also made the door jams and frames and fitted in the one external timber door.

Matty and I cannot thank Dad and Di enough for taking 12 days out of their busy lives to come give us a hand.  Not only did I get to meet the old man for the first time, but we all got to spend some quality family/ building time together.  We can’t wait to see them both at our wedding next year! Yipee :D

Lock up

Less than a week since Dad and Di left, we also managed to get all the windows and main door (which is a double sliding door) mounted.  This means that we are now sealed from the wintry frost and winds.  We placed insulation blankets at the bottom of the back door and closed all windows and doors, to get a glimpse of the sound insulation properties, and we were not disappointed. Most if not all of the Hume Highway traffic was drowned out, a massive bonus! We are super happy with how the windows turned out, the Vic Ash timber varnished with natural oil really is stunning (I still need to do another coat of varnish) and the double glazing has definitely paid off :) Honourable mentions go to neighbours Cam and Benny Boy, whose help meant we got to reach lock down mode on Mother’s Day.

The only outside tasks that now remain are mounting the cement board sheets for the eaves and painting the fascia boards, and of course the third coat of render, but let’s put that one aside.

We are now at the precipice of the ‘finishing touches’ phase, and perhaps this part will take the longest…I know I know, there are things like plumbing, electrical work, tiling, painting, making window sills etc.; but some of these are the ornaments of the house, and we can’t wait to adorn her…

Internal doors facing the bedrooms or bathroom

Internal doors facing the living area

The back door

South facing windows mounted

Benny Boy and Matty mounting the first main kitchen window

The three main kitchen windows

Cam and Matty mounting the front door