Laundry – Cooinda's Nest

Without trying to sound all negative and stuff, but it is winter.. and I can’t shake the cold off. The time has come for when the world slows down and allows you to recuperate and reenergise, just through simple rest; something that I feel we may have forgotten how to do. Thankfully the build stage agrees with this seasonal change, and gives us a chance to slow it down and go with the flow.

The last few months have been a whirlwind of major structural work, and the tasks were all BIG! Now, as winter settles in, the attention goes inwards.

The open fireplace

One new addition of Cooinda’s Nest is the open fireplace. Matty and I had a cast iron wood heater in mind to do the job, but we were seduced by an outing to the local pub, where we sat in front of the open fireplace with Dad and Di (aka Mum). The ambience of an open fireplace is something hard to come by, or to match; so we opted for the better option instead.

To avoid the painstaking task of bricklaying (Matty shuddered at the thought of the besser block wall), we decided to hire a professional bricklayer with some experience in making open fireplaces. Thankfully we found someone local who was fit and available for the job. All that remains now is to attach the flue, chimney, cowling and damper to finish the fireplace.

Besser block ‘crazy’ paving tiles

The next big addition is the ‘crazy’ paving tiles that have been laid on the besser block wall in a half-moon shape. They serve a purely aesthetic purpose, and were placed on both sides of the wall, meaning they are visible from the main living area and the bedrooms.

The fireplace takes birth

The internal structure

Nearly finished

Brick masonry work complete for the open fireplace

Fireplace structure complete

First row of crazy paving

Crazy paving wall finished

Other bits and bobs

Besides these two changes, it may seem that no major changes are happening. However, we now have completed some essential tasks such as getting the plumbing prepped up, and doing another round of electrical work. Our bedroom fan units were mounted along with the bedroom reading nook cabinet now being complete with doors and latches. All other doors in the house now have door handles and latches as well.

A lot of sanding and varnishing is now complete, with the kitchen benchtops and brekky bar slab, as well as the timber worker’s bench vanity table all ready to go in. All 10 window sills are also complete after much sawing, wire-brushing, sanding and oiling. Niches now have shelves, the bookshelf spine is now erect and the laundry divider can be installed after the third coat.

Friends from overseas (Ron, aka Girly Man) and interstate (David, aka Shorty) lent us a hand with third coat prep and stuff and that! Thanks for being awesome mates :)

Bedroom fans installed

Bathroom fan plumbed in

Downlights cut out

Doors complete with handles and latches

The day bed copying the doors

Paint stripping the kitchen benchtops

Sweet sanding

Oiling the window sills

Niches are nicer with shelves

The bookshelf spine erected (the timber against the bathroom wall)

The laundry divider mounting area

Girly Man prep filling for the third coat of render

Shorty thoroughly enjoying cutting the foam back :D

Still having too much fun…

Where to next?

The third coat of render is booked in from a fortnight from now, giving us enough time to prep for it. Everything that needs to be protected must be masked up thoroughly, Matty estimates this taking up to 3 days. Once the render is complete, we reach the final ‘finishing touches’ phase, including painting and tiling. We’re on the ~~home~~ Hume run baby!

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…