Woolpress Brekky Bar – Cooinda's Nest

Home sweet home

Posted on March 9, 2018August 13, 2020 by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

It’s been a while since the last post, and I have very good reasons. 1) Settling in takes some time, and 2) Matty and I got married (on the property)…YAY! Now that the dust has settled (literally), I bring to you our very last post for the build.

Nesting life

We moved in on Saturday 9th of December 2017; exactly 1 year, 1 month and 1 week since the slab was poured. Our first night sleeping in the house felt like we were in a hotel, we weren’t used to such luxury. We can honestly say that the house has exceeded our expectations. The space was made to suit our functional, aesthetic and philosophical needs, and it has excelled in all three. It is easy to live in, and life has become serene; the house brings with it a calmness that is hard to put into words.

We have experienced a scorching hot 41 °C summer day and a cool 7 °C autumn morning, and the temperature remains within 22 °C and 26 °C without any air-conditioning or heating. The colder months are yet to come, but with the fireplace going I think we will be ok. I suspect the stable temperature does something to your nerves and senses; it is subliminal and soothing. I never know how hot or cold it is outside unless I check the weather monitor or step outside.

Building retrospection

Owner building is daunting, though not an impossible task. It worked out well that Matty is extremely handy and practical, not to mention a fantastic Project Manager (that’s part of his job role so it makes sense). I will also add that I am a very good sidekick, rant listener, food maker/feeder, choresperson and all-rounder helper. We make a good team. But why owner build when we could contract a builder? We had a few reasons:

Being part of the build process

I have always felt that when something is done for personal reasons (with love and care), the thing created has a charm that no amount of money or expertise can create. I’ve lived in many shared houses in my time, and the places that were the most ‘homely’ were the ones where the owner had done something personal to the place, and worked on it with their own hands. Sounds very new-agey I know, but there is no scientific way to express it.

Matty grew up in a family of builders, carpenters, and other handy tradespeople. It was inevitable that he be succumbed with the idea of creating a home of his own one day, and leaving a mark on the Earth that he so wants to protect and nurture. It was an idealistic dream for the both of us.

Learn skills

Building a shelter for yourself is one of those archaic skills that we don’t seem to be bothered by anymore, but this is something I felt I lacked as a human being. Plus, learning a new skill generally does not hurt anyone, though I doubt we’ll ever endeavour grouting sandstone tiles again.

Save money

We didn’t want a massive mortgage, so moving rural and building our home ourselves was the logical option. Some of the ways that we saved on costs (beyond the obvious) are as follows:

Buying as many second-hand and recycled materials as possible; including cabinetry, furniture and appliances. This of course is not just a cost saving exercise, but also ties in with our sustainability and anti-consumerism principles.

Matty being ‘hands on’ even on contracted jobs such as concreting, plumbing, electrical, roofing and guttering, and buying as many of the materials himself. For example, we saved about $12,000 AUD during the slab pour stage by Matty assisting the concreters by setting up the site. The cost saving is based on the quotes we received for doing most of the work leading up to the slab pour ourselves, versus how much it would be if we relinquished all responsibility to the concreting mob.

Show me the money

We spent approximately $110, 000 AUD for the build; this includes all building materials, paying contractors and final fit out. We went 10% over our original budget but we were anticipating this anyway, watching all those Grand Design episodes prepared us :D

I should add that ‘time is money’. Matty and I had no time to ourselves outside of the build, excluding work and family. Though $110, 000 AUD is a relatively small amount for a build, the mental exhaustion and lack of social life needs to be factored in.

The end, kind of…

We are over the moon that we are finally nesting; but the property and this house is a never-ending project, so the journey has just begun. I have thoroughly enjoyed documenting the build process, thank you for being part of something so close to home :D Ha!

Lots of love from our nest to yours xo

Lounge and fireplace

View from the fish tank area

Bookshelf complete, the awesome music setup lends itself to a great yoga and dance space

In ground fish tank is a work in progress, currently sorting through condensation issues but the water and air pump are working well. No fish as yet…

Matty modified the woolpress so that it is now a storage area as well

The best kitchen I have ever cooked in! Biased I know, exaggerating no

Matty has made the Brekky Bar into a hidden liquor cabinet

Master bedroom is now complete with the painting that Matty gifted me

Master bedroom 2

Guest bedroom 1

Guest bedroom 2

Vanity still needs a bit of love, drawers need to be attached and big mirror needs a stand. Joys of op-shopping and piecing together what we want!

Lovely cast iron bath works a treat :)

Laundry located within the bathroom space

Mulch garden beds kicking off, and the outdoor pergola structure is up. Still lots of work left with the stone wall and BBQ area, but we are taking our time…

Winter warming sunlight streaming through the front door

Winter is here

Posted on July 8, 2017August 12, 2020 by oneflewovercooindasnest in The 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 runs in the family

Posted on May 14, 2017August 12, 2020 by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

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…