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The New House

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I mentioned in a recent post, that we had just shifted house when the photos were taken.

We had sold our home and moved here looking to buy.  We were becoming more and more concerned as the market was changing and we couldn’t find a property that fitted our needs and budget.  The agent finally showed us this house that, at the time, had not officially been listed.

It was tri-level.  The front entry had a large bedroom/ensuite to the right and a double garage to the left and led to 8 stairs which brought you to the central level which was essentially a 2 bedroom home : kitchen, dining, family, laundry, bathroom, toilet and of course, 2 bedrooms.

Another 8 stairs then took you to the top level : lounge and main bedroom/ensuite.

I was really concerned about the stairs and my back but was also really mindful that we needed to find something – and soon.  On the second inspection, as we were coming down the stairs, I spotted a wall hanging that said simply “Take Courage” – so I did!  We purchased and moved in.

The house had been built in 1980.  All the trims were dark brown and the walls a stark white.  The floors in the entry, kitchen/family and bathrooms were tiled in highly decorative tiles and the rest of the house was covered in that ‘pub red’ carpet!!

The windows were heavily curtained and the light fittings were interesting to say the least.

I was not in a ‘good place’ emotionally at this time – I had finally realised, but not accepted, that I could no longer hold down a job with my chronic pain and fibromyalgia and things like that carpet really played with my mind -so to get on top of it, I set about making this house our home.

I can’t remember the exact order of progression of the transformation, but I have found some old photos and I will take you with me as I reminisce…….  I will attempt to take a photo now of the same area as way of explanation.

The front entry:  Yellow, patterned glass, heavy dark creamy/yellow and dark olive green tiles, dark brown trim around doors and on stairwell



We replaced the glass with glass bricks, re-tiled the floor in a terracotta tile and painted out the brown

We ripped up the carpet and found a lovely timber staircase which we decided to leave natural.  The dark brown staircase is now white!



  We jack hammered up all the tiles and put down a layer of marine ply and then a floor of 19mm black butt boards.  This is much easier on my back and much warmer in winter and it looks gorgeous!!


The Kitchen:  The kitchen was the original kitchen, finished in white laminate.  The cupboards had white(now yellowed) plastic knobs and the bench tops were marked and stained.  The splash back tiles were large, thick and brown.  We didn’t want  (or need) the expense of a new kitchen so decided to do a ‘simple’ update.

We replaced the tiles, curtains, knobs and bench tops Oh and the fluorescent light that you can’t see here.


Laundry:   The laundry had a broom cupboard that had seen better days, so it went and was replaced. 

I had the cabinet maker who redid the kitchen bench tops, build a cupboard  to house the dryer and he finished it with the same blue laminex.   I added a cupboard on the wall above.

The laundry floor tiles were the only tiles that we left – they were terracotta , matched in well and were the right height to match the new timber floor ie no step/ledge to trip on. We removed the swinging door –  it took up so much room – and replaced it with a cavity slider.


Bathroom:  Oh the bathroom…….


The bathroom was completely covered in the tiles you can see above.  The huge, oval spa bath was chocolate brown as was the hand basin.  The large mirror and all of the taps were gold and the soap tray in the shower and a large shelf beside the mirror and the towel rails were dark brown plastic.  The vanity was a light olive green. (yeeew – the memories)

The spa bath had to go – I couldn’t reach the windows to open them without climbing into the bath!  We gutted the bath room and I re-designed it to make better use of the space.  The vanity moved to the opposite wall, the new spa bath is where the vanity was (and I can get to the windows!!) and the shower recess was enlarged.  It is now large enough to accomodate a shower chair if required and can hold all the grandchildren at this stage! 

We are currently doing a repaint throughout and the laundry,main bathroom and toilet are all that remain of  the sandy colour  – we have now painted  in  Antique White USA





The Toilet:  I just HAD to show you the frog green toilet seat and cistern!  (and more of those bathroom tiles!!)


Upstairs:  We continued the timber floor up into the lounge area as well and we plastered over the exposed beams (they were rough, the spiders loved them and they were too high to reach)) and the large laminated beams.  We considered keeping the laminated beams but it would have been a mammoth job to get them to a satisfactory state – it was easier to cover them!




















The balcony


The dark brown,wooden railing structure needed to be replaced and we re-tiled the balcony, the entry and the back area that just happened to be painted with dark green cement paint (off the kitchen) all with the same terracotta tile.  We also enclosed this area with Midgie mesh which has made it into a great space where we can have a BBQ, watch the golfers go by and snigger really feel for them when we hear the’ thwack’ that means a tree hit!



I hope you have enjoyed my little tour – I’m going to take my coffee out now to enjoy the wonderful back view across the golf course (and wait for the next thwack!!!)


Until next time
Nanny xx

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