second life of a blue house

6 June 2012

the one... with the garage makeover

The garage is right in the middle of a full makeover - no mini here!

In my research with the council I found the garage to have been built in the 50's when a previous owner submitted plans to build the garage and the outside laundry all with power. So it is waaaaay overdue for a makeover.

Warning, the next photo isn't pretty.

This is what the garaged looked life before.

old garage

I am very happy to say the old tilt door has been replaced with a brand new roller door from B&D. I didn't know what to do with the old door so I left it out the front against the fence with a FREE sign and it was snapped up within a couple of weeks. I love that!

For the new door I chose this grey colour called Gull Grey. I wanted to keep it simple with a colour I could work with once I'd chosen the main house colour.

photo: http://www.bnd.com.au/

The old entry door on the right hand side of the garage was also removed to allow for a wider garage door to be installed. I could get the car in with the old width but new width just feels much more comfortable.

When I chose the new cladding I went with a smooth classic style.

Here are some photos of the work in progress. As you can see we put the new cladding directly over the top of the old rather than removing it. The builder put new frames around the windows as well but I still need to fix up the window sills.

The scattering of things (bodies) around the old door are actually Charlie's toys

The job isn't finished just yet. It still needs a new roof and guttering, the glass needs replacing in the 3 windows and a coat of paint but I think it's looking better all ready.

5 June 2012

the one... with bathroom ideas

Last week I shared with you the horror that was my bathroom when I first moved back in after the cottage was rented out for a few years.

Within the first couple of months I did a minor makeover which was mainly just a coat of paint and some re-decorating.

Well, now I am planning the big makeover and when I say big, I mean BIG!

The wish list is to completely gutter the entire room and start again.

At the moment the bathroom and toilet are separate with a very narrow hallway. The plan would be to enclose these two rooms into one large space.

I got out the tape measure to check the new room size and I would have 1.7m (wide) x 4.2m (length) to work with. It isn't very wide with only 1.7m but I think the 4.2m in length certainly makes up for it and it would allow me to have a separate shower and bath (woohoo).

I have been collecting lots of photos for a while now and I've been watching the current season of The Block on Channel 9. I got some great ideas from the show when they recently built their main bathrooms. My favourite bathrooms would have to be by Dan and Dani and Brad and Lara (Winner).

Dan and Dani

Brad and Lara

I think it's time I hit the shops to see if my wish list is a possibility (fingers crossed).

I'll keep you posted.

Lisa xo

4 June 2012

the one... with the backyard makeover

About 12 months ago I had a huge working bee with my family to clear out the yard - both front and back. It took us 2 whole days to remove the many old trees, plants and weeds that had taken over my yard. Actually it was embarrassing to see just how far I had let it go.

I took progress photos over the working bee weekend to show the huge amount of work we did.

This is how it looked at the end of a big weekend after 10 trailer load trips to tip, no I'm not kidding, 10!

Look at all that sunlight - I honestly couldn't get over just how much sunlight was blocked by all the trees.

Later that week I had booked some local tradies to remove the larger trees and to grind them down to the ground. All of this work was to clear the way for a brand new timber fence down the East side (over 30metres) with a single gate across to the house and a double gate for the driveway.

I was lucky that the neighbours on the East side agreed to pay half on their side - by law they don't have to which would have seen me paying an additional $1,200.

You can see the new fence here - a lot more privacy than the 1metre high wire fence. The fence became a priority after I bought my first puppy earlier that year and I really wanted him to be able to play in the yard. I'll introduce you to little Charlie soon.