Renovation Nation: Painting...Still

Last weekend was chock-a-block full of projects, which suited me just fine. (I love, love, love a good project.) Sparky oiled the back decks (more on that below) and I started painting the front door and kept working on the neverending job of painting the timber trim.

The front of the house (paint-wise at least) is nearly finished - hopefully this weekend will see the end of that particular task - and while we still have a shedload of painting to do, to see something finished has really spurred us on.

On Sunday I picked up a tin of enamel paint for the front door (Blue Lobelia by Dulux) and gave it the first coat. Gotta say I'm really really pleased with the colour so far. To have a painted front door is ridiculously satisfying!

The colour is pretty vibrant and the paint-shop guy told me I would've been better off using a grey undercoat instead of white, but you live and learn. It just means I'll probably need to do three coats instead of two.

Sparky also finished the deck with Organoil, and it has come up so beautifully. By his account it's super easy to apply and I love the fact that it's non-toxic and smells like eucalytpus oil. Two initial coats are needed, then one in six month's time. After that we should be able to go 12 months between oiling.

 You can see the difference between the oiled timber and the raw new deck.

I also spent some more time finishing off the paving. When we took out the garage and the slab, there was a whole mess going on with the border, so we tore it up and I'm in the middle of relaying it. Not a huge job but it's getting us closer to the end!

(Also note the chalk drawings. Excellent time consumer for toddler and mum alike.)

Current Status:

- Construction is done for now. We will put a roof over the new deck eventually and have to build a storage shed/studio in the backyard at some stage in the next 12 months or so, but no real rush.
- The back deck is finished. Just need to tidy up some loose ends and get us some retro cane armchairs to do some lounging on.
- I've started a master plan for the gardens and will slowly start to work on the beds as time allows. I've had to finish off some paving jobs, but they're nearly done now - thankfully.
- We've decided on the kitchen renovation plan now - a cheapy refurb rather than an all-out replacement, which makes me happy. (Buying further into the K.I.S.S philosophy: Use what you've got before looking for brand-new replacements.) As a result, I'm now stalking eBay for second-hand shelving, a butcher's block and a stepladder.
- We still haven't finished painting inside, but we'll get around to it eventually. Everything is undercoated, so if you squint it kind of looks painted.
- Slowly figuring out how best to furnish the new space and, again, stalking eBay for a mid-century lounge, some wireframe chairs, a dining table and a bookshelf.

Renovation Nation: Deck and Stuff and Things

So the weekend was a bit higgeldy-piggeldy, with the Daylight Savings sleep trauma (ergh), visitors and life stuff, but exciting things are happening here.

The deck is coming along, and we hope that it will be finished in the next week or so. The roof will go on at a later stage, when money and energy allow.

I also got stuck into the painting on Sunday and we've almost finished painting one side of the house, as well as the internal trim on one side of the house, which sounds thoroughly boring, but is really ridiculously exciting. For me anyway!

I really want to take some more shots of the house, because my last update was woefully inadequate, and will try to do that this week sometime. Aside from that though, our main goal is to get one room finished. Just one. Completely finished. Right now we're aiming for either the toilet or laundry. The smallest rooms. Aim low is our motto.

In the meantime, the stars have aligned and both the kids are sleeping soundly at the same time, so a can of spray paint awaits me. Look out, random objects, you are on my radar.

And, on a totally unrelated yet mortifying topic, a lady a playgroup today totally thought I was pregnant. She didn't even ask, she just assumed. Makes for awkward small talk, let me tell you.

Renovation Nation: Slow progress is still progress, right?

Such a lovely weekend, if not a little hectic. I had a fantabulous birthday (thank you for the birthday wishes!! X) with some shopping time to be had, some coffee to be drunk and the most amazing meal I've ever had, at Como. In short, I was spoilt.

Then we spent Sunday painting the first part of the house exterior, in preparation for the water tanks to go in later this week. Crazy, right? We spent a day painting the house only to have it covered permanently by water tanks! 

At least it meant we had to finally decide on a colour for the outside of the house. We went with Gracieux from Wattyl. A nice, soft grey. And for the record, the white trim isn't finished - that's only the undercoat. I'm not that dodgy a painter!!

 

Then this morning, bright and very very early (sorry neighbours) the excavator turned up to remove the slab. Finally, I feel we're making progress again!

We'll probably turf the area this weekend or next, just to keep it tidy til spring when we sort out the gardens/vege patch.

We were going to get the deck done soon, but our dear friends the Bank are engaging in some douchebaggery and we may need to do the kitchen first. Will find out more later this week. Not to worry, it's all fun and games. And, really, good problems to have.

I hope you had lovely, productive weekends yourselves? x

Green Product Review: Organoil

When Sparky and I were looking at products to finish our house, we tended to look for products that were safe for our family, with less impact on the environment. I've already mentioned the interior paint we chose, but I thought I'd review the floor finish we ended up using, as when I was researching online I could find very little info on it.

We have cypress pine floor throughout the house and decided to get the old floors (which were finished with some kind of estapol or polyurethane finish) sanded back and treated at the same time as the new floor in the extension. After talking to a few people and doing some reading online we opted for an oil finish on the floors and decided to go with Organoil.

THE PROS:

• The smell was not only bearable but actually pretty pleasant. Citrusy/bergamoty kind of thing.
• It's non-toxic - great for Isy and myself (I was pregnant at the time)
• A matte finish on the floor - good for a family home where spills are frequent and varied!
• Scratches are apparently easy to fix, with just a quick reapplication of oil required.
• The installer recommended only mopping once a month (score!) as the matte finish means scuff marks don't show up readily.
• The matte finish feels really nice underfoot, as you're essentially just walking on the polished raw timber.

THE CONS:

• It's expensive to install (it's more time-consuming apparently) but it was more than double what a poly-finished floor would cost.
• We're found it to be not very durable. Things that wouldn't have scratched our old poly floors have left noticeable marks and scratches in the finish (these aren't gouges, just surface scratches from things like the high-chair or the kids' pram)
• Things like chalk or crayon, which would wipe off a poly floor easily can leave a mark.
• Very very very susceptible to water damage in the early days and weeks. Obviously water and oil aren't great friends, which means we had to walk on cloths for the first few days, to avoid getting any water from our shoes onto the floor. Even socks wouldn't do as any sweat on your socks will affect the finish. We had a million people in and out of the house at this stage and as a result, have tradies' footprints, what I think is an Esky mark and water rings in the finish already.

Scratches in the surface from the high chair.

The beautiful, silky matte finish on the floor. Feels nice underfoot!

The water damage (whitish marks) from a tradies' Esky and drink bottle.

THE RESULT:

Despite all the cons, and the fact that we're both a little disappointed in the durability of the finish, Sparky and I would still choose Organoil if we had our time again. The smell factor is huge for me, and I do like the more rustic, matte finish of the floor. It's a little more on the Scandinavian side, which is what we're after in our house overall.

Basically there's a reason that some products have both a green option and a traditional, commercial option - often there's characteristics of the commercial option that people don't want to compromise on (durability/hardness, shine, etc). In this case we're happy to compromise as the pay-off is a much greener, friendlier product in our home.

The Painting. Oh, the Painting...

As I mentioned in the last Renovation Nation update, we have millions of square metres of painting to do now that we're back in the house. Which is wonderful because I (seriously) love painting. I find it therapeutic, satisfying and fulfilling. I even enjoy cutting in (I had no idea what this phrase meant until we started renovating - the things you learn in the University of Life)

One problem. I quite often have a very small human being attached to my breast for stretches of time and he is none too pleased if I try to do something other than this whenever it is that he feels like lunch.

So while I help where possible, painting is currently Sparky's domain. And he's doing a damn fine job.

Where I come in is in colour choice and researching paint products. Which is awesome as it combines two interests of mine - interior design and green products. So I thought I'd share what we're up to.

For the majority of the living areas and hallways we're going for a white ceiling (natch) with mid-grey walls, white trim and timber floors. Some inspiration can be found:

Source: bigboyalready.com

Source: Mustard and Sage

Source: Furnnish

So we've decided on the colour we want, and I've done a lot of research into paint brands and products, trying to find the greenest, healthiest product option that is still durable and washable.

Sparky and I painted our bedroom in 100% natural paint not long after we moved in, and I have to say it really is a terrible paint. It marks if you look at it sideways, is entirely unwashable, is incredibly streaky and has a horrible feel to it. So while I applaud those who do use it successfully, we weren't prepared to spend the next 5 years looking at walls that were a filthly, streaky, scratchy finish.

So I kept researching and finally came to choose Wattyl ID for all our interiors. Many professional painters use it, because it has a good finish and excellent coverage, but I was keen on it also because it is a genuine low-VOC paint. It's low-odour and had less than 1g of volatile organic compounds per litre, where the up to 65g is still considered 'good' in environmental terms.

I understand that there are greener options out there, but for us they've never held up when compared to more commercial options. And I'm all about making practical changes where you can, and would rather use a very good low-VOC paint once every five years, rather than a very-good-for-the-environment-but-terrible-for-actual-painting paint every six months.

We've used it to paint the kids' rooms so far and have been really pleased with it. Plus it really doesn't stink.

Now, all we have to do is actually do the painting!

Renovation Nation

So here is the state of the union, as far as the house is concerned.

We are still very much mid-renovation, it's just that the builders have now done their thing. The rest is up to us and will likely take at least a year to complete. And that's being optimistic.

Anyhoo, some before, during and after-ish shots for you:

The front of our tiny house pre renovation. Scruffy, with an odd charm about her.

Front room (dining room), as you enter the old house.

Back room and Isy's bedroom.

Back of the house once the verandah was removed. Day One!

Stumps for new extension

Frame for extension

Back room taking shape.

Looking towards old bathroom (will become the ensuite). Wall in place for wet-area hallway.

Kitchen mid-renovation. The front door still needs to be moved at this stage.

Looking down the new wet-area hallway towards laundry. Toilet, bathroom, linen cupboard on left.

Cladding of the front mostly done.

Front of the house with new roof on.

There has been so much more progress since these were taken, but with Tobes' arrival, Christmas, moving in and settling back into a new kind of normal, we haven't had time to take any more shots. I'll try to get some more this week some time, because we now have a new deck at the front of the house, no builders' stuff in the front yard, flooring done, the kids' rooms almost painted... Yeah, there's been progress.

We're now looking at things like installing water tanks, finishing the back deck, removing the double garage from the backyard, putting in garden beds, painting (!!! inside and out), decorating, painting, hanging blinds and curtains and painting.

Can you guess what we'll be doing for the next six month's worth of weekends??

Whoops! I kind of disappeared for a while...

Or more like four months. Sorry about that!

The initial idea was to get this blog up and going before the renovations started, and to have it well established before Baby  #2 arrived, but best laid plans and all that...

We have had Baby #2, now known as the beautiful Toby, and we have moved out of our house, renovated, extended and moved back in to our house. So I didn't quite get there. 

But I did get somewhere. Oh yeah, I think it was called Crazy Town. Population: me. 

I actually don't recommend doing those things together. It was madness. The builders finished on the Friday, we moved most of our stuff back into the bomb site that was our home on Saturday, my waters broke Sunday morning and Tobes was with us Monday morning. Mad. Ness. 

But I'm here now! With more well-laid plans and good intentions. So from today, we're back on the Lavender Bandwagon, with a few other interesting things thrown into the mix. Hope you enjoy.

In the meantime, please meet the newest addition to the family:

I will add some photos of the renovation over the next few days too - it was a massive job (much bigger than we actually realised) and the house is looking pretty unrecognisable. Mostly in a good way.

In the meantime, I've got a tonne of cool stuff to post so will keep at it over the coming days. Hope you enjoy it!

Brooke x