Double Duty ... Guest Bedroom to Nursery

So at the moment we are young (maybe not so young) couple with no kids and we tend to entertain so need a few guest rooms in case friends ever stay over. However it seems pointless and expensive to kit two guest bedrooms out when the intention is to eventually turn one of them into a Nursery ... if we ever decide we want kids.

So the second bedroom has to serve double duty ... a lovely comfortable guest bedroom now with the ability to remove the bed and replace it with a crib if that particular event ever comes to pass.

Obviously pastel blues and pinks are not the option here but after much thought, research and experimenting we think we may have a solution .... a simple yet glamorous black and white bedroom, lovely black chandelier, black prints with black and white frames in a photo wall, a white chest of draws that will not only suit guests but also be a makeshift change table for a baby and grow with either a boy or girl in the future. Similarly a black and white shelf unit perfect for now and the future .... 

Obviously not a traditional nursery and yet it might just work .... what do you think. Is this a practical solution in the long term or am I just wishing that it would work?



Frustration over Western Australia!

So in the news lately is the fact that within the next two years Aldi is coming to Perth. That's right you Eastern Staters ... WA peoples have only 3 choices when it comes to supermarkets and all of them equally expensive, Coles, Woolworths and IGA. The excitement is rampant and the 2 year countdown is on ....

See here is the thing, in WA everything is more expensive. Take my cladding for example. The cheapest product we have found in WA for such a big wall is this one at $49 per square meter - this means the wall will cost a total of $3,920. Now unfortunately as much as I like this product for me it seems to be everywhere and im worried that it will date quite quickly.

 

The product that im really wanting is a bit more rustic and textured.

Cue item number two from another place in Perth - this is exactly the look im walking to acheive however with a whopping $134.43 per square meter price the total of $10,754.40. This price seems totally and completely insane and I can tell you I think to myself ... ok its an expensive product HOWEVER this is where I get angry.

I contact a dealer over on the east coast with a very comparable product .... the price per square meter ??? $68.00. Thats right half the cost of the WA product. So for the same wall I am now looking at $5,440. Ahh but what about shipping you ask? Well a quote from a good friend who knows the industry has assured me that shipping is going to be below $3,000. Even with the shipping the price will only be around the $8,300 mark. Overall even with shipping across the country the price of this stone is $2,500 Less than here.

HOW ON EARTH IS THAT POSSIBLE. Is there that big a mark up on products over here. Uggh. Frustration is high .... patience with WA companies is low.

Ok vent over peoples .... what do you think of my wall?

Birthday Celebrations Have Begun ...

Well yesterday I had the rather surprising pleasure of being called to reception in my office ... I had a delivery that needed to be picked up. Imagine my surprise to find a dozen long stem red roses sitting in a box with my name on them.

Hubby had them delivered early of both my birthday (tomorrow) and valentines day (Thursday) so I can enjoy looking at them while I work all week long.

His quest to make me smile continued when I said I didn't want dinner ... just a few rissoles he delivered me this ....

Obviously right now I am feeling very loved despite my old age. Add to that the fact that 3 people who have found out I'm nearly 30 have stressed I don't look any older than 26 and I must say .... the end of a decade stuff isn't half bad!

Onto other news, tonight is my photo club meeting and as per my new years resolution (submit 3 photo's every month) I am anxiously awaiting feedback on my images. This month the 'theme' is framing either naturally or taken literally. I have done a bit of both and god am I hoping they like these shots!!!

We Beat The Heat - Progress Continues

Despite the ridiculously high temperatures forcing most normal people to hide indoors under their air con's or fans my darling hubby battled the heat and we now have the start of our garden beds.

To me the idea of doing a raised garden bed seemed simple, dig a hole, fill it with a concrete footing and then just plonk bricks on top.

However I have since been re-educated and now realise that levels and angles are involved and there is no plonking allowed. While it can be frustrating to have everything take so very long I am sure that in the end it will be worth it to have everything looking so perfect.

So all the footings for the pool area and the alfresco are done, one small wall by the pool is complete AND we managed to fit the glass gate for the pool fence so things really are moving forward.

I cant wait for more progress to show you but please remember ... "these things take time"

Landscaping Begins & General Ranting

Let me start off by saying I am an angel of a wife (cough cough...) and there is no reason for hubby to get snarky with me but every so often he makes up some offence I have apparently engineered and he feels he has the right to pay back.

How on earth does he get his own back against me .... you ask? Easy - he disrupts my perfectly organised pantry - he will turn all the tins upside down, take things out of neat rows.

What kinds of cruel person does that!!!

Ok so my rant is over - my tins and milk all neatly lined up and we have progress on our backyard.

Footings are in which is brilliant and things are going surprisingly well. Retic pipework and electrical cables are going in today along with the gate .... love it when things start coming together and I cant wait to show you more!!!

Cladding .... Cost vs Want

How bloody hard is it to make the decision if a product that is almost perfect is good enough if its cheap enough.

Ok so a convoluted question but let me explain.

On our big long wall we were hoping to clad it in stone. Problem ... there is 36 meters of it time 2 meters high meaning a hell of alot of cladding.

Now in my head I had a sort of rustic textured lighter tone however everything I love is in the $70 - $120 per sqm price range.

Driving past a local stone company I saw they had cladding for around the $36 per sqm. This is less that half the price of most of the options I like but not exactly what I want. Its a little bit too modern and my concern in that it will date.

So - my question is .... do I settle for something a hell of a lot cheaper or do I hold out and pay alot more when I'm really not sure it will be any better.

In order to make a smart decision on whether we can settle I have decided to wait it out just see how I feel about the below cladding options in situ.

What do you think? Are any of these a good option?

Landscape Design .... Cont

I don't know if you remember the pain and anguish we went through with the last garden but now that we are starting on the planning of this particular piece of work its all coming back.

Poor Mr V and I are sitting with our heads in our hands trying to remember which bit goes before the other bit in case we miss a bit.

So far we have  .... footings, retic and electrics and then raised garden beds and then finally we can start thinking about paving.

Ugghhh - in order to do footings before we pave we actually need to plan out exactly where everything from garden beds to BBQ's to tables are going to sit.

So we are starting ... its a slow process and to be honest our heads are already aching before a spade touches the ground.

But we will get there - we just forgot what a pain "getting there" can be.

However in order to keep your interest I have some sneak peeks available for our garden design.

Not quite set in stone this will give you an idea on what we are hoping to achieve.