The house

I wanted to share with you my house and a bit of its history. You see, I'm in the process of doing a few renovations on a very tight budget and just so you don't think "wonder why she's doing that?" I wanted to explain how I got to this point and how these things need doing. I'm not going to be reinventing the wheel, sharing with you how to paint a wall or how to mix concrete because I've been looking those things up on the internet and there is so much available in the form of DIY web sites and Youtube video clips.

These photos were taken when we put our house on the market about 6 years ago. A lot's changed since then. One, we didn't sell the house and two, I'm now the sole owner. I hope to share before and after photos of the things I've done and hopefully how it can be done on a budget.  Also, I'm not from a generation of taking photographs so don't have many photos of the house when we first bought it but if I can find some I'll share.

We were engaged in the October 2000 and living in a rental apartment on the northside of town near where I grew up. My (then) fiancé and I thought it would be good to start looking to buy a house. We couldn't afford near where we were living and we kept going out further and further. I worked in the CBD of Brisbane so needed to be near public transport and he had secured a job on the southside of town. We thought we'd start looking on the southside. I didn't really know this area of town. When we saw this house, we both fell in love with it but with the benefit of hindsight, I think we were in a bit of a hurry to buy something and settle down. It had everything we needed but it was a little small. I think it's big enough but some rooms could be a little bigger.

When we bought the house it was painted a dark brown colour with white trim and the garden was a very simple, traditional style with very ordinary plants. I was really loving the tropical style of planting back then so we landscaped the front garden and made a pond with a bridge over it plus changed the ballustrading on the bottom and top verandahs. We chose this 'butter' colour for the house but it looked more 'cream' on the paint chip. It's now been painted a more cream colour but the blue trim remains and its only half been painted.

This photo is taken from the dining area looking to the front door. The carpet and linoleum has been removed from this area since August 2011 and we have been living with bare timber floors. None of this furniture remains. I've been lucky to have been given a beautiful lounge suite from a friend, a coffee table from the next door neighbour and picked up a dining suite from a garage sale for $40. I have booked the floors to be polished in December but first comes removing a lot of the nail boards plus all the carpet from the 3 bedrooms. That table and chairs has been downstairs for ages and used as the birthday party table, the painting table and whatever else. It will become the second dining table for my new downstairs living area with craft nook.

These stairs are also missing the carpet and that TV cabinet doesn't exist anymore either. I have to try and paint the living room walls and skirting boards before the floorboards are polished but if I don't, they'll probably come up alright with a good scrub with sugar soap.

 I'd also like to replace the curtains in both the living room and the dining area so should be able to pick up new curtains at the post Christmas sales.

The dining area curtains will be replaced as will that timber venetian blind. It's really horrible to try and keep clean and I should've known that when I bought it. I have since replaced the screen in the front and back screen doors to a dog proof screen so it won't rip when the dogs scratch it. I also have a 'doggie door' in the back screen door so no having to get up every 5 seconds when the dogs want to go out. This floor will also be polished.

From the dining area is the kitchen. I'm in two minds about keeping the Tasmanian Oak cabinetry 'au naturale' or whether to paint them. I'd love to either paint the splash back tiles or replace them. The stove is just holding up and the oven door is starting to get a bit 'sticky'. The timber ventian blind has also since gone. I've also decided not to get a dishwasher. I'd just lose too much cupboard space. For myself and 2 children, there's not that many dishes.

The three bedrooms (which have all changed dramatically since these photos in the way of furniture, beds and bedding) could do with new window treatments, the floors will be polished and my son's room is in bad need of a paint job as well as all rooms needing new lights. I'll be leaving that one up to the electrician though.

Going out to the backyard, we've got this fantastic undercover space that I intend making into an outdoor room. The baby swing has long gone and the amount of toys that get littered all over the outdoor furniture and floor has increased. The outdoor setting still remains as well and could do with a good sanding back and sealing.

Out in our backyard is this huge double shed that we put up since buying the place. It is now empty and I have been moving a lot of things from the house space into here and its been wonderful. Its good knowing I have a place to keep my car in shelter should the threat of hail or wild storms be on its way. I only have the front carport as you can see from the first photo.

This is what used to be a built in bar and what actually was one of the main selling points of the house. The downstairs room was originally a garage but the previous owners built the area in and created a pool room with this built in bar. The bar was demolished and this space has not been used for anything since. It is now my crafting/sewing place which will be revealed once complete. I've been working day and night on this downstairs room for about the last 4 weeks, painting, going through all of my Mum's and Nanna's things and all of my personal belongings since I became an adult. It has been a huge job and I have generated a lot of rubbish. I just had to say no to being frugal and start to be a little sensible with trying to keep everything. One can only have so much space. Every time I went to my sister's house in the last 18 months (what used to be my Mum's) she'd hand me another box or plastic bag with Mum's stuff in it. I just stored it until I got around to looking at it. I've managed to do that now and had a little cry every now and again. Living without your parents is such a hard thing to accept. It's so 'final'. Even though you contemplate it at various times of your life, you never actually know what it's like until they're gone and its very hard.

I had a huge cupboard in this downstairs room which contained a lot of this linen and 'stuff'. My son and I emptied it, cleaned it and went to move it and it collapsed. I've since had to find another place for all this stuff but have been ruthless in deciding if I want to keep any of it. I'm painting the timber wall panelling (which I've always hated). I hope this to be our main living area so we can keep upstairs free of Lego, toys, crafting and anything else the kids want to do. I've moved all their crafting supplies, games and everything else down here too. Stay tuned for the big reveal once its done.

My kids have been so fantastic in helping me with everything. They are so keen to help and it makes them feel proud. Even though there's probably a fair bit of cleaning up to do after the painting, its definitely making them feel a part of the whole renovation (and rejuvenation) process.

So now you know what I've been up to these last few weeks (and years). The garden also needs a bit of maintenance and a good clean up but it's all coming together. Stay tuned for updates and projects.