Which white would you use?

The time has come to pick the wall colour.  Because we have gone so dark on the floors we are thinking of all white walls.  I've picked up a lot of the coloured card samples at Bunnings and Masters.  Everything looks so different when placed in different light.  I've also been doing some research too (see pic below).

I came across this article and thought it might help but then again don't want to go with something that is popular and on everyone elses walls now do I?

So, which white would you use?

After a lot of deliberation we've picked up three tester pots of white and put them on two different walls....  Still can't decide!

Have also talked to our local paint shop that is called Paint Place.  The deal with them is they sell 20 litre tins and Bunnings and Masters biggest tin is 15 litres.  Dulux 15 litre costs about $170 and the 20 litre tins is between $180-$220 depending on brand.  We have many rooms to paint so perhaps the bigger tin will be financially better.

At the moment just prepping to paint the ceilings.  Bought Dulux Once Ceiling White from Bunnings for $65.36 4L and a special paint for the kitchen and bathroom, also Dulux, for $52.72 2L.

Now we just need some spare weekends to get on with the prep and paint!!

Electricians

So, after getting two written quotes... one astronomical at $3,152.05 and one not so high at $1,997.00 (both including GST) - yes, two quotes for the SAME WORK and one $1,000 less than the other.  Just goes to show that you should always get more than one quote done.  Lesson learnt.

After getting burnt by a $7,000 odd credit card bill that included moving costs and other major expenses (i.e. Ikea cupboards) we can't really afford to get all the electrical work done that we want to get done.  We opted to pay to get the oven and microwave installed in our new cupboards and to also get a power point put in the bathroom.  These are only the necessities.

Here is a quick shot of what the cupboards were looking like a few nights ago.  The shelf with the bags is the spot where the oven is going to sit and the shelf above that is where the microwave is going to sit.  The other cabinet is going to hold the pull out pantry and baskets.  Today the cabinets are actually joined together with the colour end pieces and were ready to get mounted on the wall and have the oven installed.  Can't wait to get home and see the completed picture!  Will post shortly...

We're connected to the grid!

as of Monday 19 March our solar electricity is connected to the grid!!!
good-bye electricity bills (we hope!)

Guess what we are doing this weekend......

.......it is really going to test our relationship

This picture should explain:

Solar panels getting installed today!!!

After what seems like a month of researching being undertaken by Glen, we are finally getting our solar panels installed!!

We ended up going with SAE Group.  It's a 3.04W PV system (16 x 190 watt NESL solar panels) and a Growatt 4.2W inverter.  After the Government incentive it will cost us $5,925.

I can't wait to see the first power bill....... will of course blog about it when I do!

2nd weekend of home ownership (18 & 19 Feb)

Not really an eventful week.  Still no electricity "connected" at the property didn't hinder the floor sanding getting done tho.  So, we couldn't walk on the floors really until Friday 17 Feb so we stayed away from the house and concentrated on packing up our unit.  The first time we saw the floors was the Sunday as we had to stay at the house so I could meet with Energex on the Monday to connect the electricity.  The floors turned out amazingly.......

hallway



main bedroom



bedroom 3



bedroom 4



laundry/toilet area

living room

First weekend working on the new abode (11 & 12 Feb)

A very overdue update...

So, the weekend of settlement happened a little over 2 weeks ago now but this event will be etched on my memory forever!

The first hurdle of the weekend was NO POWER!  Thanks to Energex being right on time for their 5 hour window between 1pm-5pm, I missed the crucial visit by them to test the power and switch it back on.  This testing is only a requirement in Queensland - typical police state Queensland!

So our first night in our new house was rather eventful without power.  What else were we to do but go down to Manly Hotel and celebrate with an old friend of Glen's who lives in the area and conveniently on the way from the Manly train station to the pub.

The next morning - ouch, I had a hangover... great first start to the weekend of work.  After discovering a 24 hour bakery for breakfast it was on to working on the house.

First task - rip up all the carpets etc ready for the floor sanding to start on Monday.

The carpet was easy.

We decided to rip up the lino in the toilet and laundry area too - that was easy.

The lino floor in the kitchen was easy...... well the first layer was.  Yes, we discovered a 2nd layer of lino tiles underneath the existing lino.  We discovered this late Saturday when we were running out of light.  This 2nd layer was actually stuck straight onto the wooden floorboards.  Uuuurgh!!

The next morning, after a trip to Bunnings & after early breakfast at the 24 hour bakery we were back at the house to finish off.  It took approximately 6 hours to get these lino tiles off.  In the end the night came and we were saved by our fantastic new neighbour.  He gave us a big flourescent light & smaller light on an extension lead from his place.  He also gave us a big handled floor scraper that he sharpened for us.  (He's a waterproofer so he had all the right tools - thank god!!)

Here's some pics of our massive task - ooooohh nasty

wow, pretty colours

brown part shows part of the tiles off

demolishing pantry cabinet to make way for oven microwave & pull out pantry instead :)