SOME RENOVATIONS OF MY OWN... SORT OF...

Well, I don’t think I realised how much I loved renovating, until I got hooked on The Renovators.

You see, I have extensively renovated my own home, and have renovated a house owned by a local primary school, and loved every minute of it.

Sure, I haven’t physically smashed down walls myself, but I have coordinated everything, and with my own home, have painted the majority of it (I’m really good at filling in nail holes and weather boards, waterproofing a shower cavity, and can caulk like a mo fo).

Now, I’ve another two renovations creeping up on me. 

Firstly, our bathroom at home.  OMG… does that room need some serious love.  That will be Charlie and my job at Christmas time, when we’re both on holidays.  Gut the room, and start again.

I cannot wait.

However, I have a little renovation coming up that I didn’t really realise was a renovation until Iris mentioned it last night.

I’ll be renovating Iris’ new unit.

I’ve spend the better part of the last month, designing a kitchen and getting quotes for the same and for new flooring.  I’ve been co-ordinating everything to run smoothly, so poor Iris can move into the unit she’s been waiting nearly three months for.

If I may digress a moment: Dear Vendor: hurry up and move the fuck out.  You said you’d probably be gone early, and you have not.  Clearly, you lied.  We’re waiting on you.  Get your shit together and go, and don’t even dream of asking me for an extension.  28^th of October; be gone.

Anyway, back to it.  I’ve got the carpet organised, and I’m just waiting on another kitchen quote, and then, come settlement, we’ll be ready to order and roll.  Oh yeah. 

Hopefully, Iris will be able to move in by mid-November.  She’ll be waiting a little longer for the kitchen, but all of the carpeting will be done, so in she can move in.  Yeah!

This weekend, I plan on taking Iris furniture shopping.  A new dining suite, couch, coffee table, entertainment unit and telly.  What fun it will be!

Iris won’t know what’s hit her when she moves into the new Stone Manor!

And that’s just the interior.  Wait until we start on the little garden!  Now that’s gonna be fun!

I love renovating.  I love taking something old and tired, and transforming it into something new and beautiful.  I can be done so simply, too. 

My house is a perfect example of that. It’s a post WWII weatherboard, that’s now completely different to the original building we moved into.  Both inside, and out. 

Unlike the competitors on The Renovators, I haven’t mutilated the house, and turned it into some modern, monochromatic, clinical abode that appeals to the 30 something’s of this era.

No, it’s been lovingly restored, with most of its original features (pictures rails, plate shelves, built in pantry’s) all restored and retained, and the new extension we built, ties into it all.  Sure, we have travertine tiles and floating floors, and beautiful modern blue and green hues throughout the house, but it’s all relevant.  The period of the house has been respected, even if it has a modern ensuite and country style kitchen.

It’s a home, and a practical one that does get dirty every now and then.  As someone once said to me, your home should be clean enough to be hygienic, but dirty enough to be a home.

So, I love renovating, and am seriously looking forward to the next couple of months, which will see me change the face of things again.  Unlike my own home, you don’t have to knock down walls and build extensions to improve a property.  Sometimes, just a lick of paint, new flooring, some new furniture pieces, and even a re-vamped garden, is all you need.

Bring on the next few months, I say!  Bring it on!!

Peace out.