Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Good

Today was a good day because I said Sayonara to the last of the Federation Green trim in our house. Before the funny little shop house became ours, someone else got busy with a paint brush and painted all of the lovely ten inch jarrah skirting boards in the oldest part of the shop/house royal blue (and the walls yellow, which is not a good combo unless you barrack for the Eagles, and we...and I say this emphatically, DON'T!) and all the skirting boards, window frames, etc in the newer (bad very bad 70's addition but I love it anyway) Federation Green. Poor little shop/house, it had been (as my youngest sister would say) "hit with the ugly stick twice!" (make that thrice, actually make that whatever comes after thrice +++!)

So anyway, today it's Hello Dark Night, Goodbye Federation Green! As far as our little shop/house goes we are on the home stretch. It's nearly time to "put the icing on" (I read this phrase in one of Megan Morton's books and like it), which means rummaging through the shed for lost/forgotten treasures and doing a spot decoration d' interieurs. This has been a long time coming and I am very excited about finally, turning our house into our home.

undercoat

Our second loo was also installed today (I tell you, it's all happening round here!), this has made a good day even better. We are a one bathroom house

(fine by me because I am the only member of a very messy family who cleans it. Two daughters. One husband. Shampoo, conditioner, exfoliater, hair! Oh the hair!!! Daughters not husband's. He shed most of his l-o-n-g ago! Sorry Anth. 

One of my daughter's insists on opening a new tube of toothpaste if there is any dried up residue on the tube we are currently using, yet she is quite happy to bathe in a grey-ringed bathtub and use hairy soap - Hel-lo?!, the other is just as bad. Sorry girls, but it's true)

but two toilets are essentiel! (seems to have so much more impact in French...or is that only me moi?)

I am beyond excited about our new loo (not just for obvious reasons) but because it is honestly (and this will either sound sad or mad) one of my favourite 'rooms' in the house. I can't wait to show it off here (as soon as floor is tiled I will), but think exposed brick walls, some left unpainted and others 'wallpapered' in an encyclopedia from the 60's, all the plumbing 'bits' done in copper and on show, not recessed into the wall where they can't be seen,(wish I'd done this in the bathroom) and an old brass garden tap (I think in plumbing parlance this is called a cock tap. Don't know why, and I could be wrong?) instead of a chrome one...it probably all sounds a bit hideous on 'paper', but wait and see...I think you'll like it...

(btw, I know, for someone who professes to love Modernist design, there is a whole lot of shabby el rustico industrial going on at our place. That's what happens when you work with what you've got v's...dreaming)

As always thanks for reading my blog. I know your time is precious and I really appreciate it. I'll be giving away one of these soon (I'll rustle up something vintagey if modern isn't your cup-o-tea) so please pop back. Take care x

p.s. I know only too well someone in the future's gonna be saying:

"Why the bloody hell did they paint their skirting boards black?! What were they thinking?!" 

I can hear them now. Ha-ha! Sucked in!

18 comments:

  1. Wonderful! I'll start painting our living room in "Black coffee" and it looks so adult ;-)!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's a bib tap in this part of the world - but hey, never miss an opportunity to write cock in your blog! Funny, I have just sat down to write up the latest installment of our attempts to calm down th overload of Victorian/Edwardian twiddly bits that this house has been blessd with. Mr A-P and I share a taste for industrial/brutal/bunker chic but it wasn't on the market in Cardiff! Can't wait to see the new loo (really) xxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. All it took to make you sound all happy and bubbly again was moving forward on the house instead of feeling stuck. I'm so glad things are looking up and you're feeling better about all the renovating and decorating going on there. I can't wait to see what you've done. I think Dark Night sounds fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Does the Fremantle footy strip still have green on it? You could have accented with purple and had a totally WA team house... Maybe not.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh this did make me laugh...but daughters you? surely not!!
    How can that be at your age I thought you were only 21!
    D xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. We love our renovating here, too, nothing flashy, no wow factor, but lots of fun making our mark on our crazy old place !

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow guys have been busy...can't wait to see the big revel...I am liking the sound of your design choices. Xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. We are working on our place, too! Can't wait for it to be done so we can relax.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh Kylie, you've got me worked up into a total frenzy. I LITERALLY CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR LOO!! Does that sound mad? No, I thought not. Perfectly normal behaviour. Good. The encyclopedia clad wall sounds very interesting indeed. xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. On the home stretch, then, how exciting! Your loo sounds rather fabulous, and I can only imagine how great it is to have an additional one (we are a family of 5 with just one bathroom and toilet, it's a killer...) Come on, get that floor tiled and show us! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Kylie,
    So excited about your new loo too!!! (haha, like the sound of that:-) I saw a loo some time ago with the loveliest copper plumbing bits,it looked amazing, all shiny and graphic- good choice, can't wait to see yours!!
    And I agree- everything does have more impact in french- vraiment!!xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Can't wait to see toot reveal, as long as it is "unoccupied"! 😉

    ReplyDelete
  13. This post is absolutely hilarious Kylie. I love your description shabby el rustico industrial! Enjoy the second loo, it really is essential for a happy household I think!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Haha! Looking forward to seeing it finished! Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ooh how exciting, the icing is definitely the best bit. It's what makes all the boring necessary stuff tolerable. I do love the act of painting over anything which you hate, with undercoat. It's like snow, it makes everything look beautiful, instantly. Can't wait to see it finished in dark night. I have a confession to make. We have a second loo and there's only two of us, but it is fantastic, especially in the mornings on a work day. This shed is the stuff of dreams. In my head it is an Aladdin's cave of treasures, the like of which I can only dream. But I don't have to, because I have an addiction to your instagram feed! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  16. It occurred to me as I was reading this that you were going quite shabby chic but I thought, "Kylie? I think not." :) So, if you have a bonus loo... please translate... does that mean toilet only, or with sink, or with shower too? Any additions in all these departments is only goodness! Let the decorating begin!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Can't wait to see the finished article it all sounds very exciting, and that toothpaste thing with always opening a new one - It happens here too - and opening a new shampoo before the old one is done but the worst is using a new toothbrush but leaving the old one in the pot - we now have hundreds and no one knows who's is who's!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kylie I am absolutely dying to see your toilet! You know how much I loved your sneak peek on Instagram. And brass taps in your laundry - I've always loved that idea! (didn't know they were called cock taps, thanks for the vocab lesson). I have been itching to coat a wall of our toilet in glue and wallpaper it with old vintage dictionary pages the morning I chanced upon an old dictionary at a trash and treasure market. The only problem is, I have had to wait in excrutiating impatience, as a small hole was accidentally punched through that same wall during our bathroom renovation and I can't do much to it until it's fixed and the room is re-tiled. In the meantime I look forward to seeing and living vicariously through yours... you have gorgeous taste and I know it is going to look superb!

    ReplyDelete