Day 19

So, I am back with my day-to-day week-to-week account of what is happening with our home renovation. Things are progressing.  It is still happening a little slower than I would like but the quality of the work is good and I think that is far more important than speed.  The window in our bedroom was bricked up and the future study window was installed.  Hopefully phase 2 of this renovation will happen within the next year. Our bedroom looks a little peculiar with that tiny little window in it.  The electrician has installed his conduit for the electrical work and we are waiting for doors. There is a whole lot of waiting for stuff involved.  You would think that these items would be ordered way in advance but anyhow here is where we are at:

The front entrance area is also plastered and I cannot wait to see a new door going in. The light is not staying.  We are putting dowlights in the ceiling.  Our garden is pretty wrecked (not that it was a show stopper before).  I would love to remove that bed and replace it with wooden decking and some beautiful modern pots with lush greenery or maybe even some sort of water feature.  I would also like to see a wider pathway in a natural stone paver and borders of small, smooth white pebbles.  Clean, modern and hopefully very low maintenence.  Sorry, lost myself there for a moment ...  It is not in the budget!  We will cross that bridge when we get there. 

Day 13

Day-to-day.  Well, that was the intention anyway.  The thing is, reality is so very different to how things happen in my brain.  The renovation seems to be heading that way too.  In all fairness the builder did tell us that we could expect the entire renovation to take 40 days.  I am impatient though and things seem to happening so slowly.  So, the day-to-day account was so unrewarding.  Here we are 5 days on from the last post and as you can see the walls are going up.  I think I watch far too many home make over programmes.  I am a real before and after kind of girl.

Last Thursday they started at the front door as they (the builders) could not continue with the entertainment area.  They are waiting for a window to arrive.  Testing my patience.  So, here is how it is looking.  I think it is looking good and gives some substance to our entrance area (previously non-existant).  Of course my man is not seen the point of this at all but the idea was to tie the front into the back with some matching elements.

PS:  The wall is not actually skew.  That would be my photography skills (I hope).

There is a ceiling going in there with downlights and a new front door.  I am trying to decide if I should get rid of that outdoor light or move it (well a new one of course) to the front of that pillar.  All these decisions.  I will sleep on it.  Opinions welcome.

Day 8

The main focus right now seems to be on our braai/barbecue.  I am feeling rather safe about all of this but at the same time can't wait to see some of the good stuff happening.  Of course, along with the good stuff comes all the bad stuff too.  Lots of mess and noise inside while we are moving from one room to the next as the builders work around us.  So, here's where we're at today.

I have to confess that I am really trying to relax about all all of this.  I am one of those people who pretty much expect perfection from everything and have to stop myself from running outside with the spirit level every ten minutes. 

Day 7

Yesterday was a productive day.  The bricks are going up and things are starting to take shape.  The braai/barbecue was installed yesterday and while it all still looks a shambles it is starting to take shape.

Everything looks a little small but I think it is because I have built everything up in my head so much that I anticipated it to look a little different.  We know that it will look very different once the walls are up and plastered and when the tiles are laid.  

Day 4, 5 & 6

I have to say that I anticipated being allot further with our build at this point.  Nothing happened on Monday as the builder was waiting for bricks to be delivered.  Nothing happened on Tuesday as there were still no bricks.  Wednesday bought a little action but not much.  Some bricks were built up in the foundation trenches and along the perimeter of the entertainment area.  On Thursday, after another visit from the local building inspector, the slab was thrown.  The braai/barbecue area was marked out and more bricks were built up.  On Saturaday we paid for the braai unit which will be built in on Monday.  My first choice (if money was no object) was the Jetmaster but we found a great deal on a Megamaster Deluxe 1200.  So effectively Monday should be day 11 of our renovation but will actually only be day 7.  Hopefully things will start to progress rather quickly from this point on.  To be honest, it is not really effecting us right now but as soon as work inside begins I will most certainly be pushing them to speed things up.  Spot the difference?

On a positive note we have decided on the finishes for the kitchen and we are very excited about this.  The only thing that we have not made a final decision on is the work tops as we are struggling to get a quotation which fits our budget.  We really do not want to compromise here so we will probably go ahead and make a compromise somewhere else.  We have also made the final selection of sanitary ware for the bathroom.  This was very hard as I was determined to find a basin which matched the shape of the bath exactly.  The basin should arrive this week and we can move forward with getting our custom floating vanity unit made.  We are hoping to have this done in a solid kiaat which which we will be tie in nicely with our kitchen and our current furniture.  I have been a little safe with the finishes but I think it will all work beautifully together.  Our home is not very large so I think it is important to stick to similar finishes to maintain a good flow from one space to the next.