Day 88 (I think)

Can it really be?  A 30 day renovation and here we are 88 days later!  Okay so some days no one pitched and some of those days have been spent doing the same thing over and over and over again but anyway, here we are.  Isabel and Kaeli this is for you.  I cannot photograph the kitchen right now but I thought I would take a few minutes to do a quick post and show you the view from my office (future family room).

I don't like to say but, ja, it is a braai room.  There are still a few small issues to be dealt with here but this was the actual reason for our renovation.  We really needed an entertainment area.  I, however, have never really been a great fan of the indoor braai. There it stands in all it's black glory though.  I would have loved a sleek stainless steel baby but that simply was not in the budget (she says as that Abba song replays itself in my head over and over again Money, money, money ...).  We need to get some doors put on under the "barbeque" but unfortunately we cannot get anyone to do anything in Cape Town at this time of the year.  So, the opening shall remain until the new year along with a list of other odds and ends.  The shutters are from American Shutters and are aluminium security shutters.  The idea was not to enclose the room completely so we can open them up and still enjoy the beautiful view of the vibracrete (mooi) and fresh air.  Hold on, I will open them up and take another photograph.

What we would like to do is have that vibracrete wall "plastered" and maybe put a water feature or some modern benches there for extra seating.

Here is a view of the room from the lounge.  The blinds are a temporary solution.  The sliding door that they are covering will eventually lead into our main bedroom.

I need to decide how to place the table and tomorrow we are having chairs delivered (if I can decide on the colour before then).  The finish on the table is a little more rustic than our normal choice but we wanted something that would be durable and could withstand the braai rituals.  If you are South African you will understand this.  It has been very hard to find chairs but we have finally decided on a poly wicker chair that should be very durable and resistant to the sunlight, etc.  The chairs pictured above normally grace our dining table and I would have been happy to purchase new dining chairs and use those outside but they are a bit wide and we would like to put at least 8 chairs around the table.  I was hopig that we would be able to fit a small corner sofa into that room in the same poly wicker as the chairs but I don't think that is going to happen.  This is the chair I have ordered.

I really wanted the one with arms but they were also too wide if we wanted 8 chairs so this is the one it is going to be.  I don't like that tie on the cushion but I am sure we can find a solution for that.  The hard part is picking the colour.  When I ordered them they did not have the colour pictured here (Mocha) so I ordered the Grey.

Now I am not sure which colour to take.  Help.  I would love to have some input here.  I always know what I want so this is killing me.  I have to decide before they close today. Actually, that lounger could be the prefect "bench" outside (think out loud).