The first big purchase

When we decided to do this last stage of work on the house we decided that it wasn't just the house that needed to go through the "out with the old in with the new" process. We also managed to sell our sofa, large armchair and footstool as well as redistribute lots of our other pieces among family. In fact the only pieces we kept for the front two rooms was the dining table and chairs, corner crystal cabinet and fire screen.

So it's no surprise that sofa shopping was very high on the list. What will also not come as a surprise to anyone who has been through this without using up one of your three wishes from the genie is that the process is the most frustrating process you can ever go through. Not only do you have to find a style you like, but you have to find a fabric and leg design you like. You also have to bring in the comfy factor and finally decide in a setting that in no way whatsoever resembles you house decide if it will even fit/work in the space. So there we found ourselves wandering around the sofa showroom bleary eyed and sweaty palmed clutching fabric samples and throw pillows.   Yeah it was a long day despite the free sparkling water and cappuccinos...come to think of it the caffeine probably didn't help.  

Today saw the result of that long day with the delivery of our lovely new sofa that feels like the perfect purchase but also helps show how much else we need to get for the front room! So be prepared for must more posts to come. Here's the sofa (including the lovely green striped cushions that help continue the green theme)!!

Ps. Just a complete non-house picture of the most ambitious dessert plate I've ever made (with some help): Sticky Chocolate Pecan Pie, 12 Layer Mocha Cake and Which Chocolate Tiramisu. YUM YUM!

The floors are finished

This is a definite point of pride with me. Hubby has been so uber busy at work that my schedule of things to do before Thanksgiving has completely and utterly fallen apart. However, after my 11 hour days I'd come home and paint and try to get things done. This last weekend was the ultimate final turning point...the final big push so to speak. It was...staining the floors. Now several days latter they are stained and varnished and I'm exhausted, but happy that anything that isn't going to be done by Saturday won't be too noticeable. Here's how they look...let me know what you think of the color!!

 Our first fire in the refurbished fireplace!!!

Ode to a light fixture

O light 

so bright

one I liked how difficult to find

the pain in mind

I bought you both

You're mine

 Not exactly a piece of amazing poetry, but there you go. Let's just say that I do love these light fixtures we have bought. Despite not being nearly as sparkly and glitz as the ones I first like I think they work really well. Now just to buy a different bulb so we don't get the disco effect upstairs on the landing.

Color meet walls

Now how exciting is this. We have paint on the walls....real paint. I know how grown up are we?! Might I just say that aside from my undying hatred of wallpaper me and paint have spent too long together so we are now in couple's counseling. In fact, if I spent any more time with it I would have had to start paying it spousal support. Anyways here's some pics of how the house looks with paint on the walls....

Apologies for there not being more pictures of the front room!!

The builders must have a screw loose

Ok now I know an estimate is called an estimate for a reason, but you would normally expect it to be fairly close to the actual amount and if it's not then you think they would at least say something. Well ok that's what you would think and in fact this is not the case with us.

So despite talking to our builder from the beginning about the false door fireplace cabinet for the dining room so we can have storage for the surf board, skis etc. Despite always talking to him about this and getting an estimate we never finalized the details.

So despite repeated statements of it won't work by the builder we asked him to figure out a way and then decided to go for Plan B when it seemed like Plan A was going to take too much time/money (and also involve opening back up the new ceiling) . So we get the new quote and it is 5 times more expensive. So you can imagine our shock and surprise.

So that means we still don't know what we're doing and our builder needs to get a bit of a grip. Stay tuned for part 1 million of the builders are still here. YAWN!

The first big new purchase

Well despite the fact that the builders are still there and still trying to finish things off. Let's just say they haven't been entirely successful in that bit. Since they had invaded last weekend we decided to do the next big thing on the list and decide on our couch. So off we went to sofa.com. We knew that we wanted a small sofa that didn't look like something out of the Ikea catalogue. The only thing we hadn't decided was if we were going to go standard and neutral in fabric or "go crazy".

So several hours later we finally finished moving pillows around the showroom, talking about colors and being generally non-commital. So we handed over the credit card and bought a 2 seater Yanna Sofa in Broad Weave Linen in Undyded. Here's a picture:

We got mahogany legs without the casters on it. I think it'll look great! The nice part was that they threw in two large cushions in striped green velvet, which I think will really tie in to the green tones in the room. So definitely really excited about this! 

We also saw two fabulous chairs that we fell in love with, but they are going to have to wait. We don't want to end up with a super cluttered room again so sofa first and then everything else. Not sure where anyone else'll sit when we have people over, but we'll just play it by ear. 

All change please all change

Well I know I promied more photos so here are a few more. The dining room has finally been painted or at least most of the walls have. There is still tons to do, but here's how it looks at the moment.

This last weekend has been a backbreaking struggle with the devil that is the floor sander. Let's just say that after yesterday I felt like I was 80. Plus with all the dust I think I inhaled half my floor and was definitely a whiter shade of pale (and for me that's pretty hard to do). So check out the floors in the pictures. We're really pleased with how they've turned out. Now all we have to do is stain them and varnish them. I'll give you one guess whose job that is....  Book my walker now there is now way I'm standing up straight before December.

The eagle eyes amongst you may notice that the evil taskmaster which is my husband decreed that the already stained and varnished floor of the kitchen had to be stripped as well so it could be redone to match the rest of the house. I'm sure all you lovely readers can imagine my delighted face at that. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go die from coughing.

Ps. Despite furniture reappearing downstairs the builders are still here. Their list is getting shorter, but they still haven't finished. Their welcome has never been more worn out.