New momentum on the home front

| Chris Riley

No matter how easy care a house is supposed to be there is always something that will need attending to. We don’t have a large plot of land but there’s always plenty to do to ensure it looks okay.

We go through periods of inertia on the home front, times when we have a tendency to do nothing much except the basics. During such periods it would be great if things remained unchanged. But no, it appears if the forces that keep a house developing and progressing aren’t in evidence, decline starts to set in. When we bought this house 18 months or so ago, it was clear then that although the house was less than 20 years old inertia had long reigned. The house was in a sad state of decline.

Of course, we moved in and attacked it with gusto to get things going in the right direction. Things then seemed to reach a bit of a stand still. We’ve just come through a few months of, not exactly complete inertia on the home front, but a period of time where we’ve only been keeping on top of the basics – the house cleaning, the garden watering, weeding, and dead-heading of spent flowers.

Now it’s time to get things moving forward again.

I don’t know if you remember our little scare with Mr Tilly over the Christmas period, the time when he escaped onto the highway…… We ordered perimeter fence with self closing gates for our verandah shortly afterwards so as to provide an extra barrier between the front door and the roads. Today it arrived. What a relief it is to have that erected. I’d thought it would look a bit out of place, but surprisingly it actually looks quite good and as if it belongs. Hopefully it’ll keep Mr Tilly safe until he reaches maturity and develops Road sense.

Safety fence to keep Mr Tilly safe

We’ve finally ordered our new kitchen which will be fitted early in April. We’ve also had a guy out to measure up for new flooring, which will follow behind the kitchen. The current kitchen is not only dated and dull, but it’s deteriorated way beyond it’s age too. That’s  all going to be happening soon. It’s going to be great too get all the dull, moss green kitchen updated with glossy white, and the dull, green floor tiles covered with some bleached oak look vinyl plank. I’m excited!

Freshly oiled jarrah table (WA’s hard wood equivalent of English mahogany)

Apart from organising tradies to do some of our updating, we’ve not had idol hands ourselves either. I’ve spent a few days giving our jarrah outdoor dining setting a rub back with fine steel wool, and re-coating it with protective oil. The setting was donated to us last summer by our good friends and neighbours, Kaye and Brian when they changed to a modern wicker setting. I originally had plans to shabby chic the setting with chalk paint in beachie colours of white and duck egg blue. I’m so pleased I didn’t. The oil has brought out the rich red/brown tones of the jarrah – a look that remains classical and never dates.

Paul’s commenced the painting of our side picket fence – not an easy task. It meant removing plant hangers and reticulation and working between and around garden plants. The plants have been re-hung on the section he’s completed, and compared to how it was looking, it now looks a treat.

The picket fence is on the quieter side of our house, furtherest away from the noise of busy Bussell Highway. The outdoor jarrah dining setting is too big for this quieter area, so we have that housed under a free standing pergola at the rear of the house. Although noisier, that area is good for when we have bigger groups of people here. We’re trying to create a more intimate seating area for just ourselves and perhaps a couple of others on the quieter side of the house so we went looking for a new, small, comfortable lounge (or dining setting) for this area. No such luck. Everything was either way too big, or just didn’t come close to being as comfortable as our existing outdoor seats, which are nearly 20 years old.

Instead we’ve sourced some new high backed cushions for our old chairs, and Paul’s going too give the heritage green aluminium bases an undercoat of primer followed by a coat of gloss white enamel. We have a small, round, glass topped outdoor table, you know the kind that you can pick up in Bunnings for only a few dollars. They’re not the most attractive of tables, but with a nice, toile table cloth, and with the new cushions on the freshly painted chairs we figure we’re going to be a lot happier than we would be spending a fortune on a new setting that lacks the current comfort factor of our antiquated existing chairs.

Freshly painted picket fence, with our antiquated chairs (awaiting a re-vamp). The painting of the gates at the end will follow shortly.

So, things are developing on the home front. What a pleasure it is to be in a domestic state of momentum! Watch this space – I’m sure I won’t be able to resist the before and after photos as things evolve.

21 thoughts on “New momentum on the home front”

  1. There is always something that needs to be done around my house too. Just when I reached the point where I was happy and content with the look, I thought I could relax and enjoy the fruits of our labour. Not so, it started to dawn on me that trends had suddenly changed and I realize that my kitchen in now way out of date, as everything is now all white and minimalist…. Ah!!! More work has to be done!

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    1. We bought our current house sight unseen. It was for a good price, but we knew there was work to be done. We went for our first viewing and the estate agent mentioned how good it’d look after we updated the green ceramic floor tiles. We both love green though, and the tiles are in good condition, so we had absolutely no intention of changing them. 18 months on, and we’ve succumbed to the dictates of current trends – the floor tiles are going. Goodness me, changing fashions can dent ones bank account…. I just hope the trends don’t reverse next year. I’ve always been a fan of white kitchens anyway, so I’m happy to be changing that.

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      1. I know what you mean. I have been going around my house with ‘real estate buyer eyes’ and oh dear, it does need updating, yet seemed fine to me up till yesterday! Do you think it is worth updating benchtops and curtains to blinds before selling?

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      2. In our case, definitely yes. The benches are not only dated, but not in good repair. The same is the case with our Venetian, thin slates that are bent and buckled, and grimy. We’ve tried cleaning them, but gave that up as an impossible task. I suppose it depends on what you’re trying to achieve, and what state your existing items are in. Oh dear, I hope I didn’t instigate your renewed opinion on what you were happy with…..

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      3. No, no worries, Chris. I am happy with it but I also can see that it is dated. My curtains are starting to look very tired and I have had good mileage out of them given that they are on a western window!! But it is a very traditional house, and to change the curtains to modern blinds, means that the flooring and furniture also needs to change…. one thing leads to another and I have to think of our budget first, and when we are planning to sell up… it is food for thought. Thanks for giving me your feedback. It has definitely helped.

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  4. It all looks lovely. The fencing looks like it belongs. I am getting house envy.
    I look forward to no longer being on the road full time getting back to our house in NZ. I missed our labour intensive garden when we left NZ. I wonder if I will feel the same when I get back to the grind of mowing lawns again.

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    1. Thank you,. You are right, and we were surprised that the fence actually does look like it belongs. We love our little house, but sometimes I regret not having giving more time to full time life on the road. I look forward to our winters away now, and then I look forward to coming home again and sorting out the garden after the winters wrecked it’s havoc.

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  7. That table looks beautiful, and although I like the shabby chic look made with chaulk paint, I think you made a good choice by not painting it. Your landscaping also looks lovely and made my back hurt just looking at it 😆

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