Welcome Leanne!
About:
Mother, Wife, Lifestyle Photographer, Cook, Cleaner, Cat and Guinea Pig owner
Mum of two boys aged 6 and 2, wife of a good bloke who works very long hours and will still come home and paint for me.
Lives: Inner South-East ( Melbourne ) - close to the city, close to the beach, love it.
Site: www.hbfotografic.com
What else?
Hmm - love a project, love a reno. This is our 3rd house and our 2nd renovation project. I bought my 2nd house site unseen off a website when I was laid-up in hospital after birthing my first child. I SOLD my first house 2 weeks home from hospital - I had a baby on the boob as I completed those odd jobs we hadn't got around to .. like painting the fireplace surround, and ensuring the place was spotless. I remember a troop of R/E agents inspecting the place and they wanted to see the bedroom and I was propped up in bed feeding the baby. It was MADNESS. We bought our current home for it's big backyard and luckily just before the market turned. Our house has doubled in price ( land value alone ) in 4years, and we could no longer afford to buy here if we were looking today.
Personally, i've just turned 40, and in my time have lived in 24 different houses, 3 different countries, and 2 different states.
Since arriving in Melbourne at age 21, I have lived in 8 different suburbs. I believe home is where you make it, and as long as I have an abundance of natural light, I am happy.
THE BATHROOM RENO....
This was the original sleepout on my original 1930's home. I really loved the sloping roof and wanted to make that a feature of the bathroom, rather than making life easier for the builders ( oh, but they tried ) by putting in a false ceiling. I also wanted the whole bathroom to be a wet area - tiles from ceiling to floor - no paint, except for the ceiling!
Previous to us buying this house, it was owned by a physiotherapist who worked from home. You could smell rubbing oils in the old lino, and the old fashioned light feature was on a spring, whcih pulled down from the ceiling. I quite liked that light actually - people were always fascinated in it when they came over. There was also a small sink and electric handdrier in there, which I sold for great profit on ebay ( who would have thought!).
So for 4years, this was my makeup and craft room.
The original 1930's bathroom at the front of the house had/has no electrical outlets for my hairdrier, so i'd come into my craft room to fix my hair and face. I also kept all the kid's craft stuff and my giftwrapping supplies etc in here.
DURING....
In fact, if we keep renovating each room, I'll have nowhere else to go (I'm hoping to go UP! ). I had to get rid of the craft stuff, and my photographic studio and camera/lighting equipment live in the old dining room now. It's pretty cramped :/
Another essential of the new bathroom was dual sinks - I'm sick of arguing over toothpaste dribbles and shaving cream drips that are definitely NOT mine. Now there's no argument - my sink is spotless, and his is sloppy. He tries to blame the kids now - *sigh*
There are no nooks and crannies in this bathroom. After years of old houses with dirty little spots behind the toilet etc, I wasn't going to have that again. Big broad tiles, less grout, a toilet flush to the wall with no visible pipes, sinks flush to the tiles with clean lines.
I don't have time to spend hours cleaning, nor do I have the money for a cleaner. I have to work smarter, not harder.
AFTER....
Thanks Leanne!
Hope you enjoyed today's post.
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