Thursday, June 30, 2022

Our house is for sale!


And just like that, our house is officially for sale! FINALLY. But it was so worth waiting to list it. It took us ages to get everything we wanted done here, basically because we had asked the same painters to paint our other house first. Worth every single cent... I actually cannot get over what a difference a fresh coat of paint did for the place! I love it so much - and only now do I realise how gross the previous colour was! Yikes. It all just looks so fresh and airy and I am so so happy.


The photographer actually told me not to worry and that the house looked beautiful! Thank you Julia and Hayden for the staging experience with your house last year!


The blue strip looks perfect with the freshly scrubbed gutters - thanks to Doug.



So fresh, so clean.
(For my own future reference - paint is Dulux Manorburn - full strength)


With our beautiful theatre completed in the renovations
(Painted in Taubmans Knight Grey)



Cool side story - we own the blue bird cushion displayed on the bed - but it is at the new house somewhere not easily accessible, so I borrowed the exact same one from our lovely neighbour, who pushed her blue and white floral arrangement into my hands as I raced out the door. It looks perfect!


I'd also like to call special attention to the full length mirror. It is the only one in the house and hangs on the wall - which we bought and hung. How does anyone live without a full length mirror. I would love to know! Anyway... we took it down while the painting was being done and stashed it safely (or so we thought), but Alex managed to knock it over and it shattered in the frame. Just what we need, 7 years of bad luck when we are trying to sell our house. Haha. So that is a brand new mirror purchased specifically for the sale of our house. We will not be taking it with us, as all the wardrobes have mirrored doors. BUT the worst bit was, Ikea no longer stock the exact one we had, so after searching unsuccessfully on marketplace for a couple of weeks we had to go and buy the closest thing they had - which had different hang pieces on the back and we had to get my dad here again to hang it. He was less than impressed - as was I when I finally found the right one, two days after this was hung. Ugh!


Oooooh those new bathrooms. Perfection! Maddie is furious that we are moving to a house with old bathrooms. It's too funny for words. But Doug has assured her that it won't be too long before we redo them at the new house.




I am obsessed with this pelican painting from mum and dads house. I told mum I needed to borrow it - and now I have told her I'm keeping it. Let's see how I go haha.



That afternoon light is perfection. I am so in love with these photos - that I almost want to stay.




I've been over at the park cutting pieces off the olive and cumquat trees to give it that little something. I love it. I also, all of a sudden love the splashback in the kitchen that I have hated the whole time we have lived here. Who could have known that it was simply the browny coloured walls that made it look so bad. It is gorgeous with the light colour!



My new wooden bowl full of lemons? LOVE! 


We've been asked a few times why we chose to stay here while the house sells. Yes, it's a pain, yes, we will have to clean up like mad every time there is a home open, BUT as much as the kids rooms are a perfectly decent size, they look soooo small with no furniture in them. So we are staying until the house is under contract.



We also moved the furniture in each of their rooms and now they look huge! I actually wish we had had them like this the entire time. Maybe it's also cause they barely have anything in them, but they seriously look great.




I'm most sad about my new and lovely laundry, but that can also be done again!


I do love my teeny backyard with all my plants - but the new one will be even better! Give me time.




My favourite part? Doug's car, parked at the next door neighbours, so it can stay a part of our house haha.


Our first home open is this Sunday - fingers crossed it doesn't take too long to sell!

 

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Sheers are in!


Our sheers are finally in! Oh my goodness, I love them! I love having something to cover the windows of the house, and with the amount and size of windows in the living area, we decided to go with sheers, as they won't block the incredible view (definitely the most important thing to consider here haha) and are nice and soft, still letting it all the light.

I am 100% obsessed with this photo of Doug checking them out after their installation. He honestly looks like he is walking through a fine art gallery.


Seriously, look how pretty!


All that beautiful light!


In the master bedroom, we had sheers fitted, with a black out curtain behind them. I learned very quickly when letting tradies in during the warmer months that there was going to be no sleep for us past 5am in summer if I didn't do something about it. 


Hellooooo new house! I can't wait to actually move in! 


Saturday, June 25, 2022

Winter Wonderland Dance


We had our ward conference activity this evening and it was a pretty awesome dance for the entire ward. Pippa and I had been roped into decorating and went with an old school "Back to the Future" style and we loved it. The youth had made a cute Winter Wonderland sign and we put it up along one wall. They had also made giant clouds, but they were a bit of a disaster, as try as we did, they really just wouldn't hang very well on the walls.


The lanterns had us laughing so hard, there was a wire running along the wall, each side of the hall. I used that wire to run lines and lines of fishing line across the hall from one side to the other, with the wire holding them in place as an anchor. Of course, as I finished the last tie off, the wire pulled out from one wall and they all fell. I could have screamed. Instead, we picked them all up, threw out all the lines away, and hung the lanterns around the edge of the room instead. Still good. 


With a balloon garland as you enter...


and a completely umbrella covered stage front (a courtesy loan from Madeline's jazz troupe) we were almost done...


Until our bishop turned up to help us set up and found all the pieces which had torn off the foil curtains and been thrown in a pile... next minute he's out them all out nicely around the candles. Perfect touch!


It was a great night, full of very loud music, good food and a lot of laughs.


I love our ward family. ❤


The best part?! A photo booth with instant pics. We had THE best time with it! So many laughs.

Friday, June 24, 2022

Ellenbrook interschool carnival


I am so freaking proud of this girl. Coming from a very athletic dad and a mum who can barely walk in a straight line, she has managed to take after her dad and is very sporty, constantly just managing to learn things almost overnight. 


This was another classic example... she decided she wanted to play netball in the interschool carnival, she's never played before in her life... goes into a few senior sports sessions of it at school and then gets selected for the carnival - in front of some of the girls who have been playing netball since junior school and others that are a grade above her at school! Awkward...


Her friends mum was there watching and sent me these pics of her in action. Wow. I was never that good at netball - even when I actually played every week in our local club. Shamed out.


What a legend though. One super proud mum here.


Their team didn't do that well overall (one has to wonder if this would have anything to do with choosing people who have never played netball before hahaha!) but they did their best and walked away happy at the end of he day.


Highlight of the day was running into one of her besties from church who was at the carnival playing softcross for her school (a modified safer version of lacrosse for Aussie children who didn't grow up in an Enid Blyton book hahaha) and getting a snap together.

Well done Mads ❤