We Have Lights!

Amazingly, I have managed to live for three months with these light fittings....

But now, after finally buying the last of the light fittings we got the electrician in to do a heap of stuff - and some more to be done this week too.

Firstly, my favourite - the entrance. This is an old light that I got a few months ago at Chapel St Bazaar in Prahran. The other older lights are from there too. Love it!

Our lounge room. We not only have a light, but curtains too! One of the three lights isn't working, so shall get that looked at when the electrician is back this week. Again, an old fitting, so hope it can work. This room finally feels pretty much finished - although looking at this photo I realise I need to get the piles of stuff out of that cupboard that can be seen through the doors! Must hook up the dvd etc in here... The room now feels cosy with the curtains in, so I imagine we will start using this a little more.

Our kitchen and the new light over the island bench. This one is from IKEA, and I am very happy with it. We really needed some light on the island. I probably should have put some more lights on for these photos - but was also trying to avoid including the dirty dishes near the sink in the photo! Two of our down lights have just blown, so will be replaced this week. Hopefully they last longer this time as I don't want to be changing them.

And finally for today, the light fittings for the minor bedrooms. Firstly a close up of one (ignore crooked photo), then each of the spare bedrooms (I didn't take a photo of the study). We have finally done up the second spare room as a twin room for guests. All the spare beds got a work out recently with family visiting, so great to be able to fit in a whole family of guests! Also, the spare rooms all have blockout roller blinds now - just white but with a self pattern.

Also - have replaced other main hallway lights with downlights, and just put in simple batten light fittings in the back hallway, WIR, laundry etc. We have put a fan/light in our bedroom and a fan in the alfresco.

This week some outside lights will be put out the front either side of the garage. Somehow we forgot to include these in the electrical plan with the builder. Plus the sparky has some exhaust fans to finish and the stereo speaker set up. We have little speakers on the ceiling in the back room!

That's about it.

Next things to happen - blinds will be here soon for the back room and then all windows done. We will probably get some wardrobes fitted out better. But most importantly the focus shifts to the outside landscaping and getting plants happening soon.

Decking!

We have finally had our decking done. Yaaaay!

We used Modwood, which is... (quote from their website)

Made from recycled wood and plastic, our products are wood composites. They look and feel like natural timber, but require none of the maintenance of traditional woods. You will not need to paint or stain our products since they already come in a range of colours and will maintain their beauty for years to come.

So some photos...

Firstly the porch area. Decking pretty dirty here, and looking forward to tarting up with some greenery around the place now. I haven't yet got into the planting frame of mind - so time for that to start. We did get some pebbles delivered for this front area though, so now can at least walk around to the side of the house without being in mud! Decked area is level with the drive and level at the door.

Our back deck. Overview shot. Deck takes in the under roof alfresco and is then extended in both directions. Dimensions are 9.2m across back of house, then 4.3m out from kitchen, and the part with the bench seating is 6.7m from seat to other end. Not sure if that makes sense!

Built in seating. Loving this! Am planning to get some cushions made up for here. The seat under the kitchen window is 900mm deep - perfect for lounging. The rest is normal depth and all is at a height so can pull up a table for dining. Planning to get an outdoor coffee table for this space.

Oh, and the seats life up for storage underneath - but they are really heavy! OK for occasional lifting under supervision!

View from built in seating around the corner back to table under cover.

So we had our deck warming on Saturday in beautiful (if windy) weather - for two and a dog! The cat refused to get out of bed... It was such lovely weather, so we threw open the bi-folds and it made the house feel great. I felt like I was cooking outside when in the kitchen! And luckily the wind was going the right way so didn't blow inside.

So a few shots of that. Definitely makes the big room even better. So happy we invested in the bi-folds.

So that's it for now. This week we are getting our lounge curtains tomorrow. Blinds for the back room are ordered. So then all of the windows done finally.

We have an electrician booked for Wednesday, so finally get all the light fittings hung and a few bits and pieces done. Well quite a few bits and pieces... Shall post more photos once all that done.

Then the next, and major project, is to continue the landscaping outside. All the hard landscaping and drains now done (had lots of rain to work out where drains needed!), so now onto planting.