The Renovations Continue…

We brought our home on Tate Road in Brixton approx 14 and a half years ago. Back then it was a house that needed major repair, but I saw heaps of potential in it, and it was a huge home. And we needed huge! With six children we needed the space. Space away from close neighbours and space to make noice! The boys were getting older, bigger and louder. They all loved living life loud! Daniel played various musical instruments, and he also loved to get into the garage and do some welding and grinding on his old car at any time of the day or night. Matthew, the eldest, had left home but he added to the family with his beautiful partner Rebecca and our lovely first grandchild Leeara. And they were here often as well, so we definitely needed this house. I saw rooms, plenty of them, and with the attached flat we would have two bathrooms! So very necessary. Robin saw work and tons of it!

The house from the driveway
The house from the driveway
Side view with the fish pond in front of the house
Side view with the fish pond in front of the house
The front of the flat and the kitchen window on the house
The front of the flat and the kitchen window on the house
Looking along the house to the flat
Looking along the house to the flat
The back door on the house
The back door on the house

The whole front lawn had been planted out with conifers. They were the first to go. The very weekend we moved in we had a big bon fire, and a chainsaw cutting down the conifers and any other trees we didn’t want. That fire was relit many times over the next few years.

Looking up the driveway to the gate
Looking up the driveway to the gate

We also had lots to demolish inside! Robin would go to work each day and come home to another pile of rubbish, and bare walls! The poor man never had any down time….but I was loving the challenge! We were lucky enough to have two kitchens, laundries and bathrooms. One could be used while the other was being renovated. And the kitchen in the house was ugly…and needed a complete rebuild. It also needed new french doors and a lovely big deck outside. All fabulous additions which we have been well used for many family gatherings over the years.

A partly demolished kitchen in the house
A partly demolished kitchen in the house
I still made the bare kitchen look like home...sort of!
I still made the bare kitchen look like home…sort of!
We have benches and a sink
We have benches and a sink
The windows come out and the French doors go in
The windows come out and the French doors go in
The new doors are in!
The new doors are in!
The new doors from the outside
The new doors from the outside

I started to paint the house in colours that were commonly used on old villas. The first big job was to clean down the windows so they would open. The whole house had been sprayed with a protective coating which glued the windows closed! Once cleaned off I could then paint the window frames. By the time I had spent hours on a couple of the windows and exposed the rotten timber underneath, we made the decision to replace all the wooden windows with aluminum ones! And by that stage I had gone off the colonial colours and decided to paint in more neutral colours! Thank goodness I hadn’t gone too far! And…we are still trying to remove the spray coating off the walls. Only part of the front wall left to do….thank goodness! Robin’s and my wrists and elbows are getting too old and painful to keep on doing all the scraping that is necessary. What we have done looks great and eventually the flat will be painted the same colour and it WILL look fabulous!

Jo and Jess outside the lounge window. Note the new colours!!!
Jo and Jess outside the lounge window. Note the new colours!!!
The front of the house with the garden still in front of Jessicas bedroom
The front of the house with the garden still in front of Jessicas bedroom
The veranda off the house lounge
The veranda off the house lounge
The start of the deck
The start of the deck
The deck in progress
The deck in progress

The place also had two big fish ponds. One was by the back door which was really unsuitable for little children so that was emptied straight away. Not a fish in sight! It had a dead hedgehog in the pool and it had poisoned all the water. What a smell! And….what a lot of rubbish from it. Emptied….smashed up…and then refilled with dirt…yes, a BIG job! The other fish pond was on the front lawn. I kept this pool for about 10 years as it was loaded with fish. The annual pool clean up was another big job but the reward of seeing the gold fish and lovely water lily flowers was worth the effort. Eventually I decided that the effort put into maintaining it was more than the joys I got from those flowers, so out it came as well. Much easier to mow a flat grass area than go around a pool as well!

I shifted plants and created new gardens, demolishing others. I made footpaths, pulled out hedges and we made garden edgings. My weekends were filled up with weeding and maintaining the beautiful garden areas around the section…and I loved it.

The garage window is seen just behind this overgrown garden
The garage window is seen just behind this overgrown garden
These trees were along the right hand side of the garage
These trees were along the right hand side of the garage
The lawn outside the flats ranch slider
The lawn outside the flats ranch slider
The back lawn
The back lawn
Planted out the back garden
Planted out the back garden
The garden in front of the flat
The garden in front of the flat
Looking across the front lawn
Looking across the front lawn
The back garden grows!
The back garden grows!
The plum tree and house behind
The plum tree and house behind
The new deck
The new deck
The front fish pond and new gardens behind it
The front fish pond and new gardens behind it
Garden looking through to the flats driveway
Garden looking through to the flats driveway
Looking back to the driveway
Looking back to the driveway
walkway from the flat to the front lawn
walkway from the flat to the front lawn
view from the deck when the wisteria is in flower
view from the deck when the wisteria is in flower
Looking across the front rence garden
Looking across the front rence garden
View from the end of the driveway across
View from the end of the driveway across
One of my vege gardens last year 2012. The other one has potatoes in it
One of my vege gardens last year 2012. The other one has potatoes in it
View across thegarden along the back fence
View across thegarden along the back fence
The flats back yard
The flats back yard

Robin was rebuilding the walls inside the house and doing a great job, but we eventually got a builder in to help out, especially in the bathroom and laundry area….of both the house and the flat. I started doing the plastering, but that also got to become too big for me, so a plasterer finished off the walls as well. But, Robin and I did all the painting and wallpapering. We picked all the earthy colours of bright yellow, terracotta, dark blue and green! Yuck….what was I thinking? I did actually love it all at the time though! Hence the reason that ten years later, I have now almost completely redecorated the whole house. I only have the passageway and the office left to go! Phew!

Looking from the back door out to the garden

Looking from the back door out to the garden

Look at the bathroom!
Look at the bathroom!
That was the bath!
That was the bath!
Ahhhhh the flats bathroom
Ahhhhh the flats bathroom
The laundry and toilet on the left
The laundry and toilet on the left
The flat lounge (our bedroom for a few years!)
The flat lounge (our bedroom for a few years!)
Looking from the lounge in the flat to one of the bedrooms
Looking from the lounge in the flat to one of the bedrooms
The flats bath and shower
The flats bath and shower
The flats kitchen
The flats kitchen
Ahhhhh....why did I put apricot coloured wallpaper in the bathroom? That goes!
Ahhhhh….why did I put apricot coloured wallpaper in the bathroom? That goes!
And blue in the laundry, back door area
And blue in the laundry, back door area
The bathroom in the flat gets a reno job
The bathroom in the flat gets a reno job
The bathroom looking through to the flat laundry area
The bathroom looking through to the flat laundry area
And why did I paint the bathroom that colour?
And why did I paint the bathroom that colour?

We lived in the flat as well as the house until there were only five of us left at home. The girls had their own rooms in the flat and Robin and I had always used the lounge in the flat as our master bedroom. It wasn’t until the middle of one night when Ben, our youngest son, had had a bad dream. He came wandering through the house into the flat in tears and said that it was quite scary to have the whole house to himself at night. I hadn’t even thought about him being the only boy left in the house. It was the push we needed to shift into the house which left the flat available for rental. Bonus! We painted over the wallpaper in the flat to give it a quick tidy up and then finally renovated it entirely between tenants only two years ago. The walls were painted in a neutral colour throughout, and now the house is nearly finished being painted in the same colour.

Bathroom in the flat
Bathroom in the flat
Bedroom two
Bedroom two
Bedroom one
Bedroom one
Looking out to the deck
Looking out to the deck
Flat dining area
Flat dining area
Flat lounge
Flat lounge
Kitchen back wall
Kitchen back wall
The updated kitchen
The updated kitchen
Laundry room
Laundry room
heated towel rail added along with new paint work
heated towel rail added along with new paint work

In 2011 we included the outside games room and the house back door area into the renovations. We had put a French door in our bedroom approximately five years earlier with the intention of putting a new deck off it. The project in 2011 incorporated a new deck extending from the back door right to the driveway. The games room was always the room that needed the most fixing, but that didn’t stop Daniel using it as his own little flat….followed by Simon and then Ben. Robin and absolutely love the room now. He has a great computer set up and I have it as a scrapbooking/craft room. The room is also fabulous for a sleepout for visitors. We put a roof and doors on the deck and also now have a conservatory that warms up beautifully all year round.

the deck roof has been removed
the deck roof has been removed
The french doors off our bedroom
The french doors off our bedroom
The side of the garage and games room
The side of the garage and games room
new construction
new construction

SAMSUNG DIGITAL CAMERA

The flat and the house
The flat and the house
New path around the flat. Flat still needs painting!
New path around the flat. Flat still needs painting!
The new craft room nearly finished
The new craft room nearly finished
Back yard
Back yard
View from the deck off our bedroom and conservatory
View from the deck off our bedroom and conservatory

We have had so much enjoyment both living in our home, and renovating it. It is set on a half acre section and we have no immediate neighbours. I can look out the windows and admire the lovely view I get from each window. The gardens are now well developed and there are lovely mature trees. We can eat from our vegetable gardens and have enough fruit trees to both eat and preserve the fruit.

Now - Looking at the garage, porch and back door area
Now – Looking at the garage, porch and back door area
Now - My back garden - along the back fence
Now – My back garden – along the back fence
Back fence garden and vege patch
Back fence garden and vege patch
Now - The front of the house showing the part still to be cleaned up and painted
Now – The front of the house showing the part still to be cleaned up and painted
Now - The french door into the kitchen
Now – The french door into the kitchen
Now - looking at the laundry and toilet door
Now – looking at the laundry and toilet door
Now - looking out one of the dining room french doors
Now – looking out one of the dining room french doors
Now - the fireplace lounge
Now – the fireplace lounge
Now - our bedroom...still have to buy new bedside lamps
Now – our bedroom…still have to buy new bedside lamps
Now - looking down the nearly finished lounge
Now – looking down the nearly finished lounge

Yes…I love my house. It is, and probably always will be, a work in progress. It has never been perfect. It is old and there is a lot of maintenance needed, but to me it’s better than perfect…it’s home!