How do you like our new kitchen? We saved money by using the materials from the 20 year old original and just shifted it a few meters. I forgot to mention this approach to Rozita who was a little surprised that she wasn’t getting something a little more contemporary. We’ve since had a discussion and agreed to compromise on throwing it all in the bin. She is working with the kitchen suppliers…

We’ve also got a new laundry. Again, I instructed the builders to take a similar approach and it met with a similar compromise…

After a bit of a battle with the builders over all our stuff being in the way we finally managed to remove most of it last weekend. With the temporary kitchen, operational washing machine, limited furniture and restricted electricity and lighting, we’re camping quite nicely. I think we’ll be like this for another 10 days until the walls and ceilings are finished and painted. Then we’ll get the electricity and lights back. After they sand/polish the floors we’ll be able to introduce furniture back. Plus we’ll have a new bathroom by then. We won’t have a proper kitchen or laundry for a couple of months though.

Oh and by the way there’s a dead possum somewhere under our floor. It smells really terrible and we’ve had 100s of those special dead animal flies buzzing around.

A fireplace has been chosen and the builders built a box for it. Also they’ve covered the walls and ceiling.

The builders have also installed the pantry walls (it’s through the doorway on the left).

Prior to this we had a full-on evening packing as much of our stuff as possible as the builders had had enough of constantly moving it out of their way. We hired a container which turned out to be too small so we’ll have to get another one next week.

We’ve barely got lights and internet is flakey. We’ve retained the kitchen so far but we think that’ll be moved tomorrow. Kayvon is getting low on clean socks so hopefully the washing machine will be reinstated temporarily.

After the excitement of moving upstairs on the weekend. Work has already moved fast downstairs. In the space of one day, the innards of our house have been unceremoniously ripped out. Today we lost 3 rooms and gained a large open plan living area.

Gutted ground floor

Gutted ground floor

In the photos you can see from the ceiling where the walls used to be. For the moment our furniture is inaccessible, though there is a freezer (in the living room) and we still have a kitchen (for another day or two). We won’t have a washing machine for a while and the village laundrette has closed so I guess we’ll just wash our clothes in the sea…

Two big things happened today.

1. The carpet guy turned up and laid our carpets this morning. Woo hoo – that was the last major thing to do upstairs.

Carpet

2. We moved upstairs! Yay. A big thanks to Parviz for helping us move the heavy stuff upstairs, despite not feeling well. It took all afternoon and certainly the kids rooms need a lot of sorting out but we’re all going to sleep upstairs for the first time tonight.

We’ve moved up!

Curtains, wardrobes and some bathroom finalisation is still necessary. But it’s all good otherwise and the new carpet is fantastic. Good night :).

Bedroom door gone

Bedroom wall missing

Bedrrom door swap and kitchen entrance heightened

Bricks from our bedroom wall

The builders are a little over-eager. They removed our bedroom doorway and knocked out a wall to become a new enlarged doorway. Of course this was always the plan – Rozita cleverly came up with the idea of blending the new kids/guest room with the entrance room using an oversized opening. And the builders had to do this before the stairs were fitted as they’ll run alongside where the old door was. However (a) they didn’t need to do it quite so soon (who knows when the stars will turn up); and (b) the could have told us a little in advance so we could avoid everything getting coated in dust!

We’re also having interesting discussions with the builder about the door as it is oversized and expensive and glazed and restricted on space and he didn’t quite realise what he was in for. Stay tuned…