New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolutions

We all have resolutions and for whatever reasons whether it be for health, financial, or the heck of it kind of reasons. Like i have taken up cycling on our exercise bike and that's to loose weight and improve my breathing. We have now been in our house for 1.5 years and we hate the pantry as it was built badly and just annoying so part of our New Year Resolution was to fix it. For Christmas my parents gave us money as a present and we thought what better way to use the money.

So Saturday night I decided to do it and to have a good start to the resolutions. The pantry had three large, deep shelves so you did not know what was at the back and they had tiny shelves underneath so you could not see what was on it.  I thought demolition would take an hour or two hours max. I was wrong as whoever installed it glued it and went crazy with nails. It took about 5 hours of blood, sweat and swearing to remove it.  We finished removing it Sunday morning.

We had to patch up some of my new accidental holes then paint it. Yet again I thought would take a few hours to put together but I then found out the screws it suggested to use did not work so we had to go back to Bunnings and this was about our 4 trip (and many more to go). We finally had the shelves in late Monday night and then restocked it on Wednesday as Tuesday night we had plans.

We still need to do some basic rearranging but we are so much happier with the new panty.
Are you lucky like me and every time you do a reno something goes wrong too or it doesn't "fit" like it should?

Thanks for reading.
kind E-gards
Dale Stewart

Plantation Shutters

Plantation Shutters

Kim has always wanted plantation shutters so in November we decided to get some quotes, how hard should it be?

We called about 3 different companies and all the prices had been comparable. Then we came across The Modern Group but they are very disorganized  and after multiple cancellations we nearly gave up on them but they finally came over and gave us a quote. Most people don't like them because there has to be both partners in the house when they do the quotation so you they can get you to sign up on the spot. The products are very good and the price was right. We also got an electric security shutter for the spare room because it is too light for me.

Here is the photo before we moved in.

We received a call on monday saying that the shutters are ready and they can come in on tuesday, we told them that we work and was not possible, they suggested we just take the day off which is not possible when you get the call late afternoon? 

The installer said he could do it on Saturday which we really appreciated, he arrived at 11am and was really nice.

 I started to remove the curtains and because the person who installed the original curtains used random screws which i don't have drill bits for, The shutter guy removed them or me.

They put all the frames together outside then brought them in and they sit inside the window frame and get screwed in.

Plantation shutters give you more space and look amazing, especially that we can close the top sections and leave the bottom open for the cat while we watch a movie so the light does not reflect off the screen.We got three done, two in the lounge and one in the bedroom.

This is another photo when we brought this house

We ordered the shutters in January so it took just under 4 months to make.

The security shutter only took about a month to build and install.

Do you have plantation shutters?

Kind E-gards
Dale Stewart

More Renovations

More Renovations

We are always doing things around this house, if its not painting it  is changing the small things to make it feel like home. A couple of months ago went to the Grand Design Show. 

We had not planned on buying anything at all, just thought go for a walk until we saw Big Ass Fans.

We met the nicest Joe, we spent a lot of time talking to him. After about an hour of discussing we bought two fans. Our first world problem was what colour to pick. They had a couple that would suit our kitchen. It took a week of emailing for him to help us choose. As i said the nicest guy, he went out of his way to help us.

So about 1 week later the fans arrive.

I have never been so excited...ridiculous i know. So we bought some lights and got in the electrician.

I had been talking to one of my electrician friends and he said he had installed the fans so he knew how to do it. There's a lot more to these fans than normal fans so i wanted to use someone i trust.

Ben  Is the nicest guy and honest. If you need any work in Melbourne give him a call.

The fans are amazing, the have 6 levels of speed and don't wobble at all, they also use a tiny  amount electricity unlike the old ones.

Entry 

We really hate oyster lights so replaced them all.

T.v Room

Sitting room

Above the dining room table Kim wanted a light cluster, all the ones you can buy are more expensive than buying single ones and putting them together.

 It is nice not to have any oyster lights but now we need to paint the roof.
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Kind E-gards
Dale Stewart

Logos

Logos

It is such a hard thing to do, my original few have been too cluttered and after our friend Sara-h updated hers i felt like i needed to do mine. I have been playing around with many ideas over the last few months. What is my main focus? Coffee, whisky, Renovations, Cafe's or general crap. But being the philosophical kind of guy i am, i  decided to go my roots and think about what has kept me going since i was 14/15. Caffeine ( not just coffee) has helped me for a long time. I am not sure about this logo but it is less cluttered and i think my focus will still mainly be on coffee and Cafe's but my random crap will just fit in :)

I Realised that i did not actually explain my logo completely.
With the image i was trying to decide between my chemex / clever dripper or pour over.
The reason i had to use the pour over was because all the other items are too light..well glass is not a good option and i could not get the right shape for my image.

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Kind E-Gards

Dale Stewart

Home Run

Home Run

We have been in this house for 4 months now, we have painted 2 out of 4 bedrooms, the kitchen, lounge, the dinner room and entertainment room. I know we still have bathrooms to do but we will get there. Painting is a painful thing, well just slow. Once you set up and then start going it is not too bad. We have finally put up pictures so it is now feeling like a home not a house. If you have never moved you don't really understand what it is like.  When you move as many times as i have you would understand the feeling.

Putting up a picture wall is hard work, first you lie them on the ground and spend hours arranging them until you are happy with the layout, Then you start the process  of hanging each one up.

I love looking at the photos as they bring back lots of memories, weddings, parties, overseas trips and general shenanigans. But what is a life if we don't have the memories. I can't wait till our next holiday.

Kind E-gards

Dale Stewart