12.5 months in the making...

Part of me is happy :) but the other part of me is peeved :( The happy part of me is doing a happy dance because we finally have carpet installed in our living room! For those of you who don't know, we started the living room in August last year in hopes to get it finished in time to put the Christmas tree up in 2014. No such luck. Fast forward 12.5 months and we finally have carpet in the living room.  Unfortunately the living room is not finished yet but having carpet means that I could start to put our living room furniture back where it belongs rather than in my bedroom. Hooray!

And now for the before so you can all see what I was dealing with...

This is how the previous owners had the room set up

This is how it looked when we moved in 6 years ago (second hand furniture and all)

And this is what I lived with for far too long!

Ok so you've heard about the good part, what about the bad? I'm peeved because we were supposed to get new flooring in the entryway, dining room, kitchen and playroom. We even got as far as ripping up the old flooring in preparation for this but the vinyl layer (when he showed up) put a big hole in that plan by telling us that our floor is unsuitable for the type of flooring that was recommended to us. Not happy Jan. So back to square one. Who knows how long this round of flooring will take!

On a brighter note, we've been able to cross a couple of things of my "Hubby to-do list." I am hoping that we can tackle a few more items this weekend.

1. Get the Internet for the house!
2. Brick up holes in front wall
3. Fix kitchen step
4. Lounge room lighting
5. Dining room lighting
6. Drop cable for outdoor light switch to a more convenient area
7. Blue board the weatherboard areas ready for render
8. Get rid of ivy!
9. Pull down old cornice in entryway
10. Remove old skirting in entryway
11. Install new cornice in entryway
12. Plaster the entryway
13. Install new skirting board in entryway
14. Install new front door
15. Do something about the entryway flooring
16. Paint entryway
17. Install bench, hooks and overhead cupboard in entryway to create a mudroom
18. Paint laundry
19. Tile laundry floor
20. Paint interior doors and rehang them

I've also made a start on my list by de-cluttering toys and clothing. At the moment I'm in the middle of transferring my office into the master bedroom so that the office is clear for rennos to begin there too. As I'm so sick of concrete floors, I was ready for this yesterday. In the meantime I have to catch up on my filing - it has gotten out of control. Unfortunately that whilst I have systems in place for all the paper that comes into my house, some things are just not working so I'll have to revisit them and make adjustments accordingly. I've put it off for far too long and this move is the perfect time to begin as I'm starting with a blank slate again.

So how about you guys? Is there anything that you've been putting off for far too long? I'd love to hear your stories.

xoxo, Bianca

Keeping it real

Guys, I have a confession to make. My home is not always spick and span. (Gasp!) In fact there's an ecard that sums this up perfectly... 

(Source unknown)

But the thing is, I function much better if I do have a clean house. My head is clearer, I'm much happier and relaxed, I smile more, I don't seem to lose my cool quite so quickly, I get to 'stop and smell the roses' instead of feeling guilty or distracted by the things that aren't done. I like to call these things that aren't done visual white noise. The thing is, as a visual person this white noise is very distracting and makes my 'blood boil'. All the more reason to have a somewhat clean house am I right?

Unfortunately there's so much to be done at the moment that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and just want to hide under my bed cover for several days. Case in point:

(no judgement please - this is my happy place after all)

On top of this there is the very real possibility that my family will have to move to New Zealand within the next few months and we have to prepare our house for rental but also prepare to stay.  The unknown is 'doing my head in' as we say in Australia and I just can't seem to get motivated to do well, anything. But hang on, don't I have a blog now? Didn't I state that this is the place where I will share my projects and hold myself accountable to finishing them?  Why yes, yes I did. So that is what I will do. But first, coffee I need a plan. So that means it's time for one of my favourite things... A to-do list!

Pre-to-do list,  to-do list

1. Make bed
2. Throw open the curtains and open the windows to let in some light and fresh air.
3. Light my Bordeaux Glasshouse candle to make my house smell divine.
4. Scan every room and work out what needs to be done.
5. Turn on my Podcasts of Dan and Maz episodes http://www.2dayfm.com.au/shows/dan-maz/podcasts/# (love those guys) take a deep breath and get cracking.
6. Start a load of washing 
7. Unload/load the dishwasher 
8. Pick up playroom
9. Clear countertops
10. Sweep kitchen and bathroom floors

Completing these should get my home in good enough shape to begin any other tasks. Otherwise the
decluttering I've got planned won't be as effective as I'll be piling mess on top of mess and therefore I'll get overwhelmed and therefore I'm most likely to eat chocolate and procrastinate on Pinterest. It's a bit of a vicious cycle but I'm glad I've worked out that this is how I operate.

And now for the real to-do list... 

1. Declutter the munchkins toys separating them into four categories: Stuff to keep, Hand-me-downs, Donations and Stick it in the bin.
2. Declutter the munchkins clothing separating them into the same categories above
3. Declutter my own clothes separating them into stuff to keep, Donations and stick it in the bin
4. Declutter home decor items separating them into the above categories
5. Declutter crockery, glassware, cutlery and utensils separating them into the above categories
6. Declutter DVDs and books separating them into keep and donate categories
7. Empty lounge room, dining room, playroom, hallway and kitchen ready for the new flooring
8. Office: Get on top of filing, scanning and shredding paperwork
9. Office: Get on top of to-do pile
10. Sell pram and capsule 
11. Organise window coverings for master bedroom, lounge room and office

Hubby to-do list

1. Get internet for the house!
2. Brick up holes in front wall
3. Fix kitchen step
4. Lounge room lighting
5. Dining room lighting
6. Drop cable for outdoor light switch to a more convenient area
7. Blue board the weatherboard areas ready for render
8. Get rid of ivy!
9. Pull down old cornice in entryway
10. Remove old skirting in entryway
11. Install new cornice in entryway
12. Plaster the entryway
13. Install new skirting board in entryway
14. Install new front door
15. Do something about the entryway flooring
16. Paint entryway
17. Install bench, hooks and overhead cupboard in entryway to create a mudroom
18. Paint laundry
19. Tile laundry floor
20. Paint interior doors and rehang them

Nice to-do list

1. Install a barn door between entryway and lounge room 
2. Install moulding behind bedhead  (a la iheartorganizing - http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/basement-progress-master-bedroom.html) 
3. Paint wardrobes and replace hardware
4. Replace side fence and gates. Extend side fence further down to re-claim our land
5. Get the electricity box moved
6. Replace gutters and fascias
7. Turn rain water tank around as it was installed incorrectly by the previous owners
8. Get a bobcat in and clear the front yard and area by master bedroom
9. Install retaining walls to the east of our house, the north of our house and as far west as we can go without sacrificing our driveway
10. Replace back fence 
11. Get our roof sprayed to compliment the render colour
12. Move outside unit of roomie to the eastern side of the house so we can free up entertaining area
13. Redo bedroom lighting 
14. Replace pergola sheeting
15. Install cafe blinds in pergola area
16. Replace outdoor concrete area with new + stamp and stain it to look like timber or just replace with pavers if it's cheaper. Will need to build a new retaining wall to replace the existing one when we tackle this though.
17. Move veggie planter boxes and dwarf fruit trees to the area outside the master bedroom. Install vertical herb garden there too.
18. Demolish front wall
19. Make a path to the front door
20. Install artificial lawn on either side of the path but each patch is to have a garden bed of roses surrounding it - or other plants that are even more low maintenance.
21. Do a whole new pergola area
22. Gut Laundry room and start again

Phew! I think I need a nap now. It does feel better to get that stuff out of my head though. Hubby, if you're reading this can we get started please? There's far too much on this list for my brain to cope with.

Now dear readers, if you managed to get to here without zoning out or napping, you're doing really well. I'll keep you up to date with how I tackle these mammoth lists but it will take time. So bear with me, Rome wasn't built in a day after all.

xoxo, Bianca

Just checking in...

Hi guys,

I'm just checking in to say that I'll be back next week with a new blog post to share. There's a tummy bug that has been doing the rounds within my family and things haven't been much fun around here. Having said that, I do have a bit of a public service announcement in regards to vomit. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of an expert in that area (a couple of years dealing with seasickness in the RAN followed by enduring morning sickness in both my pregnancies will do that) so I think that I should share what I have learned along the way.

1. Toast is not your friend. (And neither are dry crackers) I say this because no one likes vomiting. However, the experience is much worse when the bread that you have just eaten clumps together and chokes you on the way up. Pasta is a much better alternative as it doesn't do this. Make sure it's plain.

2. Mistake number two that people often make is avoiding food and drink altogether. Bile comes into play if you have an empty stomach and its burn is nasty. Whilst we're on the subject of things that burn - avoid orange juice at all costs. Enough said. You must have something in your stomach so even though you may not feel like eating, at least drink some water. It tastes like nothing and doesn't hurt you on the way up.

3. This one is a no-brainer but avoid milk products. The curdled stuff that comes up is never pleasant.

So there you have my rather disgusting but hopefully helpful advice on how best to deal with vomit. I'll get back to my favourite things next week.

xoxo, Bianca