Before and After

Not much new stuff to report, other than we have finished putting up the plasterboard. We are in the process of organising a plasterer to complete the finishing. It has been highly recommended by many people that we should leave this job up to the professionals. DIY almost certainly will result in a bumpy, seam showing, uneven, ugly finish (which naturally we don't want).



The cords are for our new light and pulley switch that will be installed after plastering and painting.

First Things First

I have jumped way back with this entry, as this is the beginning. The very first item that I bought for our place. I bought these before we even settled on the property. Its ironic really because the bathroom is probably the last thing we tackle after the rest of the renovations so they are sitting under the bed in their original boxes. Toto is enjoying the destruction (and consumption) of the cardboard boxes in the mean time.

If you have not heard of Bisazza, you do not know what mosaics are capable of. The blend of Italian elegance, European bling, romantic and free spirited, edgy and classic at once. Check the site for the ultimate Bisazza experience. The site is beautifully put together too by the way. (Normally I hate background music on websites, but Bisazza is forgiven).

Naturally, I didnt want to spend the $120 + per meter and in fact I wasn't looking specifically for these, but somehow I found 6 boxes of them on eBay for the low price of $165.00 and thought they were magnificent and had to have them. There are about 15 square meters and should cover all of our bathroom walls.

Extreme colour you think? Dated and impractical? Not good for reselling the apartment. "Oh well" I say. It will make showering a BISAZZA EXPERIENCE. Our bathroom is really small and is only an en-suite so imagine floor to wall glistening aquamarine mosaics. It will be like being underwater. A shiny sparkling gem off of our bedroom. Because of the brown paper backing, and the transparency of the glass tiles, we have to use grey adhesive, though I'm hoping we can still use white grout.


The illustration is a picture of a queen (Edition of 125 - Gocco print) by Lab Partners, a duo from San Fran. Earlier this year, I bought a print for Pete's birthday and had it framed in chunky gold.
This in our bedroom wall will carry the aqua nicely.



For a while, we were tossing up weather to use the mosaics as a kitchen splash back but I have plans for marble tiles (or marble tile LOOK at like a 10th of the cost - but then again, I have my eyes peeled for a bargain on the real stuff at the moment.) Once the kitchen and floor is installed, I'll be ready to pounce!

Electrified, Mesmerised, Gentrified.

Some things have been difficult to take pictures of because our camera is a point and shoot. Without a wide angle, I cant fit in the images that span the width of the unit. Below is a collage to show the connecting wires. Bill the electrician and his son Ben the electrician visited last Tuesday. The messiest and most intensive part of the day was the routing. This was to allow for new cables to reach new power points. Bill and Ben wired above the rondo ceiling before we lay the plasterboard. This made the job much easier.


The work that will be completed...

1. The old, original power box will be replaced and moved to the cabinet above the rangehood. (Yet to be installed.)
2. Two new lights, (one above the bookshelves and one above the sink) will be installed.
3. Installation of the oven, cooktop and rangehood.
4. Disconnecting and reconnecting the electric hot water system.
5. Replacing the lounge, kitchen and bedroom light fittings and light switches.
6. A new power point the kitchen.
7. Moving the fridge power point so it is behind the fridge.
8. A new power point on the long wall for our hifi and record player.

Pete made this wooden wrap for the light in the bedroom and is making the same for the kitchen and lounge. Our bedroom light weighs about 10 kilos so we need the strength of the concrete to drill the screws into.

Goodnight Vermiculite

On Saturday we tackled the ceiling in the bedroom. The hoist worked a treat. We wouldn't have been able to do the job without it. The plasterboard is HEAVY and big and really awkward to maneuver but the hoist, though seeming to be a cheep, rusty hunk of metal worked perfectly, even without the spring that fell off and went missing half way through the job...

Pete drilling up the first plasterboard sheet with our faithful hoist. The (temporary) pendant light behind him has a wooden block to give strength to the light fitting yet to be installed (drilling into the wood will be stronger than just drilling into vermiculite).



It was so nice to wake up on Sunday morning to the sight of a smooth ceiling. It was quite a dramatic effect from one days work.









We have opted for a shadow-line rather than a cornice. Much more modern and clean. This nifty metal edging form Greyking makes the job easy and neat. We ordered them in 3 meter strips and have enough to finish the rest of the ceiling.

Take it Down - Put it Up

Pete and I demolished our wall cupboards on Sunday in preparation for electrical work that will start on Tuesday. Bill the electrician and his son will be arriving on Tuesday to work on new light fittings and new power points. We also wanted to rule up the shape/size of the new layout to see where our new cupboards, bench, oven and cook-top will eventually go. This was to ensure that Bill could get a good idea of the work he needs to do on his second visit once we are ready to install the kitchen.




We will be getting our kitchen from IKEA. We purchased these rails a couple of months but only got the chance to put them up on Sunday. They are from the Grundtal series. They are here on the wall but still a little temporary. Seeing as we haven't any cupboards on the opposite wall now, these dishes will live here for the time being.
We have plans to tile this short wall with mosaics and to use these Grundtal shelves as well as a Grundtal rail with hooks as functional storage. We will probably put our more pretty items on these shelves later though, like vases, large salad bowls and other items that are used infrequently. We are going for a bit of a science kitchen feel so it looks a little cluttered now, but once everything else is all white, they'll make a nice feature.

Plasterboard Gets a Hoist

Two deliveries last week. The first to arrive was a purchase from eBay for a plasterboard hoist. We need this to carry the weight of the plasterboard to the ceiling. Even with two of us lifting the boards, they are so big and bendy that it is almost impossible to do without this machine. You can find them at many hire places. We looked at Kennards in Alexandria. It costs about $80 for a half day, around $100 for a full day. Because it is going to take us a long time to get the job done (we usually work on the renos one day a week because of work), we decided to splash out and buy one for $189 (inc. delivery). We figure we can sell it at the end of the job and make most of our money back anyway.



The plasterboard arrived on Friday morning. This was part of the bulk purchase from Grayking. They supplied us with 13 Boral panels that are 1200mm x 3000mm and 10mm thick (two panels slightly shorter for the wardrobe wall.) The delivery guy showed up at about 9am. Rain was approaching and we had to move quickly. There was no way they were going to fit up the stairs, we were going to have to hoist them into our apartment through the balcony. There wasn't time for that on Friday so we had to stand them up next to the bins at the side of the building. They needed to be covered by a tarp, (which was too sort) to stop them getting damaged from the fast approaching rain. There was nowhere else to put these gigantic panels. The other option was to cut them down to take them up the stairs, but cutting panels means more joints, which isn't good when it comes to plastering later on.

The delivery guy and Pete unloaded all the panels. Pete and I decided to at least TRY and fit them up the stairs. We maneuvered the boards, sliding it up the central spiral of the staircase, and flipping them over by the first floor to get them over the rail. It was really tight, some boards were scraped on the sides from the stair rail, others bumped the corner from scraping on the vermiculite ceiling. The marks are really minor though, hardly noticeable and wont be seen once on the ceiling. About 15 minutes after we got the last panel up, there was a downpour. Pete made it to work for the rest of the day and I started at 12. It was a busy, but successful morning.


These panels are MASSIVE and take up so much room in our apartment. It is starting to get uncomfortable in here!

Not Gyprock. Gyprock.

Here are some before and after shots of what Pete accomplished on Saturday. Plaster walls and metal edging to give a square edge and to make the plasterboard sturdy. Truly shows the size and shape of the wardrobe now. We will be hiring a professional plasterer to finish the job. It is a difficult job to do well, particularly making the joins on the ceiling flush. It will be money well spent.