Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Sep 26, 2009 7:16 pm Well, we still haven't finished our reno's (soooo close, but money running a bit tight so we stopped work for a while). But I thought I'd put up a post about the lessons learnt so far. We have been renovating our entire house, the only room in the house which hasn't been touched is the smaller bathroom (only because it's not a priority - we will get to that eventually as well). We've moved the kitchen, moved the master bedroom & ensuite, moved the laundry. In fact we've even moved the front door! I designed all the changes myself, spent many hours at the end of a tape measure working out where rooms would and wouldn't fit. Considering we have significantly changed the layout of our house, this was no small task! Firstly, in the ensuite. I just LOVE our ensuite, I spent hours agonising over how it would work. The only thing I'd do differently in the ensuite is the shower screen. We have an open shower, and it's brilliant. However the showerscreen sits up against the vanity. This is a problem because I can't clean the glass on the side which is against the vanity. I will have to eventually do something about this, but I'm putting it off as it means more $$. If i had my time again, rather than having glass the whole way down that side of the shower, I would have a tiled 'wall' to just above vanity height and then glass above. This would solve the problem of only being able to clean one side of the glass. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ What I love about the ensuite? Well, every single thing (apart from the showerscreen!). But I especially LOVE the big window above the bath and the open shower - both visible in the photo above. But I also love that the toilet area is partially sectioned off (and the window in the wall to let some borrowed light in). Here's a photo (I don't have a recent pic - but we do infact have a toilet in this area! haha) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And now I'll move onto the kitchen. I love the kitchen, again it's an area I spent hours designing and moving and playing around with. Because we actually moved the kitchen, it was like opening up a whole new world of opportunity. The kitchen is laid out well and very very easy to use. I've been using it for a few months now and I still comment at least once a week to my husband about how much I love how functional it is. However, one thing that annoys me is the wasted space in the pull out pantry. We opted for a 600mm wide pantry and I was under the impression that there would be no wasted space. However, the shelves are only about 450mm wide. We could have made than cabinet only 500mm wide and still had the same storage space. On the flip side, one of the best things about the kitchen is my "appliance cupboard". I've always found it frustrating that appliances (toastie machine, slow cooker, blender, mixers, etc etc) never really had a place to live and were difficult to get to. So I put a 600mm tall cupboard with standard shelves at the end of my kitchen. It's big enough for ALL our appliances, plus i can use it as a 'spares' pantry (I use the bottom 2 shelves for pantry type stuff). Another thing I love about my kitchen is the sink with no drain board. We have a dishwasher, so don't often hand wash dishes and I figured that benchspace was preferable over a draining board. I was nervous about that decision to begin with, but couldn't be happier now I have a plastic drain board to use when I need to. Oh and I also love having the microwave in the cupboards above the bench. I was originally going to put the microwave under the bench, but for a varity of reasons decided to move it at the last moment. Very glad I did, as it's so easy to access and use being up higher. Fridge height - this one isn't my problem, but rather my kitchen company not realising I'd stated how much room I needed for the fridge. They had the over fridge cabinets sitting too low, so we couldn't get the fridge in. When I contacted them, it was fixed within a day though, so not an ongoing issue. Here's a pic of the kitchen. The pull out pantry is next to the fridge and the appliance cupboard is the tall one on the right Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ What else.... we 'upgraded' our wood heater, from an old one to a brand new Nectre - and as I sit here in the warmth, I think it was one of the best purchases we made The other thing I love is that we opened up the lounge/dining/kitchen area. Before the kitchen was in this strange room in the middle of the house. So by taking down all the kitchen walls, moving the kitchen to where the dining area was and having an open plan it's made it much more functional. Before (well part way through, this was the last wall of the old kitchen) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And after (well, not completed yet - the ceiling still needs to be patched up and painted) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ So about a year after embarking on this journey I'm happy to report than I'm absolutely delighted with 99% of everything we've done. Does anyone else have 'lessons learnt' to add? Re: Lessons learnt from our Reno.... 2Sep 26, 2009 7:49 pm Reno very much still in progress . We are also doing the whole house and trying to live in it at the same time. I was hoping to be finished by the end of October (my birthday), but everything is taking so LONG!!!! (Sorry, very frustrated at the moment, and sick of living in a bomb site !) So when I get to the end I will share any pearls of wisdom I have acquired along the way !!! Congrats on having nearly reached the finishing post - your house looks lovely, especially that bath window in the ensuite !! MagicJ I finally have my own reno thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28335 The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue! Re: Lessons learnt from our Reno.... 3Sep 26, 2009 8:01 pm Well done esg We've moved out of our home whilst the renos/rebuild is going on. I can't wait to get back home. We won't be back in until probably after Xmas good luck with the rest of it Jazz Life is like a lolly, suck it and see Re: Lessons learnt from our Reno.... 4Sep 28, 2009 9:58 am The lesson I learnt was never assume that a tradie will do what you think is obvious. Tell them exactly what you want, even if you feel stupid for going into so much detail. Then hopefully you won't get and surprises like our bathroom and the vanity being right next to the shower. Re: Lessons learnt from our Reno.... 5Sep 28, 2009 10:09 am dstann The lesson I learnt was never assume that a tradie will do what you think is obvious. Tell them exactly what you want, even if you feel stupid for going into so much detail. Then hopefully you won't get and surprises like our bathroom and the vanity being right next to the shower. Oooh, yes, and the washing machine taps being too low because they forgot to measure how high the machine was, even though it was sitting right next to them while they did the plumbing !!! MagicJ I finally have my own reno thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28335 The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue! Re: Lessons learnt from our Reno.... 6Sep 28, 2009 10:32 am Or - Why is my bathroom light above the mirror crocked (touching one end but leaving a 1cm gap the other) Answer: Because that made it exactly level. Hello.....my whole house is crocked, I'll only notice if you put that big gap there. sorry for the rant, been looking for a good opportunity to get that off my chest. That must be ten years ago now, but I remember it well. Kitchen installation guys are next to battle the crocked walls. esg - Your reno is looking fab, you must be proud of yourself Re: Lessons learnt from our Reno.... 7Sep 29, 2009 10:11 am MagicJ dstann The lesson I learnt was never assume that a tradie will do what you think is obvious. Tell them exactly what you want, even if you feel stupid for going into so much detail. Then hopefully you won't get and surprises like our bathroom and the vanity being right next to the shower. Oooh, yes, and the washing machine taps being too low because they forgot to measure how high the machine was, even though it was sitting right next to them while they did the plumbing !!! I didn't learn my lesson, yesterday the builder was going to install the toilet roll holders. he said, do you want me to install it in the obvious place. I was lazy and said yes, I should have taken him into the bathroom and showed him where. We checked it out last night and it is too close to the toilet, you will catch your hip on it every time you sit down and stand up. Re: Lessons learnt from our Reno.... 8Sep 29, 2009 10:16 am dstann MagicJ dstann The lesson I learnt was never assume that a tradie will do what you think is obvious. Tell them exactly what you want, even if you feel stupid for going into so much detail. Then hopefully you won't get and surprises like our bathroom and the vanity being right next to the shower. Oooh, yes, and the washing machine taps being too low because they forgot to measure how high the machine was, even though it was sitting right next to them while they did the plumbing !!! I didn't learn my lesson, yesterday the builder was going to install the toilet roll holders. he said, do you want me to install it in the obvious place. I was lazy and said yes, I should have taken him into the bathroom and showed him where. We checked it out last night and it is too close to the toilet, you will catch your hip on it every time you sit down and stand up. Bummer!! Ah well, next time we will both know to draw a spot on the wall, even when it seems truly obvious . MagicJ I finally have my own reno thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28335 The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue! Hi Everyone I learned something this week that I thought would be worth sharing. In NSW a lot of developers of subdivisions put covenants on the land which normally… 0 6513 Hello It is good to have a planned bathroom reno to suit your budget and design, living for 10 years I think you need a bathtub 4 10353 Bought in Nov 21 at the height of the market (classic). Good area, atrocious floor plan. BUT has land out to the left-hand side that we can extend out on (see second… 0 8766 |