Dividing line

When planning the back yard, I had the grand idea of building some sort of timber screens to .. you know .. 'screen' the view of the clothesline and the (eventual) garden tools shed.  Unfortunately we couldn't seem to agree on which way the timber slats should go.

I was leaning liking the horizontal slat look and as we don't have small children any more, though that it would definitely be the way to go.  The fact that is the current fashion may have influenced me slightly but hey, the heart wants what it wants, and I wanted horizontal.

Husband darling, however, couldn't (or wouldn't) share my fashionable vision and was insisting on vertical slats .. you know .. like the proverbial white picket fence.  Yee-uck!!

To save the cost of marital couselling, we both agreed to let go of our respective fence dreams and compromise.  The eventual choice was to use the same sort of fencing as on the boundaries but with a slight tweak.  The fact that this fencing was (probably) cheaper and far less labour intensive than any of our previous options, hubby was given the go ahead by yours truly to install it ... yesterday.  (We all know that when I want something done, I want it done yesterday and that I am not to be expected to expend any effort whatsoever .. it is to just happen!)

Despite my (rather grandiose) idea of having someone else install it to save hubby the hassle on his very short times at home, I didn't get around to getting someone in.  So my darling, very handy, hubby got to work with our boys and installed one side of the fence in a morning.  I did have to expend some effort myself but it was well worth it!!

The other side will ahve to wait until we can get the rest of the necessary parts .. a couple of uprights.  Due to this fence colour not being commonly used .. except for in our estate where everyone's fences are the same colour .. we have to wait a bit longer for them to make some more.  As soon as it is done, I'll post more pictures.

Woohoo .. first haircut!

... for the lawn that is!  Looks so much nicer like this .. it almost looks even!!

All we need is ... dirt

The back yard garden beds are finally finished but unfortunately a couple are still empty:

the alfresco corner

 

across the back

 

down the side to the garage

Another brick in another wall

Now that the front yard is done, it's time for our landscaper to start on the back yard ... yay soon to be no more sand!!

We tidied up the yard a bit and tried to work out whether we wanted curbing or actual blocks and decided on blocks to make it easier to take care of the edges.  Once that decision was made, it was straight into the clearing and construction:

The alfresco corner

Across the back fence

Down the side to the garage

Painting games ..

or more accurately, painting the games room.

Now that the tiles are finished and we have painstakingly sealed the grout to avoid it turning to (a) crap (colour) too quickly, it's time to put some colour on the walls.

Colour can be interpreted oh so many ways, especially in this house, as I'm surrounded by males who really don't understand that there is a difference between beige, taupe and tan.  Then when they start throwing in random words thinking they might be paint colour names, I usually throw up my hands in despair and run off to Bunnings by myself.

Luckily, Peter has realised that his life runs much more smoothly if he defers to me on colour choices (the majority of the time anyway) and it's only taken nearly 20 years of marriage .. lol!

I chose the same neutral colour that we had in the last house, as he seemed to like it (Well, I didn't get any negative comments so I think that means he likes it).  It's another Taubman's colour called Athena and once again, we went half strength.

I rollered all the super-stinky primer on one day and left the whole room open all night to let the stench escape before going back in the next day to paint.  One day is definitely not enough to get rid of the stench .. might try two days next time I paint anything.

Anyway .. here's the finished product:

Luckily, there weren't any major spills on the new tiles.  All we have to do now is put the curtains back up and move the furnitutre back in.  We'll get around to buying some decent furniture eventually but for now the boys are abusing using a couple of futon lounges .. perfect for getting their sloth impersonations down pat!

Aaannnd ... they're done!

I thought I had more photos than this but they've disappeared into the ether (either that or I've forgotten to take them off the camera which has grown legs and walked away to hide ...)

^the family room which is echoing like anything at the moment!^

^the games room^

 

It's amazing how big the rooms seem with no furniture but man are they loud!! Can't wait to get everything back in but I have to seal the grout first .. trying to make this grout stay the same colour for at least a couple of months.

The Wall ... continued

The wall is coming along nicely despite our landscaper having slightly overbooked himself and rushing off to finish a few other little jobs.

Some progress shots:

And here's where we're he's up to at the end of today's efforts:

 

 

Next step ... is the steps!  Woohoo!!