The Front Door

The front door is the 'eye' of the house - it is the first point of contact for visitors and needs to look clean and welcoming.


 

BEFORE

The front door was badly weathered and we had taken it down, sanded it and used Coopers Restoration on it to get it to its' former glory (well just about).  However, we had never got around to painting the door frame - which acts like a kohl eye liner  painted black needed a good sand down and paint and the front step was chipped as you can see from the photo. 

So Elise and Louis from France sanded the frame down and painted it with:


Resene High Gloss
Soft Black

Painting of the house

15 January 2015
What a massive job - three weeks of preparation time - and this is just the bottom storey!  Glen worked on repairing damage to the right-of-way side of the house and clothes-line side of the house.  There were lots of repairs done in the past but they were done so it was very obvious.  We have used three 2 litre tins of ADOS Builders Fill which can be cut,sawn, drilled, chiselled, nailed, sanded, painted and screwed into.  It has repaired cracks, holes, and wood which has been attacked by borer (which are all gone - just the tiny holes of their trails left!)  Fabulous stuff that ends up being stronger than wood!


PAINT
The first level walls have been painted with:
Resene - Blanc
Lumbersider - Low Sheen Blanc


The verandah bannisters have been painted with:
Resene - Blanc
Sonyx - Semi-gloss


The black trim:
Annette's Soft Black (made by Resene Onehunga)

I like how the gloss of the window trim and bannisters constrast with the low sheen of the walls.  The low sheen also avoids highlighting imperfections which are obviously unavoidable in a 158 year old house!


19 January 2014
The front wall below the verandah has been prepared for painting.  There are five layers of various paint colours used over the years and we decided not to sand back to bare wood.  Therefore we have  repaired any cracks and dry rot with builders bog.



Previously someone had 'repaired' a crack in a board with a piece of crinkly metal (bottom right of the window) and painted over it - it wouldn't have been so bad if the piece of metal was flat - it looked really bad. Wish I had taken a photo of it... Glen pulled the metal off to reveal that someone in the past had probably kicked the plank in. We builders-bogged it to make it smooth and it looks 100% better and will also be stronger.

Glen then gave the whole wall an undercoat of white paint.  He could see the defects better and skimmed with builders bog where needed, and sanded to gain as flat a surface as possible.

The next drama is to get the top coat paint colour right....a reminder that it is important to record the names of the colours used so that they can be remembered.  We have a colour Glen's Vanilla Cream - which sounds right - but is too dark and looks dirty - so back to the drawing board....

Yay - found the perfect colour - Resene  Blanc.  Looks crisp, clean and warm - and contrasts nicely with the black trim.

Garden Makeover

It was time to make the garden look a bit more organised and maintained - but we still wanted to keep the old fashioned villa feel to it.  What better that to add some formality with box hedges - its a bit like vacuum cleaning - if the box hedge is well trimmed then  everything else will look tidy.  While we are at it clipping the pittosporum also made a big difference.  The rest of the plants can be a little unwieldy but the core plantings tie it all together!  Well that is the idea anyway!! :)




In keeping with the side garden we have put a row of boxus hedge around the border of the back sunny garden.  In the middle we will have the core plants of hydrangeas which will sport big blooms with pops of colour for summer months of the year after the cineraria's have done their September flowering.

Under the privet hedge which has taken a beating and looking really bare at the moment due to it getting out of control we have a row of what I thought was called a boars ear plant.  They will hide the ugliness of the bare branches.  Just have to remember to put snail and slug bait around them because the beggars love to eat the big leaves.

Coopers Wood Restoration System

We got a good deal for enough stripper; flusher and moisturiser to restore all the doors and the bathroom panelling!  No sanding or polyurethane.  The moisteriser is a wax protector clear coat which  highlights and seals the wood.  It just has to be reapplied every 2 years.

Looking forward to having fresh wood and panelling - it is going to make a huge difference!

Cooper's Restoration System
1-3 Ross St, Woodville NZ
www.cooper-it.com

The front door has been long overdue for repairing - the harsh salty air and general grime of roadside dust and dirt was engrained into the timber and the varnish had perished.  The kick-start I needed  was when I put the Christmas Wreath up - which emphasised the bad condition the door had got into!  With the help of Coopers Restoration stripper and moisturiser it has a new life and look!  Just have to paint the door frame and the front entrance will look mint again!

BEFORE RESTORATION!

 

AFTER

Note:  The door has since been painted with Cabots Danish Oil - using the same technique as the bathroom.  It is as good if not better as the Coopers Restoration System.





The Evolution of the Lounge

 28th September 2015: The Lounge 

The lounge is done!  So pleased with the eclectic vibe that it has - a fusion of wood/gold and cream that is warm and inviting!  Just have to replace the curtain rails which have decided they have had it! 

19th November 2014

A momentous day where our electrician came in to connect the electricity up in the lounge.  FINALLY!  The chandelier newly checked, cleaned and buffed looks sparkling with its new candle light bulbs! 

The room has acted as our garage for the last year or so - therefore the last task to do is to empty the room of the tools, paint and gib board out! Give it a good dust and vacuum; pop a bottle of champagne and celebrate the completion of this our third renovated room.

24 May 2014

Our thanks go to Alice and Pierre from France for painting the ceilings and walls of our lounge!  They did an amazing job!

You need to zoom in to see the tiny bay trees!!  The larger ones at the garden shhop were too tall and spindly and we want to promote good bushy trees to make a hedge - so have to wait!! :)

Paint Colours
Walls:  Resene Quarter Parchment
Ceiling:  Resene Alabaster

12 April 2014
Time for plastering finally.  Les put in some hard labour getting this done for us at his usual high quality! :)

The Electrics get a Facelift

We thought we should get the electrics checked when the lounge was getting stripped of its old linings.  The fusebox in the hall was also of a concern as it stuck out a lot so we have had it replaced with a brand new system. 

The new system has modern switches  and includes  RCD safety switches so there will be no chance of getting electrocuted or faulty wiring causing a fire.

EcoCity Electricians Limited
Tom Wood - Registered Electrician
09 8250558
021 501 933
tomwood.electrician@gmail.com

The Pink Room Renovations

Emily's bedroom was the coldest room upstairs due to no insulation and being on the colder side of the house.  Therefore it was important to fix this room first!  Our friend Karl Goodwin put in the Pink Batts fixed the gibboard in this room. We purposely kept the walls to original - in other words there are no straight walls!  :) One of the things we wanted to avoid was the 'new house' look and lose the character and feel of the very old house that we love so much.

A built in wardrobe has also been installed so that clothes and belongings can be stored away!


Before

Next

 



During

 

After

This room was the brightest hot pink you could imagine!  Emily loved it - and so did I!  It was brave, vibrant and cheerful!!    However we are going to go for boring and paint this room an antique white.  This way we can use this room for our international students and will be able to  change the soft furnishings to suit either a boy or girl!  I can make the soft furnishings exciting!  :)

The White Pointer "white with hint of grey" was OK - but a little cold and impersonal. (Note:  Double White Pointer is what the rest of the house is in now - and as it has more yellow in it - making it greige - it is a lot warmer.)  So we chose another colour - one that can be prettied up for a girl and made masculine using black and blue for any boys that may use the room!

Resene Chill Out (G92-038-108)
Zylone Sheen

Much better - Louis and Elise painted the walls.