The 3 month Mark

We have now been in the house for just over 3 months now and the time has flown. Kids are almost all back at school and the summer holidays are almost over ( I survived the 8 weeks!)

My poor blog as been rather neglected as life just seems to get in the way - plus now that we have finished building the updates to the house are happening at a much slower pace.

I read a quote in County Style magazine this month that read 'The memories, the conversations, the layers, can only be created authentically over time in a home'  I loved this and can totally relate with our new house - it will take time to create a finished home with its beautiful layers and life.

The front garden is around 80% completed with the retaining wall, brick edging, lawn and planting coming along. We still have a few garden beds to complete plus finish a few items off. Also need to get a quote for the second driveway sometime this year

Being summer in Melbourne and having to deal with clay soils here some of the plantings have struggled so I am leaving any further planting until April this year

Its funny as we often get people either walking past or stopping in their cars to tell us how much they love our house - it been lovely receiving so many complements

This is what we started with not long after we moved in back in mid October 2014

Looking very bare!

Start of the retaining wall - all hands on deck including our boys!

Big difference once finished 

Preparation for the lawn areas

Gotta love instant lawn - totally broke my back laying this but well worth it

Planting on driveway - these areas have no tripled in size since

Box hedging going in

Lawn looking so green!

And for a 'keeping it real' post this is the current state of our backyard!  Rather depressing and so over whelming but we have big plans for this space over the coming few years including a possible pool and weatherboard pool house in the same colours as the house down the bottom level. Some grass would be a fabulous start though as I am so sick of all the dust!

I have lots of plans for the house this year and have started to feel inspired again. Building this house was quite stressful at the best of times and last year was a crazy busy year for us so looking forward to a slower pace.  I have plans to finish the front garden, make a start on the back, decorate our entrance and our lounge room. 

Best way to follow and keep updated is through instagram - you can follow me here http://instagram.com/ourhamptonstyleforeverhome

My Dream Kitchen

We have now been living here for around 3+ weeks  - time has just flown!  We are pretty much settled in - still have a few more large pictures to hang, the bath still isn't connected and toilet roll holders need to go on ( hint hint hubby!) House has been really lovely to live in and definitely feels like "home"

We have been flat out working on our front garden and have been out there almost every weekend and after work.  Its back breaking hard labour really!  We have so far completed a huge retaining wall, hubby has installed recycled brick edging and yesterday I laid 125 square metres of instant turf almost by myself in between clients ( thank godness mum gave me a hand for an hour!) This morning wasn't a pretty sight - I felt like a 90 year old woman getting out of bed - so sore. Will update with some landscaping images over the next few weeks

Thought I would share with you the completed images of our beautiful kitchen today. When designing our house my kitchen was one space that had to be a stand out feature and be the hub of the home.

Now that we have been living here for a few weeks my kitchen is such a great space to work in and I find myself cooking meals and baking quite often as its a joy to be in. The area is a lovely light filled space with floor to ceiling windows to take in our beautiful view - most people that walk into this room the first thing they say is "wow" which is nice!

With 10 foot ceilings, large cornices, concealed commercial style range hood, stunning marble splashback, soft close drawers and a contrasting island bench.  I also have a massive four metre butlers pantry with a sink, coffee/tea area and a heap of storage - this is such a great feature as it means the mess stays in here and out of the kitchen!

Still need to purchase some bentwood bar stools to finish the island bench - must order those soon

Love our Karen Rosenlund art print - it really suits the space 

Still need to order 3 of these chairs from Relax House to finish the look

Home Sweet Home - Were In!

Finally after 11 months of building we are now calling this gorgeous house our home!  After a mammoth task of moving ( cannot believe how much 'stuff' we had!) we have now settled in and have been here already over a week.

Still feeling extremely tired ( and I may have aged 10 years!) but so happy to be here and finally feeling settled for the first time in a few years. The kids are loving it and even the dog and cat are feeling at home. Poor Charlie our king charles cav went from a small courtyard in our rental  to 1/2 an acre so he is pretty much exhausted all day from running around!

We have already started on the front landscaping building a retaining wall along the front and this weekend hope to lay some turf as the dust is already driving me crazy! I think once the garden goes in the house will look so beautiful - she sure is a house that makes you take a second look and has lovely street presence

My new photography studio also opened late last week and is such a gorgeous space to work in - the natural light is just perfect so couldn't be happier.  I am super booked until the end of the year so looking forward to working with all my clients in this space

I have had alot of people ask me on instagram and email me on the the colours used for the house so thought I would start on the outside and list them here for you.  I just adore the finished result of our colour scheme - it worked so well

Over the next coming weeks I will be blogging and sharing with you the completed rooms in our home so stay tuned :)

Colours used

Roof    - Colourbond Shale Grey
Facia    - Colourbond Surfmist
Veranda posts, garage and weatherboards - Colourbond Surfmist
Windows - Dulux Vivid White
Eves - Mount Aspiring
Render - Mangaweka
Entrance and studio door - Black Cavier

All of the final touches were completed last week including the gables and staining of the decks

Our black sunshine gates and Hamptons style outdoor lights

Our cast iron urn is in its place - just need to bring in soil and start the garden beds

Loving our front veranda - this is where you could find me relaxing with a cuppa!