we have the mobile dog wash come around every fortnight a good brush, nails clipped, a warm bath, then dried. for $20 each well worth it. Plus they have become friends they love our babies, the babies love them & get excited to see them. When finished they get treats and pressies at Xmas too. If you have "scrubba dog" mobile dog wash around your area well worth it especially if you dont have the time for sitting and brushing that long hair, most of the time Ellie hates to be brushed, but Lucy loves it, attention of any kind.

We had similar but ours still had a mantle around it ( and a broken and disused gas heater in it, had been an open fire place we chose to line it with timber put a shelf inside and doors on. My husband plan is for another TV above the mantle using the chimney for cords and cupboard for DVDs player etc I like a sitting room without Tv so have filled up cupboard with board games by the time my husband wins and puts in a tv they will no longer need DVDs player etc

What a find! Most houses of this era in Sydney have been gutted and renovated or bulldozed. Agree with all previous comments on keeping the general era as is, just freshen up. Definitely do the left hand window, either a tart up or replacement. Only disadvantage with pulling up carpet for the (no doubt beautiful) floorboards is that they didn't exactly have the same building standards back then! There may be gaps between the tongue and groove, or patchy lengths if they were always going to carpet over the top. You will probably want to insulate under them too. Possible better to keep the carpet until you have the money set aside for any eventuality of replacement work. If you don't want to keep the interior trim timber, just make sure you sand back the layers of estapol that would have been put on the over the years. The original was probably an oil based stain with shellac over it and others would have been added over the top. Many undercoats or stain blockers or even ESP claim to 'cover up' old stain etc, but in the 6 houses I have done for myself, and 13 houses I have flipped, I have not seen any of them work properly. Colour from underneath still bleeds through. I use a Black & Decker mouse with 80 grit paper to rip the top off, then go back over it with 120 or 140 grit. Make sure you have a P2 mask on while doing it! It is a bit of work, but worth it in the long run. The finish will be smoother, the colour more uniform and you won't get bleed in the future. A Pascol undercoat on the trim, then Dulux Natural White (which is a soft white with warmth) low sheen on the walls and an Aquanamel in the same colour semi gloss (or gloss if you like that) for the trim. It is a colour that takes on the characteristics of whatever colours you put with it, unlike a stark white that screams against anything competing with it, or a tinted white that you need to compliment. As for landscaping, I agree with Annie Cass. Homes like this were of the traditional English era and were complimented by an English country garden. Quite formal with borders, roses and flowering shrubs. Very thirsty too! Annie's suggestions are the Australian version of that though you will have to keep the cyprus' down. They do grow quite tall and will block the view/sunlight from the front. The RHS of the driveway looks ripe for Jasminoides (star Jasmine. They require little are of soil for planting and little water once established. Green all year and have the most glorious scented white flowers. Unlike Ivy or some other climbers, they are not invasive. Run some steel cable along the fence through each of the uprights (drill holes and thread through with turnbuckles on the ends) for it to climb on. It will be the only thing you need down there as it should take off nicely with all that sun! Just make sure you poke the tendrils back and train them regularly to keep it on the wires and keep it trimmed back so as to not block your driveway. Most of all, have fun with it!

Hi Mandi, Thanks for the kind words! Each renovation cost varies depending on the size, scope, existing home and various needs/wants of the client. If you're interested in getting something similar done please contact us 1300 787 577 & we'll be able to give you an idea on price specific to your project.