I have been more busy than usual with work and juggling some of the home schooling and now school holidays. But husband and I managed to tick some necessary items of the home improvement to do list. I also made time to review several design/building renovation books to plan and understand the bigger renovations for the future.

Some waterproofing work in our old basement/garage area done. Replaced some plaster board that had been damaged by the previous water issues. Have done some prep work to paint the repaired wall, and hope to have that finished by the end of the week.

Researched flooring options for garage/basement area and identified some Norsk PVC floor tiles that should make the area much nicer underfoot and more usable as combined garage and exercise space. Should be ordering them soon. Unfortunately the only stockist I could find was on the other side of the country, so a little concerned about potential cost of shipping!

Rethought layout of some of the rumpus/office area downstairs and think we will improve the use of the space. Chose some new desks but currently out of stock at IKEA, so have to wait for them. Ordered some new chairs to replace the ones that were getting wobbly and literally falling apart.

And I am glad that we are continuing a long-term and gradual de-cluttering process. Part of the goal to have less to store and improve storage for what we do keep to free up and make better use of the space we currently have.

Looks chaotic at the moment, so no pretty photos. But reminding myself that we are making progress.

Sure did! We started our major renovation in January. And it went right through the COVID period. It’s just been completed as we’ve come out of lockdown.

We project managed a full home renovation from the 15th March till 6th of June. This included 2 bathrooms, laundry, kitchen, new floors, curtains and fresh paint.

@Provoke Design Nice work !

Thank you

Currently in the process of extension of 3 to 5 bedroom open plan living. We are very excited to see the draft plans!

Sounds very exciting Katie!

I am currently working on a renovation of a 80 m2 bespoke eco conscious furniture brand store in Hamburg 100% E deign. I will be sure to keep you updated when the store opens second week of September this year. I have also been busying working on a number of other clients apartments doing conceptional renovation plans also 100% E deign. A service I have offered to my international clients for years and continuously offer throughout these lockdown times.

We’ve had our exterior painted. Plaster redone inside. Electrical updated (still going). Having flooring looked at. And still need to have our pool resurfaced. New paving. New fencing. And my dream of actually opening up the kitchen somehow.

In Melbourne. We enclosed our back patio with remote controlled zip track clear blinds and installed a remote controlled strip heater for winter and remote controlled fan for summer. We also replaced the patio roof and bought new napery for our large patio table We now have a new comfortable garden room with a lovely view of the garden and the birds. We can exercise there in winter too with our table tennis table and exercise equipment. We also had some landscaping done to level a path and build frames for new espaliered fruit trees : oranges and apples. Landscaper also built us a new level gravel terrace under a huge spreading locquat tree for summer shade and we moved our barbecue, adjoining cabinet and some wrought iron garden furniture there. We also refreshed the garden removing old plants and adding new ones and started some new veggie gardens. Next up is work on our garden irrigation system and garden edging. Then we need to organize a new pool cover. Is a garden ever ‘finished’?

The above gave us a huge new room to work, play and exercise in during lockdown to keep us ‘out of each other’s hair’ while home working and home learning and to help keep us sane during lockdown for very little money. We ( in Melbourne) are now in a second lockdown so again appreciating the extra space and utility that we were able to achieve very quickly and easily.

thinking of all those under lockdown and hope you're all keeping safe and well

Installed velux windows x 3, new curtains and blinds ordered, a coupe of new pieces of furniture.. however no lock down business as usual for a nurse and a truck driver, few more jobs to get done BUT no tradies available with new stimulus but that is good in itself. Ps the velux windows are brilliant..let there be light :)

Sure did, and finished it and sold it too. :D You can see it's progress here. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=97516 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom 1970s monstrousity, two storey, multiple living areas, it was a massive job.

🌍 I am an interior designer, yet I am helping many homeowners atm, Currently working remotely in Portugal I am based in Berlin and doing a full house remodelling in the outskirts of Berlin. The project is eco-conscious three-story design with a mix of plant-based epoxy and FSC local oak wood flooring. A beautiful selection of vintage, repossessed, ethical and bespoke FF& E (furniture fitting and equipment) is being used. I have taken out as many walls as structurally possible to bring the outside in and use a biophilic design approach. I am working online with some really fantastic innovative sustainable local suppliers, I am thrilled to share this project will be showcased in House & Garden next year!! I have also been working on a number of online projects in Switzerland, Australia and the Netherlands. I will keep you all posted!!!! 🏡 🌿

5 months after my last post. Looking back I am reasonably happy with the progress, given both myself and husband have had some rather frantically busy work loads.

Norsk flooring ordered and now laid. It is so much nicer in the garage/basement. We also put in some better shelving in the basement.

Damaged plaster board wall replaced and repainted - I was impressed with how well our local Bunnings was able to match the paint!

New desks and new rugs, and some rearranging in our downstairs rumpus, office.

Upgraded some lights from fluro to LED.

More progress on decluttering.

We hope to get a big job ticked off the to do list next year. We have some significant work needed in the front yard, including replacing and re configuring retaining walls and driveway. It has been difficult trying to decide on options and get quotes over the last few years. We now have a quote we are happy with. But it is probably going to be several months before the company is available to start work. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.

We are still in the middle of an large extension build. It has gone ahead despite covid, rather than because. We have planned it for years and was meant to start early this year but administrative hold ups meant it didn't start until October/November and won't be finished until probably March. Then there is all the add-ons we are doing, not the builder, like establishing the garden around the new build and paths and paving, not to mention painting, refurbishing furniture and installing new built-ins after the build is completed. So we *might* be finished by the time vaccinations have been rolled out world-wide.

All the designs looks fabulous. Happy to see how everything is pulled out beautifully.

Painting, painting and more painting. Inside and out, still more to do but are making progress 😊

Our reno became a complete remodel ... just about 2 years and maybe 6mths to go. Had trades people in as needed - a builder to help with the heavy work after we knocked down brick walls, plumber, electrician, tiler as we came to finish some bits ,and window tinter. All were very respectful at keeping social distancing yet between us all it didn't hamper progress from them. Nor accepting deliveries. So we have actually been quite happy throughout isolation periods as we are not at a loss for work and in fact we appreciated the far fewer interruptions on a daily basis and felt we could get in a good day's work.

As a professional window cleaner lockdown has been a strange time for us. The law permitted us to clean a vacated premises/end of lease clean but not a regular clean.

Stay Clear Window Cleaning

Some of my work

I love what I do every 😊

Mirror perfect placement

Thank you

I feel like a little kids at the candy’s house

I worked with a lot interior designer

I bought my house in 2 minutes in Moe and haven't regretted it one bit! I saved my wages to put in a new bathroom and European Laundry. When I had the builders and electricians finished with earthing the property after I bought it then termite treatment borers before but no termites but definitely in a termite zone I relaxed and began my native garden at the front finding a local mowing man who is so very careful near my new plants! Before Photos show how squashed the bathroom was considering I am 5ft 11 and 1/2 inches tall and the toilet from the front door was through 6 doors I definitely needed it closer to my bedroom.

Had new floors laid, house painted, electrical work and kitchen replaced- a busy time!

Again in Melbourne over a year later in lockdown for the sixth time and we’ve had some large Windows built into our garage in between lockdowns. We will then have new lights and power points put in, insulation installed, a plastered ceiling added and storage racks installed as Melbourne lockdown rules allow and as they are progressively tweaked. This will provide us with a comfortable and light filled gym space and a workbench and storage spaces with room to store and fix bikes in natural light. This work has had to be interrupted numerous times due to trades being unable to work at various stages during these 6 lockdowns! We are more focused on fully utilizing our spaces here in Melbourne as we have been in lockdown more often than not over the last 18 months. Everything is home based now with those who can working from home the entire time and with kids home learning for most of that time. We can see light at the end of the tunnel with so many getting vaccinated but still we are struggling with deliveries from Bunnings for tools and light globes as their deliveries are held up with logistics delays. Choosing light fittings is more of a gamble now as we are not allowed to enter light shops or Bunnings and choosing paint colours has also been difficult as we aren’t allowed to browse the colour swatches in paint shops. We were also in quarantine for 16 days due to one of us having visited an exposure site which meant that all work and n our property had to stop and the critical path for completing all work had to be reworked as we had also started the process for installing new gutters all round, getting all our wood work painted, having a crazy paving path put in for access with my mobility scooter and getting pool safety work finished by our council deadline in addition to the garage renovation. No one was allowed on our property during our quarantine. There’s also been the issue of not knowing whether some trades have been vaccinated. It’s been quite the challenge completing home renovations during lockdown in Melbourne during 2020 and 2021!

what a list of achievements and no complaints...well done to you and yours, hopefully this wretched plague will begin to disappear soon and you can complete your long list of improvements

My husband laid 96sq metres of tiles on our wrap around patio. Replaced wall, new marble style tiles,new Smeg ceramic 900 hot plate, Smeg range hood 900 wide, painted the walls but still are waiting for the overhead wall cabinets to arrive hopefully 12th October. Ordered a teal velvet 4 person sofa all recline from Nick Scali in June, was to be here Sept then Oct now November. Completion on a bit of a hold for now as we can’t get the 100 sq mths of tiles required for the inside floors due to deliveries. Everything looks wonderful though. Keep smiling people.

another great list of achievements ... he sounds like a keeper and hope you can both look forward to relaxing together on your lovely new lounge very soon

Justjan49 wow! Hope the deliveries come through soon. Yep, logistics are a big issue right around the world now I believe.

We built a house during lockdown: owner-builder. Holidays away were taboo so spent our leave cladding, painting and fitting out the house. Were lucky to get the frame up and roof on with the help of steel guys and our chippie before they got too busy once the building subsidies and ensuing frenzy kicked in

My wife learned how to replaster ceilings through tiktok and YouTube. Painted the whole house inside. We listed it afterwards. Very happy with the outcome.

Ugh - still not finished. The frenzy of building has held up on the finishing. We waited 3+ months for the plasterers and are still waiting on wardrobes and built in book cases. But we are creeping towards the finish line.

Just saw this discussion thread and thought I'd add my little project during the 2020 lockdown. Seeing our money sitting doing nothing in the bank and with plenty of space, sitting on 3 acres, we decided to invest in bricks and mortar. Although it's timber frame and metal cladding, cantilevered over a steep slope. It's a free standiong one bedroom granny flat with everything you'd need to live comfortably, now tenanted.

looks very inviting, the cantilever adds an extra level of connection to the surroundings and always glad to see a loo with a view on acreage, congratulations

Bit of saga, but 100% of our renovation in Elsternwick was completed during lock down and from interstate. We couldn't travel to Melbourne due to border closures, and so my only option was to buy tiles etc on line, and via builders auctions. The scope of work was significant, with a rebuild of all floor and wall frames, conversion of garage into a master suite with cathedral ceilings. Some of the problems experienced revolved around drawings and specifications queries. We had a very good builder though, who was able to challenge engineering drawings and ensure that floor structures for the house and attic ended up rock steady. We did go over time for contract completion date, but did not engage the liquidated damages option - we felt this wasn't a good option and would introduce unnecessary hostilities between the builder and us, as the clients. A highly customised renovation included the injection of period features into the 1904 cottage, the ensuite 8nccluded of a highly polished copper bath tub, complemented by Black Titanium Granite, the effect is truly breath taking. The ambience for the house was achieved by adding Velux sky windows and cathedral ceilings internally, together with 2 beautiful decks and over sized doors. The communications during the build were via phone calls and facetime which allowed us to see what was happening on site, and work through issues with the builder.

Although out lock down wasn’t extensive it gave us a desire to update our 20 year old house. While in lock down we painted 3 bedrooms 7stripped and remodeled 2 bathrooms and 2 toilets. We stripped a tatty sunroom and made into an alfresco area. Stripped an remodeled our kitchen.

Looks fantastic! Well done!

Ooh yes! Here's one room of the full house reno! ᾒ9

Very Nice. @LivLong   Where did you purchase the vanity from if i may ask

@010house of course! The manufacturer is Rifco and I bought it from Sydney Taps - it's the Nouveau style in Dulux Tickling but the stone on top is left-over from my kitchen!

Beautiful clean lines, and I always wonder how do you clean under the back of the bath tub? For 45

Hhi Denise Raines, there is good access behind the bath tub to allow cleaning. On the other side, we built curved steps, hugging the bath tub. under these steps was a small area for equipment, with an door on the exterior wall, just to service any future plumbing issues.

We have been building our house for over two years now. The supply chain downturn has made it a nightmare. We are camping on the mezzanine floor of our warehouse so it isn't costing us to wait, but if I had rented a property while building we would be in trouble now. I purchased most of our plumbing supplies early in the build so at least those items have not gone up in price, but many others have. We ordered and paid for a cantilever pool awning in February this year, and it was sent in three lots. The last delivery was two weeks ago. I suspect the company was having a hard time getting it out of China, so not their fault. We had quotes for fly screens/security screens that totalled over $25,000. We had to forgo the security screens in favour of fly screens for most of the house. We had a quote for a large aluminium mesh panel to place on the front left corner of the house which was over $25,000 also. The fencing company got an order wrong and we ended up with the wrong colour louvre panels on the front driveway sliding gates, plus the wrong colour for a fence. We have managed to turn it into a positive by keeping the wrong coloured louvre blades, and they will now be put up vertically on the front corner of the house, instead of the aluminium mesh. They are six metres long, but the house is two stories, so all good. We had to keep the gate panels the same, so the wrong colour will have to be exchanged for the right colour. People are still building houses here, and some of them are going up very fast, so I don't understand why ours has taken so long. We have purchased most of the goods locally, but I suppose the suppliers are having trouble getting them from overseas. I am at the point where I am losing interest in this house, which is a shame because it will be a beautiful house when finished.

Started in June 2020 and completed in December 2021... hard to source timber in the process..