Mud Rooms

Mud Rooms.  Got one? Need one? Want one?  Or are you wondering what on earth I'm on about?

Mud Rooms seem to be more of an American thang but I think they're starting to feature over here in Australia a little more.  Or is that just what I'm noticing?

Mud Rooms separate the inside from the outside and provide a spot for your coats, bags, shoes, dog leashes, keys and any other bits & bobs.  Our new house will have one right next to the laundry and will be the spot where we enter the house after parking in the garage.

Here's a photo taken from one of the Eden Brae display homes to pretty much show just what ours will look like: 

 

And here are some great ideas for mudrooms I've come across. 

Starting with this one which is my favourite. Very organised, functional, simple yet stylish.  I love the storage seat!  Great to hide the boys shoes in and a spot to plonk the boys on while I put their shoes on!  Boxes hide all the mess.  Love it!



Then we have the following 2 which appear to have a 'locker' for each family member.  Very organised and functional, though you'd need to be a little more tidy with these ones, having everything on display!





Here's another one.  Neat, simple and tidy.



And lastly, this cute little one was put together by Maillardville Manor and is only 5 x 4 foot small big.  Not quite the look I'm after but I do like the way she's used the space and I particularly love the monogram on the mirror.  Handy spot to have a mirror really.  And check out those fold up hooks from Ikea under the mirror!  Great if space is limited.






So there you go, a few ideas on mudrooms.  What does yours look like?

Boy's Bedroom Ideas

A few boys bedrooms I've been inspired by...

In this one I love the bold blue wall and white furniture

 

 In the 2 below, similar thing again - bold colours teamed with white furniture

 I love the idea of using the space around windows as well as the window seat!

Based on these pictures, I think it's safe to say I'm going to try for a similar look.  Fresh and clean looking with some bold colours and not too over the top with a 'theme'.

For my little guy who is 4, I'm thinking the following.....

Quite a while ago I saw a fabulous rocket ship wall decal on a friends facebook page and just had to have it for my eldest son's big boy bedroom in the new house.  We've also got it in white like the picture below and will be having a very similar coloured feature wall (Regatta by Bristol) in his bedroom.  The decals can be found at My Munchkin Home

I've bought the following bedding from Cotton Box.  I bought the one below as shown including red sheets and turquoise world cushion.

I also bought the striped doona cover and pillow slip on below set as I figure the same red sheets above will suit and it's always nice to have a spare set.

For window treatments, I'm thinking of white plantation shutters like these to keep in line with the fresh, clean lines I'm after.  Though jury is still out as curtains might be nicer and more whimsical in a kid's bedroom if you know what I mean?

Currently the bulk of the bedroom furniture we have is in oak but I just bought a King Single Bed with a trundle underneath from ebay which I plan on sanding back and painting in a semi-gloss white paint.  Thinking of painting the other furniture to match too.  Here's a before photo of the bed (it will be my first makeover project, very soon!)  Not bad for $169.25 huh?

As for my little guy who is not quite 2 yet....

Well, I've really only got as far as narrowing it down to a few decals for my youngest son.  I'm thinking of one of the following, which can be found at Etsy - Contemporary Dreams:

It will be on a feature wall colour called Reservoir by Bristol and can best be described as a brilliant sky blue colour.

Will also have white furniture but I want to give each room a slightly different 'personality'.  

I'm currently on the hunt for another King Single Bed with trundle (figured the trundles will get a great workout with sleepovers over the years) and when not used for that purpose are a fantastic spot to store train sets etc.  Suitable bedding is also on my list of things to look for.  

So, what do you think so far?

Our final drawings are in!!

10 months, 2 weeks and 6 days after putting down our $750 deposit at Eden Brae we have our final drawings!!! For those just tuning in, it took that long for our land to register and shouldn't be confused with Eden Brae's usual turnaround times!

So exciting to see the final drawings with everything exactly as we have been planning. And without further ado, here they are....

Just casting your memory back, we have converted the original Parent's Retreat and Office into self-contained accommodation.  So the self-contained area is labelled "Rumpus" & "Bedroom 5".  The ensuite off the rumpus has provisions for a washing machine & dryer (notice the nib wall next to the toilet?) and the space backing onto the shower is a fridge space.  After handover, a kitchenette will go in the corner near the spot for the fridge.  At the front of the Rumpus are French Doors which will open onto a deck and this will be the main entrance into the unit.

Bedroom 1 will be the new Master Bedroom and we have converted the media room from the middle of the house into our ensuite, walk in robe and a study nook that faces the living area.  The funny little alcove next to the study nook is for a built in wine rack feature.

Other main changes made to our plans is the kitchen where we've made it an island bench so as to maximise the back of kitchen space and have put pot drawers in there.  We also have some nifty storage cupboards in the island that open into the Family Room.

We also added on Bedroom 4 which will be a playroom / guest room and has french doors that will open onto a small deck.

Loads of other little changes have been made here and there and below is a standard Saville 27 floor plan, so you can really see the changes made.  In short, the only 2 areas not changed is the Linen Cupboard and Alfresco!

We are so thrilled with how it's all come together and feel that we'll be utilising every spare inch of space available.

Decorating ideas and accent colours

I've been putting a lot of thought into decorating our yet to be built house recently!  I think it ties me over when sometimes nothing else seems to be happening with the build.

Aaaaages ago I mentioned to B that I was thinking of Duck Egg Blue as an accent colour in our living / family rooms (one big open plan area).  We have chocolate brown lounges, dining table, dining chairs and basically a bit too much chocolate brown.  Lovely but kinda over did it a few years back.

Here's an example of Duck Egg Blue:

As lovely as our furniture is, if I had my time again or a lovely big budget to work with I'd get at least one of the lounge suites in a creamy / off white colour and have 2 single arm chairs in a complimentary fabric.  I also would have gotten a cream suede covered dining room chair to compliment the dark brown dining table.  Anyhoo, no such luck to the fabbo budget....boo!  So my thoughts are now to balance out the darker furnishings with some lighter colours - namely whites and duck egg blues.


Then I threw a spanner in the works and bought a gorgeous new empire red kitchenaid recently!!!  This made me think that I *should* do my accent colours in red however as much as I love the colour red, it just wasn't the direction I wanted to go in. 

Isn't she lovely?

While perusing one of my absolutely favourite blogs Young House Love recently, I stumbled across exactly the colour scheme I've been looking for on one of their mood boards!!  They've tied in perfectly the chocolate brown, whites, glass, duck egg blue and thrown in a tan kind of colour to tie it all in and add 'layers' and 'depth' (these are my new decorating words ha ha) to the room.  Best part is, B loves it too!  Phew!

I already have some of those gorgeous apothecary jars, bought from Sharnel Dollar Designs about a month ago!

As for my lovely little Kitchenaid, she'll just be a nice pop of colour in the kitchen.  After all, I want everything to compliment each other but not be overly matchy.

So here I am, now trying to find some gorgeous duck egg blue rugs.  They're virtually non-existant here in Australia from my searches so far!  I have however found some gorgeous ones online in the US!  They're quite reasonably priced too so it may actually work out ok to have one shipped here.

Here are some of my favourites so far....

 Apparently this one is classed as grey but certainly looks similar to the colours I'm after...

It's all about pools today

Because we've not bitten off more than we can chew or anything we thought we'd look at some pools today that we'd like to eventually put in.  Will probably be a year or 2 off but doesn't hurt to dream, right?

Due to land size, we're restricted to a pool about 5m x 3m and think the Harmony pool from Leisure Pools fits the bill nicely.  Here's a pic:

And here it shows what it looks like without water. I like the safety step along the side (great for the kids and short people like me ;))

That nifty little water feature actually stores the pump and everything inside it.  Not compulsory to have but adds quite a nice touch I think.

These are fibreglass inground pools and the best bit is they offer a DIY service as well, complete with a template to dig the hole, engineering plans to submit to council, detailed instructions, telephone assistance and the same warrantee the pool would have if installed by pool company!  Pretty good I reckon.

Also plan on having one of these glass style pool fences:

The price tag surrounding pools is quite frightening and I've heard the $50,000 figure used more than once from friends!!!!  That is so not in our price range so B reckons if we DIY we'll save a bucket load.

Just waiting on quotes now.  Eyeing off their finance offer too!!

ETA: Had a chat with the consultant and if they do the entire lot i.e. dig hole, lodge plans, install pool etc it will cost around $25,000.  To do it all ourselves, it will cost around $12,000!  Certainly do-able.  Not right now but in the foreseeable future!

So. close. I. can. almost. touch. it!

Our friends at the drafting company decided to come back to work recently and we got our final plans on Friday.

After spending 6 hours going over every. single. detail. over the weekend, we're quite happy with the minimal errors we've picked up.  Would have been nicer to have no mistakes but considering the amount of changes that have been made, they've done pretty well.

So, it will go back to Eden Brae today to rectify and I still have my fingers enthusiastically crossed that something will begin to happen on site in February.

Wish us luck!

C'mon already!

We're chomping at the bit waiting for the drafting company to open so we can get our final drawings to sign off on!!!  Still closed and due to open next Monday!  What the?!  How much time do you really need to close for over Christmas?

Once this is done, our block will be pegged out and the site will be ready for some scrapin'!