Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A glimpse of the cottage upstairs bedroom renovation (1:1)


The wood lining is more of a golden/honey colour than this photo shows, I don't know why it looks so pink in the photo. As you can see the wood has become water stained when we had problems with rain getting in around the window, and we had the same problem with the ceiling when the roof leaked. You can also see that I've started to fill some of the holes and other imperfections in the wood (the white patches). They're hardly noticeable when the wood is in it's natural state but look awful once the paint goes on. There were a lot of them and this took a really long time!! All of the walls, and the ceiling, are lined with these wooden planks. They have been left in their 'rough sawn' state but they have been sealed and painted. Because there was a lot of water staining in various places on other walls as well as the ceiling a special sealer was need to stop it 'bleeding' through the paint. The first product I bought which promised to do just that was a waste of time and money - after 3 coats of it stains were still 'bleeding' - as you can imagine I was NOT happy! "Resene" pigmented sealer did the job with just one coat, I think it's my favourite renovating product now :) I should have bought it in the first place because I love Resene paint products and rarely use anything else.

This end of the room now looks like this (the dark wood on the right is a vintage oak wardrobe,I haven't decided yet whether to leave it like it is or paint it).



As you can see the theme for this room is beach/nautical, this tin 'sign' is the colour theme inspiration



I really like this one too



It's time to trim the trees to reclaim the view of the ocean I think! What looks like a 'door to nowhere' is exactly that - but it's the only way to get furniture in and out of the room.

I'm happy with the way the room is turning out but there is still quite a bit of work to be done, we won't be back in New Zealand until the end of the year so it makes for a rather 'long-term' project. The advantage is that it gives a lot of time to look for the right linen for the bed, and fabric for the window coverings. At the moment I'm favouring roman blinds but finding the right fabric will be a challenge I think.

12 comments:

stil-blicke.blogspaot.com said...

Ohhh Norma.... so eine Hütte am Meer hätte ich auch gerne. Man kann dort so toll abschalten. Habt Ihr in Neuseeland eine Hütte für Urlaub und so??? Das sieht so heimelig aus.

Ich geniesse schon jedes Jahr unsere Urlaube in Australien. Meist fahren wir an die Ostküste ans Meer.... aber in kleinere Städte... wie z.B. Mackay oder Townsville.

Liebe Grüße an Dich PuNo / Monika

Claudia said...

Your cottage is so lovely, Norma! I love these peeks at the renovation.

xo
Claudia

More2view said...

Wow you realy made a difference!Your hard work paid off bigtime! It looks so restful now! Blue stripes? linnen? Great work! C

miniacollection said...

I love your sea corals sign. It's a lovely cottage, great work. You are lucky to see the ocean.
Geneviève

Jo Raines said...

Oh, I am so jealous of your beautiful New Zealand beach cottage! How fortunate you are to have it. We are about four to five hours from the South Carolina coast and don't get there very often although in years past we've been able to rent a cottage at Ocean Lakes campground in a place called Surfside. We won't get to go this year, unfortunately but I do so love the ocean. And I love your sweet signs!

Joanna will be most disappointed that we aren't getting to go the beach this year so I am planning on working with her to wire her dollhouse during spring break in between my work schedule!

Jody

Glenda said...

What a blast from the past, Norma! Looking through these took me right back to a beach house we stayed in at Kaka Point when I was little. I remember lying in a (very uncomfortable) bunk bed counting lightning flashes at night - I got up to about 31. I can smell the woodlined walls, and the proportions of the rooms go right to my heart. I think the shape of our houses affects us deeply. (I've been in some that are just plain 'wrong'.)
Excuse my ramblings - thanks for posting these!
Glenda
p.s. some sanderson linen :-)

Sans! said...

Do you know that New Zealand is a very popular destination for emigrants from Malaysia? Most Singaporeans prefer Australia but if it is me, I will choose NZ precisely for cottages like yours!

Norma Bennett said...

Monika - Wir lebten in Neuseeland bis 1996, als wir nach Australien. Das Haus wurde vor allem an den Wochenenden und Ferien-Haus, aber wir haben in ihr leben für 4 Jahre. Wir besuchen in der Regel nur einmal im Jahr jetzt im Sommer.

Vielleicht beim nächsten Mal kommen Sie bitte nach Australien nach Sydney für ein paar Tage kommen!

Claudia - there are a few more to come :) And I see we are playing 'blog tag' again - I joined Artful Affirmations yesterday after you!

Genevieve and Jody - we do appreciate how lucky we are to have a litte house near the ocean, for many people that is just a dream, or as you say Jody many hours of driving. And I'm sure Joanna's disappointment will be lessened by getting to work on her BIG house with her mum :) What wonderful memories you will create together.

Glenda - Kaka Pt can be a wonderful place for a summer holiday - seems that many people agree and it's become very expensive to buy down there now! I remember a wonderful beach holiday as a child too, not at Kaka Pt, but not too far away. An aunt and uncle had a tiny place very close to the ocean, I loved being able to hear the ocean at night. And yes, I think my little bed was probably as uncomfortable as yours! Probably we were sleeping on old kapok matresses :)And if I win Lotto maybe I can consider Sanderson LOL

Can you email me at normabennett@hotmail.com - I'd like to chat a bit about Kaka Pt "offline" :)

Sans, thanks, but it is possible to find some wonderful little cottages in Australia too :)

michelle said...

your renoviation of the room is great, I love the coulers you want to use for the room from the tin sign!
good luck with the rest of the renoviation and hope to see more photos!

OOAK babies by Mina said...

My heart skips a beat when I see this post.
This is all I ever want. A cottage at a secluded beach somewhere. I crave it with a heavy heart

can't wait to see all the reno's!

x

Merry Jingle said...

Gosh, I love this room! It should be filled with old, shabby furniture and all kinds of nick nacks. And a sofa/bed where you can read a book and doze on and off. You really are a lucky girl to have a such a place :)

Ira

Norma Bennett said...

I hope to be able to show you a finished room 'next time' which because this little cottage is not even in the same country we actually live in 11 months of the year means next summer. If it's like the past year though, that time will just fly by.

I do appreciate how lucky we were to have found the place. And of course you are all welcome to visit sometime!!

This is just one half of the room Ira, the other half is taken up completely by a kingsize bed which gets lots and lots of sun so it's a lovely place for a nap or reading just like you are imagining. When the new window goes in it will also have a view of the coastline.