Renovation: Stage 1

The renovations to our home are very close to beginning. They're due to begin NEXT WEEK, in fact.

Am I nervous? Yes. Am I dreading the whole thing? Yes. Am I excited about the end result? Yes! Do I hate people asking themselves questions? More than I can even begin to tell you. So why am I doing it? I have no idea, but I'll stop now.

We have been living in our house for more than nine years now, and we began planning this renovation a few years ago. We began to realise that when we had children, we would quickly outgrow our house, but we love where we are - our quiet street, big backyard, flat block and plenty of sunshine (these latter two can be hard to find here in the hills). So we began thinking about ways we could make our house more suited to a family.

At the start of 2009, we took our ideas to a building designer, and we had some plans we were happy with by May of that year. It's been a long waiting game since then, with the last fifteen months spent largely waiting for the council to get their act together.

My experience of renovating has been time-consuming, expensive, frustrating and exciting - and the work hasn't even begun.

The planning stage is a game of patience. This is not a game I'm any good at. During the last fifteen months, I've been known to 'casually drop in' on our building designer to check she hadn't forgotten to nag the council that week day. I was also heard to threaten to call the whole thing off (just at home - not to anyone working with us on this!).

Every so often, we would pull out our plans and remind ourselves of the end result we were after. And it is going to be wonderful...

The extra rooms that are going on the front of the house.


The dedicated study (for meeeee!) with book-filled shelves.


The wall of bi-fold doors opening out to our backyard.


The larger ensuite - with actual space for my things.


The new bathroom, complete with a bath that actually fits an adult human inside.


The new laundry with shelves and cupboards.


The decorating of each room (that will be the fun bit!).

... Yes, it will be fantastic. But be warned - you may hear me whingeing a bit during the next few months.

If I can escape the noise and dust, that is.


Megan