Bedroom & Study Flooring Ordered

Recently ordered the flooring...then put a hold on it after deciding to buy another bedroom suite. Poor salesman from Andersen's must have rolled his eyes but he never missed a beat and rolled with it. After holding the samples against the new bedroom suite we assured ourselves all was still good and proceeded with the order.

Actually the reason we picked Spotted Gum was it tends to match must timber products except really light timbers like Beech. The flooring we ordered is produced by Readyflor and seems to have a better reputation then Boral Silkwood. If you live on the Gold Coast and want some good pricing on flooring talk to Grant at Andersen's Burleigh Heads on 07 55767699.

Lighting

The lighting setup has proved to be both interesting and frustrating. I'm trying to integrate new technology (LED lighting) with current CFL lighting. For the record I hate CFL type GU10 down lights designed to replace halogen down lights as they are so sloooooooww to come to full brightness.

In the above picture the lights above the vanities are 9W Warm white LED MR16 fitting LED bulbs and other two lights are 20W CFL bulbs in down light fittings. Together they give an excellent light. The 2 CFL's by themselves are left wanting.

A few points I've found so far. The average 9W LED is only equal to a 35W Halogen...don't be told otherwise. Philips CFL bulbs have the best light output in lumen's and a nice warm colour temperature. For outside lights 9W GU10 LED's are the perfect replacement for halogens except for being slightly whiter than the halogens. I'll post more information as I work through it.

Price Sticker Shock !!!!

I discovered this wall paper while shopping in Brisbane and thought it would make a great feature in the hallway. Actually wasn't that hard to find the source but I did get lucky and managed to speak to people in the know who pointed me in the right direction. The gotcha in all this is the price. When you walk in somewhere and they tell you "you have good taste" watch out because a big price tag is coming. Try $700 per roll......Ouch! I can import for $400 plus freight. Hmm thinking how much do I like this and who will I get to hang this paper gold...lol

Picture/Mirror Hanging Tips Part 3

Final step is to hang your picture by placing the picture above the wall bracket and letting it slide down gently. I'd strongly suggest two people for this step and make 100% sure the two halves have engaged before letting go.

If you doubt your ability to do the job...don't do it, there are professionals who do this sort of thing for a living and they can be found in the Yellow Pages.

Best of luck and happy hanging.

BTW: I hate bloggers posting tools, if anyone can suggest a better way please leave a comment...thanks.

Picture/Mirror Hanging Tips Part 2

The first picture shows one half of the wall bracket mounted. I managed to pickup two of the metal frame wall studs with the stud finder. Be careful of false positives with a metal frame. Use the side of your fist to lightly bang against the wall to confirm stud placement. Tip: Drill a small pilot hole, if you get it wrong it's easier to fill and repair.

Second picture shows the wall anchor I prefer to use. Get the large size and practice on some spare plasterboard if you can as there is a knack to getting them to start expanding. A slow firm turn of the screwdriver helps...don't jerk the screwdriver or they'll spin in your plasterboard. Tip: Don't use the small level that comes with the bracket kit...use a real level as the one supplied isn't accurate.

Moving along to the third picture this shows the second half of the bracket kit attached to the back of the mirror frame in this case. I drilled extra holes as seen in the picture as the frame was made of resin and only had wood inserts in two places. You shouldn't need to do this with a good solid frame.

Picture/Mirror Hanging Tips Part 1

As I promised a while ago here is some information and tips for installing large mirrors and pictures. Before I proceed I should warn you this worked for me but if you choose to do it yourself it's at your own risk.

Now that's out of the way let's get started. The bracket is the key to the whole exercise and the one I have used is made by Hangman Products, barcode 6-81391-20603-7.

http://www.hangmanproducts.com/hangman-system.html

I purchased mine from a framing store for $29.90AU but you maybe able to purchase them online for cheaper. You will also need a stud finder, I use the Stanley FATMAX which was purchased from Bunnings. It's also useful for finding power cables in the wall and has been a great help in mounting towel rails etc.

And I Thought The Mirror Was A Challenge !

Finally our entertainment unit arrived which also means our Zebra print has been delivered. I'll be using the same bracket setup and mounting technique as the mirror and at least this has a more solid frame. Have to see how bad the reflections will be when it's on the wall.

Internet Up & Running

Connected with Telstra BigPond as it's the only choice when you are in what they call a Telstra Smart Community. It just means you are connected via fibre optic like the NBN if it ever gets off the ground. Phone, free to air TV and internet all come through the same fibre optic cable. I'm so glad that there has been 2 price drops for BigPond internet since we bought the block. It's now not a bad deal and with the $1500 rebate we won't have to pay any money for phone and internet for over a year.

Speed is amazing, I've loaded it up to 75Mbps which is crazy fast....files download faster than the anti-virus can scan them. I'm thinking I might drop the speed back to "Elite" speeds and go for more download quota.

Accessorize

A few things we have picked up over the last week. The table lamp was a bargain made up of a imported Spanish base and lamp shade from Andrews Light-up....Total cost about $110. Actually there is a bit of a price war going on between the lighting retailers in Queensland at the moment so a good to buy if you shop around.

Bar Stools

It was almost hand to hand combat to get these at Aldi last week. All the white ones were gone in 3 minutes of the doors opening. I got the very one last one to make the set. Quality is not 100% but for $40 each I suppose what can you expect.

Another Front Yard Picture

Another photo this time taken in the morning when the light is less contrasty. This was taken on our last fine sunny day. Once again the grey sky's and rain are back, good for the lawn I suppose but not good for the spirit.

First Turf Laid

Now it feels like we are getting somewhere. Picked a variety of buffalo turf called Sapphire. You can read more about it here http://www.sapphireturf.com.au/

Landscaping Underway

It's been a while since my last posting but there has been plenty happening in the background which is the main reason for the lack of posts. I've been pulling 12 hour days and trying to keep up with the tradies...now I'm worn out...lol.

Still not getting any closer to getting a driveway due to many reasons but mainly the weather which has thrown the concreting into chaos.

As you can see I bit the bullet and kicked off the final landscaping phase. Many thanks again goes out to the team from Eden Earthworks for being fast and reliable.

Mirror Success

After much thought and searching for ideas and products to mount this 30kg mirror we have success. It took about 4 hours of careful measuring and attaching of the brackets but well worth it as we hauled it up on it's mounting. I'll add a short how to in the coming days showing the products used.

Bathroom Mirror Installed

Bit of saga but we got there after 2 failed attempts at getting the size right, one Metricon's fault and one mine. Very happy with the result and the bathroom starting to look 100% complete except for the shutters and towel rail.

Pendant Lights Finally Arrive

Everything we pick seems to be out of stock and takes 6-8 weeks to arrive. But the good news is the pendants have arrived and I've had one installed this afternoon so we can get a feel for the length of the drop and spacing before we install the other two.

Blinds Installed

Decided on a sheer fabric in light grey for the lounge (Looks white in the right light) and a pearl finish block out in gunmetal colour for the bedrooms and study. We have ordered white shutters for the bathroom and ensuite but there is about a 6 week waiting time. The roller blinds were completed and installed in exactly 7 days.

A hint for those still building, see if you can get your SS to allow for a measure and quote on blinds, curtains etc before handover to save some waiting time which can be as long as 8 weeks on some shutters.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Well soon to be...when I figure how to mount it safely. Lucky there is a stud in the centre of where it is going and I figure if I use hollow wall anchors either side so it is sitting on 3 hooks all should be OK. Well that's the theory...lol