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.