From Ruin to Renovated; Open Plan Living

Goodbye chimney, hello open plan living!

Yes, we're back on the renovating bandwagon and the first thing to go in our house was the wall that seperated the loungeroom and kitchen area.

Needless to say, the disappearance of the chimney left a gaping big hole in the floor and for awhile there I thought we would be mudwrestling in our kitchen but have no fear, my husband has managed to cover up the hole with some plasterboard...topped with a floor rug to stop any creepy crawlies entering the house.

There's something incredibly empowering about destruction. I dunno if it's the joy of swinging a dirty big hammer and using all of your energy and mite to smash down bricks and turning them into rubble that does it or the knowledge that you're making a change for the better?  Anyhoo, demolition = stress relief, well that is until you realise the great big clean up that you have ahead!

Fortunately for us my husband is a boilermaker and was able to make the scaffolding to secure the structure so that our house didn't collapse after the wall was removed. So far, so good - the house is still standing!

Here are some before and after photos of the changes.

 While we still have a very long way to go, it's exciting to see progress and our vision coming to life.

Our next step is to make the foundation of the house stronger by putting blocks underneath it, and then we're going to replace the front window, rip down all of the walls, reclad the space, paint and lay redgum floorboards.

 

We're going to focus on one zone at a time to break it down to bite sized pieces!

I can't wait to see the finished product.

Watch this space.

Have you ever renovated a whole house?

Where did you start? 

What tips do you have for others? 

Look after yourself and those around you,

Kirsty xxx