Grateful......

This Saturday I am grateful for my gorgeous new kitchen floor!

We're embarking on a little make over adventure. There's several areas of our humble abode that require a small amount of attention. It's mostly just decorating, but there are a few things that need a bit more. Our kitchen is one of the latter. When the house was renovated they put tiles in the kitchen, hallway, bathroom, toilet and laundry. It was a crappy tiling job and we've been going back and forth on alternatives since we bought the house. Last weekend though, we finally made a decision. 

With a replacement picked, it was time to start the demolition work. We spent about 5 hours on Saturday taking up the tiles, the cement sheeting and removing about 2000 nails the had held the cement sheeting down. By Saturday night our hands, backs and hips were aching. On Sunday we took a trip to Launie to go to Bunnings to buy our new floor. (On a side note, do you know how much it sucks not having a Bunnings close by? 3 hour round trip to visit the DIY mecca! Crap huh?)

Anyway, we did a little bit of prep work to the subfloor, with the intention of laying the new floor when Mr Mess has next weekend off. But while I was at canteen on Thursday, he went ahead and did it all by himself!! I came home to this!!!

Isn't it gorgeous?! We just love it. It was so easy to lay and feels so comfortable under foot. It's no where near as cold or as slippery as the tile was. It fits in perfectly with the colour of the carpet in the lounge and the vertical blinds. The only thing that it looks a bit odd with is our dining table. Though it's on the makeover list anyway so we'll see what we can come up with. Next on the list is to replace the tiles in the hallway. Hopefully that will be finished next weekend.

For more grateful bloggers, head over to Maxabella Loves.

The Details

Flooring : Gerflor Senso Rustic Self Adhesive Vinyl Planks

Colour : Noisette

Supplier : Bunnings Launceston

Price : $25/m2

PS Thank you for all the lovely comments last week. Gail's funeral was held this past Monday. The boys seem to be coping well, though I'm sure there will be some tough times ahead for them. Again thank you all for your kind words.

This Saturday I'm grateful for.....

1. Not having an open house this weekend. Last weekend was a dismal failure with the rain keeping everyone away :( So I'm grateful that I don't have to rush around keeping the boys from messing up the place.

2. Mr Mess working this weekend. That probably is mean because I know he'd rather be at home with us but the weekends he works gives me some extra down time to catch up on all my favourite blogs, get up to date with my own blogs and just generally potter about. The boys seem to like not having to go anywhere too, work weekends are a vege weekend here in the Mess house :)

3. Home baked goodies. Kenny's been hard at work again. Together we whipped up a batch of my MIL's 123 biscuits as well as a batch of these delicious cinnamon scrolls.

They were so yummy!

Come and tell us what you're grateful for this Saturday. Join in at Maxabella Loves.

DIY Friday

I thought I'd share one of the DIYish things I've been upto in the last few weeks.

Now if you follow me on Twitter you'll know that I ran out of spray paint in the middle of a project last week. Well, I've finally finished it and I thought I would share the before and afters. Well I actually forgot to take a proper before shot, so I had to poor through my photo archives to find one (I'll be sure I won't make the same mistake next time!)

Before (way before)

This chest was a part of The Dude's cot set. We didn't really need a toy chest but I suppose it has come in handy. Whilst the change table is long gone and the cot is about to be retired, I knew the boys wouldn't really outgrow the need for storage. The thing is we have a lovely set of white bunk beds on order so the toy chest in it's current form just wasn't going to work.

After!

I used one and a half cans of White Knight Squirts spray paint in Satin White. It's an enamel paint so there's a bit more involved in the clean up but I believe the pay off will be a harder wearing surface. The finish is, well, satiny. LOL Not too shiny and quite professional looking too :)

I had intentions of transforming the lid into an upholstered seat however I stumbled upon these "floor" cushions at a local discount store for less than a fiver each! The best thing about the cushions is that I can swap them out if we change the decor or location of the chest :) At the moment these cushions will go nicely with the rest of the decor in the boys room.

Suddenly Domestic

Well we're all moved in and mostly unpacked. Since moving in I've got this urge to do different domestic things, very strange for me as I'm not usually like that. I didn't even "nest" when I was pregnant with the boys.

Anyway, so today was an adventure in washing machine cleaning. When I first opened our front loader after the move, I was just about blown away by the smell. It was horrible, mildew cross with a stagnant water smell..ewwwwww gross! I decided to do an empty cycle to rid the machine of it's odor. I thought it was gone but alas the first load I did came out smelling awful.

Now I'm not the biggest fan of front loaders, I don't think they wash as well as a top loader and they seem to be more rough on the clothes too. So naturally a little voice inside my head whispered "new machine, you will have to get a new machine". As nice an idea as that was, it wasn't going to happen so I googled.... Ahh google, really what did people do before google?

5 mins later I had the answer, detergent build up. Apparently all machines get a build up of detergent, especially when you wash with cold water (which I always do). Apparently you should "clean" your machine every couple of months? I must have wagged that lesson in Susie Homemaker class.

Anyhow, after a "clean" my machine looks all shiny and new and even better it doesn't smell. The proof will be in the pudding, when I get my first load of washing out. But if, like me, you wagged that lesson, here's how you "clean" your washing machine.

Front Loader Put two cups of vinegar into the drum of the machine. Then add a quarter of a cup of Bi-carb Soda to the powder tray. Start your machine on a wash cycle, make sure the temp is at it's hottest. Give the machine a couple of seconds to wash the Bi-carb out of the tray then quickly open the tray again and add another cup of vinegar. Shut the tray up and let the machine do the rest.

For a bit of fun shine a torch through the door and have a look at all the cruddy bits floating in the water....EWWW

Top Loader Turn your machine onto a wash cycle with hot water only. Make sure the water level is at it's highest. While the tub is filling, add in a half a cup of Bi-carb Soda and three cups of vinegar. Let the machine do the rest.

If your washing machine has an agitator, you might like to pause the cycle once it's finished filling and give the agitator and all the crevices around it a little scrub with an old toothbrush.

The best thing about this method, is it's green! No harsh bleaches or other chemicals going down the drain, just good old vinegar and water. To make it even greener, catch the rinse water in a bucket and water you garden with it!

So there you go, just a little tip from me to you. Happy Washing.

PS The first load of washing came out beautifully, no smells at all. Yay for green cleaning!

Naughty Me

I can't believe it's been over a week since I blogged! Naughty me!

Well I guess there has been lots of things. We've been super busy with real estate agents, cleaners etc trying to get our old house in Tassie ready for a tenant.

Today, finally, after almost a month, we've managed to rent the house out. The new tenant has signed her lease today and moves in tomorrow. This is all very exciting as it means we are now financially able to move forward and find a new home here in the sunshine state. We'll be renting to start with but we'll re-evaluate in 6 months time.

I am so excited at the thought of having our own space again. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mum but it's been a close quarters for the last month. I'm looking forward to just being able to do what I want. I think the kids aren't quite relaxed either because there's 'stuff' just hanging around that they can't touch, but really really want to. LOL

So the search is on to find a new abode.