The fnished lounge

Well, it took a mammoth effort but this room is finally done!

 I never thought I'd get to the end of making that parquet floor...cutting one tiny piece of wood after another...can't say I'm in a hurry to do that again, especially in such a big room.

 I wanted tiles in the entrance hall.

But I was tired of making floors so I sat down and had a think about how I could make tiles with minimum effort.

 I remembered I had a very old piece of checked wrapping paper.

 

 Voilà! A quick and easy tiled floor!

 

 

The fireplace looked like this before.

(this isn't my fireplace because I forgot to take a before pic but it's similar)

 

 

 And now!

I bought some electric flaming logs when I was in America with Kim and built a register for the fireplace with bits and pieces I had lying around.

I created a cloudy vintage mirror to finish it off.

I'm loving the light up flaming logs!

 

 

This room has required a lot of labour and

I really had to push myself to finish it but I'm thrilled with the result!

 

A side table for the lounge

A very long time ago Katie sent me a little 'House of Miniatures' kitset to make a Hepplewhite side table.

I have finally made it and found the perfect spot for it in the lounge. I need to do something to 'country up' those lights!

I think the table needs some little house keys on it. I bought the little jar of roses on a trip to Melbourne.

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I look after baby Lucy three days a week now and it's very exhausting and doesn't leave me with much spare time.

Thank you for all the blog awards!

Mercedes

A bookshelf for the country lounge

One of the best things about blocking up that extra doorway in the lounge is that now there is room for a bookshelf.

As usual I got out my box of wood bits and this is what I came up with.


I had a LOT of fun making the books. If you click and enlarge the photo you'll be able to have a good look at the titles. A few of them are there for a bit of dollhouse humour!

After all, this hobby is all about having fun!

Mercedes

A hutch dresser for the country lounge

You may have noticed that the dining table has been moved from the kitchen to the lounge, there was always too much unused space in the lounge. And now the hutch dresser that was in the kitchen is also in the lounge, although it has been given a facelift!

Here's how it looked in the kitchen. I had painted and papered it to match everything but was never happy with those drawer fronts, they just seemed too chunky.

So I've given it some new drawer fronts and covered them with wallpaper. And there's a basket of toys where the cupboard was. I figure that as the children's rooms are all in the attic Mrs Nylon won't want to be trekking up and downstairs with toys all day...'cos let's face it, it's not like the kids will ever put them away!

The stripy wallpaper is the exact same colour as the gingham wallpaper in the lounge.

And some of you may have noticed the new curtains have gone already! The dresser has to sit by the window there and the curtains were in the way so I've made a roman blind. (Sorry Linda, it doesn't actually work, lol!)

Mercedes

A country couch for the new look lounge

I finally decided on Sunday it was time to make a new couch for the country lounge instead of just thinking about it.

So I got my box of wood bits out and this is what I came up with.
Even hubby was surprised at how well it turned out.

I just get happier with this room every day!

'What Mr Nylon saw in the kitchen' is coming soon!

Mercedes

What a difference a day makes!

Mr Nylon is one happy chappy! The not so pesky decorator worked late into the night (without being paid overtime) and look at the sight Bri woke up to this morning. The decorator even cleaned up! (Mr Nylon is also especially pleased with himself now that he has figured out how to stand up without leaning on anything!) Mrs Nylon will also be very pleased that the lounge now has more of a 'country look' to it.

'Ahhh, yes!' he is thinking, 'this is the life, a room free from the wife's clutter'. (The wife and children have sensibly gone to visit relatives in Shabbyville). 'Hmmm, maybe I'll just make a cup of coffee...' (He can't afford to buy a coffee now that he's redecorated. And new clothes are simply out of the question, he's a man and sees nothing wrong with the outfit he's been wearing for the last twenty or so years, there's still plenty of wear left in it!)

'Doh! *^#$* Didn't there used to be a door here!'

Why yes, there was a door but the decorator never liked it, all it did was take up valuable wall space where the wife can have extra shelves for designer knick-knacks and bric-a-brac, the things that make a house a home. Do not worry there is another door into the kitchen on the other side of the fireplace, it will take a while but Mr Nylon will figure it out.

Poor Bri has yet to see the disaster that awaits him in the kitchen...

Change...

Little Mr Bri Nylon there is freaking out, he got up (late) this morning and his lounge looked like this.

Stay tuned...

Mercedes

The Lounge

Next stop on the tour...the lounge. This is a big room (same size as the master bedroom) it still needs a lot more things to make it cosier. The lounge before. Here's the fireplace I installed to hide the wiring. That beautiful basket of flowers was made by Sylvia. Katie, it's a bit hard to see but that's a mini I made of the Mary Englebreit card you sent me. And here's the fireplace as it looked when I bought it...until I got the paint out and distressed it. And here is an original oil painting done by my mother! It's no more than an inch long. Mum bought the little frame at the show and surprised me with this painting. The scene is Rangitoto Island, a local landmark here where I live. Like my sister, mum usually paints big pictures and sells them...and before you ask, yes, I can paint...but I don't! Too many other interests!The old fashioned radiogram in the corner I made at the club. And I just threw that church pew in there to fill up the gap (I think I need a bookshelf there). I made the church pew from a pattern in a magazine. The coffee table I made from some scraps of wood. Sometimes at the club people will give their offcuts away, they always come in handy. When you don't have any power tools at home it's always a challenge to see what you can make out of the bits you have! The rug on the floor I made from a piece of tapestry fabric that happened to have designs in rectangle shapes on it. (Easy, peasey lemon squeezy Rosanna!) There's the library table we made a the club, it was a lot easier than it looks! And that's my teensy basket of knitting made by Sabiha. The chair is the same as the Noah's Ark one in the bedroom. Another cute little shelf I made, of course Liberty thinks it should be a ladder. (Please excuse the lump of blu-tack showing under Sylvia's brocante jug, lol!) And someone crafty must live in this house because along with the knitting there's a little basket of patchwork waiting to be done.

Well, just one more room to go. Will try and post it this week. It's taken me two days to do this post because of the kids!!!! (Noah had three weeks to do his assignment for school so of course he left it until the last two days) And this morning it was so cold here the computer wouldn't work when I switched it on! We have what they call a 'polar blast' coming up from the South Island. On mornings like this it is actually warmer outside the house! I might have to go and wander around a shopping mall, at least it's warm there!

And thank you to everyone who voted for Lucy. She was coming first all week and then another baby joined the race in the last couple of days and zipped past her in the last few hours of the competition.

Mercedes