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q & a

What does VJ mean?
Vertical Join

Where did you get the title of your blog from?

When I thought of the title for Fun and VJs, I didn't realise how parochial it was. The term VJ refers to Vertical Join timber walls or what is commonly known as tongue and groove - timber boards which slot together to make a solid wall.

At the time of starting this blog, I never thought there would be much of an audience, so translation of this Queensland colloquialism was not on the radar.

Fun and VJs is an ironic play on the phrase "fun and games". We were in the middle of painting the VJs at the time and sadly, there is no fun painting VJs.

Where can I get information about Queenslander houses?

Queensland Museum

Australian Heritage Council

National Library of Australia

Ian Evans World of Old Houses

The Cairns Regional Council

State Library of Queensland
 Queensland Bungalows

The Brisbane City Council Library
Looking after the Queensland House, Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, 1997 is a great little guide about caring for a traditional Queenslander home and how to plan for extensions and alterations to adapt it to a modern lifestyle. It has one chapter dedicated to carpentry and joinery for Queenslanders built in the 19th Century, Pre WWI and Interwar era and it has illustrative diagrams for those who require visuals (like me!).

There is an updated onlin version of this available here.

Brisbane House Styles 1880 to 1940: A guide to the affordable house by Judy Gale Rechner, Brisbane History Group, 1998.  This is also available at the Library.


Where did you get your bi-fold windows?
They were custom built for our kitchen.

What is the design of your casement windows?
They are a hopscotch profile.

Where do you source your furniture?
Most of our Australian mid century furniture are op shop or ebay finds or from my parents' junk room. I also have a few friends who collect mid century objects and furniture and they share their secrets with me.

Why is Jason shirtless in most of the renovation shots?
I would like to say Jason is extremely proud of his physique....but no, he just feels the heat more than most people. I call it his renovation flushes.