Boys' bedroom: before and after photos

I was planning on publishing a big long blog post about redoing the boy's bedroom today...but instead I'm just going to show you a big long pictorial of the room. You'll be able to read all the details in the next blog post.

What we have is a bedroom that our two youngest boys can share for the next few years until we build in some rooms underneath the house. Son #2 is seven years old, while Son #3 is four and they are little rascals!

This room would have originally been the Sow's Ear's master bedroom, given it is such a generous size. We are able to comfortably fit two king single beds into the room and it has good clothes storage in the built-in cupboards that were here when we moved in.

I hope you'll enjoy the little tour of the room's evolution.

So here are the afters:

Renovated boy's bedroom in a Queenslander house

Repainting the ceiling has freshened up this room no end. Vintage Danish glass pendant was purchased second-hand 

Freshly painted white walls are a perfect match with framed vintage Cuban movie art

The boys have a place to hang their bags when they enter the room

New shelves and if you squint you'll see Obi-wan riding a horse. They have a collection of Simba knights and horses. There is also a sprinkling of their own artworks.

Gloss white doors make the built-in cupboards disappear in the room. 

The architectural glass and decorative architraves need only the simplest of window treatments. 

Vintage Anna Castelli  Ferrieri componobili cabinet which used to be in Son#1's room. We swapped furniture. Neutral rug adds warmth to an all white room.

Now these images are the befores. (As in the year that we moved to the Sow's Ear in 2009)

This is the bedroom when we moved in. You'll note the cot and change table. This room has evolved from a toddler/baby room to two growing boys sharing a room.

Brown louvre doors. What can I say?

The young occupants back in 2009!

These shots are the during and how the room looked just before we renovated!

Flaky paint work. The 80+ years of paint layers which we added to.

deconstruction phase

sanding and scraping phase

Some gratuitous shirtless Jason shots. For the fans! Don't thank me.

This is a before shot of the room when it was tidy (which was practically never!) in 2010.  Mouldy ceilings and tired colour scheme.

The room as it was a month ago. A great big mess!

So, what do you think?

If you want to find out the details of how we transformed the room, tune in for the next blog post!

Long weekend and a winner

Long weekends around here affords us more time to paint. Sad.

The louvre doors for the boys' bedroom are finished. And look sensational.

the first of the louvre doors were reinstalled on the weekend. It looks so good.

The painting of the side stairs is also very nearly finished.

the trestles are out again. The ceiling to the stairs are painted. Just have to finish painting the guttering.

I didn't take a shot of it but under the house Jason started painting the VJ sheeting that he put up back in June.

Also in a burst of Martha Stewart' ism, I got into Spring cleaning mode and started packing away all our winter gear. Perhaps prematurely as it is quite cold tonight!!

freshly washed retro blankets being stored away until next year

But the big news around here is that the winner of the Masters Home Improvement $500 gift voucher is JenJenQld! I contacted Jenny this weekend to let her know the good news and of course she was overjoyed. She has some exciting plans on what to spend her vouchers on which I will share with you soon.

A big thank you to everyone who entered the competition. It is so sad that there can only be one winner...and if it was up to me I'd make you all winners! Thanks again.

More painting in the dark

Jason started his second job tonight and is painting the louvre cupboard doors in the garage. He's wearing his hi-vis uniform, probably to illuminate the night time painting. 

Apparently, so I've been told by the man himself, wearing long sleeves and pants makes it easier for Jason to wash up afterwards. He used  to have to pick paint out of his chest hairs when he went shirtless. Our water bill has reduced substantially in the last quarter.

Fun, fun, fun at the Sow's Ear.

  

Painting undercoat on the timber louvre doors

Storage, cushions and meatballs

We did a quick trip to IKEA today...that is, with the kids in tow as it is the Spring school holidays. I know. What was I thinking?

Since we've been busily working on the boys' room, we needed an extra IKEA wire storage thingy for the boys' built in cupboards...but do you think I could find the one I was looking for? Unless you know the name of the design, you're stuffed!

The system we've used in the past wasn't on display and I went searching for it online but couldn't for the life of me find it. Admittedly, I was quite confident I would find it on the shelves...again what was I thinking?

In the end, I bought a completely different storage 'solution'... but failed to make sure it would fit in the cupboards. And wouldn't you know it, after 'allen keying' it into its form the stupid thing is too deep for the cupboard by a a couple of centimetres. Aye, yai, yai!

Maybe I can use it for when we renovate the laundry...because I don't fancy taking it back without all the original packing.

Anyway, all was not lost. I let the younger boys choose a cushion each for their room.

ikea cushions which the boys chose

Also, tonight we're having Swedish meatballs for dinner. (Guess who couldn't be bothered doing the grocery shopping? IKEA food will just have to do) I've never had them before, I hope they're ok...

Hoping the Kottbullars are an ok dinner option!

Just one final thing. The Master's promotion I've been spruiking here ends tonight. You can win $500 worth of vouchers to undertake your own refurbishment project. Click here to win. There's only 30 or so entries, so your odds of winning are great.

It is such a useful prize...I know that we've put our vouchers to good use...and here is a sneaky peek of part of the boys' room.

boys' room - still need to finalise a few things before it is completely done.

Pineapple series: The Salad Bowl

It's back. Yes, the much neglected Pineapple Series, which makes you salivate, is back. I don't know for how long I can keep this up, as I've finally used my last tin of pineapple in the pantry...but I've been inspired, so perhaps you will see more...

Today's tasty recipe is from my Pineapple bible, Golden Circle Tropical Recipe book circa 1965. A simple little concoction that you can just throw together when you have a hankering for something more than just plain old salad.

It's called The Salad Bowl...with such a serious name, it is clearly THE one and only salad. It's on page 15 under 'Lunch in the tropics'.

The Salad Bowl.
I upped the colour saturation on this image. Tinned pineapples don't look as luminous as they did back in the day.

Jason was working his little heart out today on the boys' room renovation. I knew I had to pull out all stops for a wholesome lunch when I heard him cursing and cussing at the windows. So out came the Pineapple recipe book and my monkey wood serving ware to bring back the joy.

The Salad Bowl
Ingredients:
15 oz can of Sliced Pineapple (in Syrup)
1 lettuce
1 cucumber
1 onion (optional)
250 grams tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes)
salad dressing

Method:
Drain pineapple slices and cut in halves. Wash and crisp lettuce, break into thumb-size pieces. Peel and cut cucumber into finger lengths (I used Lebanese cucumbers which I didn't peel) . Cut tomatoes in quarters. Slice onion finely. Wipe wooden salad bowl with warm olive oil then rub with cut clove of garlic (I didn't have garlic so I just oiled the bowl instead). At serving time arrange prepared vegetables in bowl. Toss and add dressing.

Jason tucking in to the salad.

Verdict: A tick of approval. Jason said that it was a nice, fresh meal for a warm Spring's day and was a good contrast to the pork spare ribs which it accompanied. He was much happier after the meal.

I must admit this dish is pretty much plain old salad with pineapple in it. But it is a recipe which totally justified the use of my timber monkey wood bowls I have accumulated recently. Win. It's also good to try something different to keep things interesting around here!

And in terrific news, it seems I am not the only blogger to be dabbling in the world of the Golden Circle Tropical Recipe book. You must check out these hilarious posts by Lucy Violet Vintage and Hung up on Retro.

Go on. Pineapples are en vogue.