Nothing major to report, but things are starting to take shape. The tiles in the laundry have been laid, and the first and second plaster coats have been applied to all the walls and ceilings. Various patch repairs have also been done so, although the different colours make it look unfinished, the surface is already pretty good. One more coat of plaster and it will be ready for paint, although that won’t happen until after the flooring is laid.

Progress has also been made on the kitchen island light-bar/pot rack. The black walnut has been trimmed to size and I’ve cut the holes for the down lights. On Wednesday I found a place to do the metalwork, it will all be in brushed stainless steel. A few coats of tung oil has the wood looking good; I’ll keep applying thin coats until it stops being absorbed.

The cabinetry installation is scheduled for 4 to 12 September. Then it will take two weeks for the countertops to be measured, cut and installed. Hopefully during that period, the flooring will get installed and, perhaps, even the painting done. Once the countertops are in, the cooktop, sink, and laundry tub can be put in, and the plumber and electrician can finish their work. The last piece will be the glass splash backs, but that won’t stop things being functional. Looking at the grand reveal in late October.

Old bedroom door is framed in, gyprock is all up, and a nice clean work space. Floor tiles were laid in the laundry yesterday, this morning the skirting tiles go in. After this, there won’t be much visible progress until 4 September when the cabinetry installation is scheduled to begin. The gyprock joints will get plastered and some of the cornices will go up, and a couple of under-floor cabling jobs will get done this week, but that’s about it. Come back in three weeks.

A good day’s work from Jeremy, Chris and Brodie has the ceiling in place and most of the wall board in place.

On Saturday the tiler will be in to do the laundry floor.

… I’ve got James and Bailey, the electricians. A nice, neat bunch of cabling to replace the mare’s nest that was there before.

… yes, I have no ceiling!

I picked up the tiles for the laundry today, and went to see Monaro Timber about trimming the large piece of black walnut I brought back from the US. I should be able to collect that on Friday and take it to the metal fabricators to get the support/pot rack manufactured. I’ll fit three down lights in it, and it will go above the island.

Tomorrow the wall board and other construction material will be delivered, and the plumber will be in to install the ducting for the range hood. I’ve chosen a model that has the fan remote from the range hood; less noise in the kitchen. Thursday the builder will be back to install the wall board in the laundry and do some of the framing work.

Friday might be a quiet day, then the electrician will be back on Monday.

I’m wondering if I should go more minimal. Here’s a mock-up.

Penne and meatballs for dinner!

Here’s a look at the very bare laundry. It was stripped out when the new back door went in because there was some asbestos sheeting there. Once that was done, I decided to get a heat pump hot water system fitted in place of the old electric unit (thank you ACT Government for the interest free loan).

This is what the living room looked like as I was packing everything up to go into temporary storage.

And a few days later with almost everything gone.

I initially set the camera up in the corner of the living room on a table that I’m using for some living essentials – most importantly my coffee making equipment! Last evening I moved the fridge out of the kitchen and put it next to the table, and that blocked the camera view. So, the camera is now positioned toward the other corner.

The wide-angle lens does tend to fore-shorten the view, but …

The walls came down, and now it looks positively spacious! At the back are the new kitchen window and the new bi-fold door that leads out to the deck. They were fitted a week ago.

On Monday, the plumber will be here to do the rough in work in the kitchen and the laundry. And the following day, the builder will be back to pull the ceiling down in the back section. Unfortunately, there is blow-in insulation under the batts, so it’s going to be a very dusty, dirty day.