REVEALING THE BEACH COTTAGE REAR WALL

Hey there. We're baaaaack!

Can you believe that it's been 18 months since we purchased this beautiful little 1850s bluestone cottage located in the cutest little town on the south-west coast of Victoria, Australia? Most of last year was spent renovating the Port Fairy cottage, and the later part of the year and this year has been purely dedicated to the extension (read concrete foundation, framework, plumbing...) Oh, how rewarding it's been so far, rediscovering the beauty that has been hidden for the past 50 (or so) years.

This post is all about the rear wall of the cottage, and in order to appreciate where it is now (photo above), it's good to see what it looked like when we first saw it. Are you ready?

That first photo. There's almost no words. Except for these: lime wash, sickly yellow paint, blue concrete floor, louvres, indoor gutters...

When we first bought this little cottage, the rear wall was covered by the lean-to which contained the cottage's original kitchen (left), bathroom (right), laundry (behind the bathroom) and toilet (behind the kitchen), let's not forget the indoor/outdoor gutters. (And yes, we've been hiding that lovely louvre window until now!)

Now that the kitchen is in the original cottage, we decided that the old kitchen space would make a great back entry with an outdoor shower, and a European Laundry on the inside (photos to come). The morning sun comes into where this beautiful wall lies, and so it will be a sun room, or a second living space (photos also to come).

If you're interested in the details, here is how it was done:

• The lean-to was completely removed to make way for the concrete slab.
• Once the concrete slab was laid, and the framework up, the lime wash and paint was chipped away from the rear wall using a chisel, hammer and some scrapers (this took about a week, and a few helpers too).
• Each stone was scrubbed with a wire brush to remove the leftover lime wash. Some was kept for a little effect that we quite liked.
• The old lime mortar between the stones was crumbling so we scraped it out and re-pointed the wall.
• New mortar was mixed and placed between the gaps. The collapsed stonework was repaired, and the mortar trimmed.
• Any mortar that wasn't quite removed from the edges of the stones at the above stage, was scraped again. The whole wall was scrubbed with an acid solution and then rinsed with water.
• The walls were painted with three coats of FeastWatson Paving & Sandstone Sealer.
• The hearth was painted with two coats of FeastWatson Slate & Pebble Sealer.
• The louvre window was take out and replaced with a second hand window that suits the era a little better. It was sanded, and then painted using a 3 in 1 undercoat, then British Paints H20 Enamel in Dulux Antique White USA.

This job was as biggie. I think that for a month (between other jobs) I just chipped. Friends came to stay. They chipped too. But here we are - starting to do the finishing bits. It's really so exciting now.

This is part of our renovating series. If you would like to see all the renovating posts, you can do so here. I wrote about living without a bathroom, toilet and laundry, and also talked about surviving renovations with kids. We hope you enjoy seeing the process as much as we have enjoyed doing it!

Are you a fan of exposed walls? So... what do you think?

ONE GLORIOUS SUMMER.

It's hardly over. In fact, it's well into its prime: a delightful, steamy summer. Those long, hot days begging for a dive into salty water, icy poles dying to be licked, and adventures waiting to be had.

I've decided that blogging isn't a summer sport. Why, I've totally ignored this space while we have been jumping rocks, reading books, squishing our toes in the sand, and devouring the sights and smells of this beautiful season. (Oh, and doing a bit of renovating and building too.)

Things return to 'normal' tomorrow. I'm sad. I'm happy. School and work always brings mixed emotions. I want that eternal feeling of relax, I want to dwell in the mess with my children, and not give a damn. I also can't wait for rhythms of routine and structure. I can't wait to clear out the snowstorm in each room, and clear my mind and the rooms of holiday mess.

This much I know: so far we have made new memories, experienced new things, pushed ourselves to new levels. And the summer so far brings the taste of something wonderful that may remain sweet on our tongues for the rest of the year.

Are you bittersweet about school starting this week, and the holidays being over?

REVEALING THE BEACH COTTAGE: THE LIVING ROOM PART II

Hello hello! Here were are, revealing the next stage of renovations at our little beach cottage at Port Fairy. The renovations took a total of nine weeks to complete, with some more tweaks to do. We hope you delight - like we do - in this original bluestone whaler's cottage!

This room was renovated by the previous owners and so the plaster work on the walls and ceiling was good. Unfortunately, the floor needed reblocking, and some of the touches were a little dangerous (I'm thinking of the sharp corners on the tile hearth). But before I go on about the details, here is a little peek of the room before we purchased it, and beyond...

 

At first glance, the lounge room looked complete, and a lovely new fireplace was installed. Someone had also lovingly (oh, so lovingly) removed the plaster from the inside wall exposing the gorgeous bluestone. The problem was that we removed the wall between the front two rooms, which resulted in a helf-rendered wall, half an exposed one. I'm not going to lie: it was a torturous decision to either chip off the render on the other wall, or cover up the bluestone so they were the same.

Practicality and light won over. White creates space, and the bluestone, while beautiful was so very dark. Also, behind that little timber bookshelf was rubble. The wall hadn't been finished. We also ended up chipping a little render off the front of the house to see if the bluestone was worth exposing. And folks, it really is beautiful. So the outside will be all bluestone, and will make up for the room we just covered up. (We will reveal this once it's been done!)

Oh, and how cute is the original bluestone hearth? It has axe marks on it from the mid 1850s, I suspect. Can you imagine the history there?

If you're interested in the details, here is how the lounge room was done:

1. The wall between the former bedroom (now the dining room) was removed.
2. The bluestone on the inside wall was concreted over, and plastered.
3. The tile hearth underneath the fireplace was removed to reveal the original sandstone hearth (beautiful). The fireplace was removed and lowered a whole ten centimetres to have it sitting on the original hearth.
4. The heart had the paint removed and chipped off. The heart was then sealed, and a fire surround was made by my husband.
5. The walls were plastered.
6. The skirtings were removed and the floors were re-blocked. Rotten timber boards were replaced and short boards were rearranged to fit the space better. The holes where the wall was removed were patched.
7. The floorboards were sanded, the gaps between the boards were filled with black caulk, and cleaned. The boora holes were filled with teak wood filler, and the floor was sealed using three coats of FeastWatson Floorproof Pro Ultra High Gloss Floor Finish .
8. Once the floor was sealed, my husband built the cupboard carcasses beside each side of the fireplace and we ordered unpainted doors with the same Shaker profile as the cupboards in the dining room and the kitchen. He also recycle the timber cupboard in the front wall to make the timber shelves for the cupboards.
9. Skirtings with a more traditional profile were fitted and glued.
10. The fireplace, window, ceiling and walls were re-plastered. The cupboard doors, architraves and skirtings were sanded and undercoated (using a 3 in 1 undercoat, then British Paints H20 Enamel in Dulux Antique White USA). The walls were also sanded and painted in the same colour (in a low sheen). The exposed timber of the shelves were sealed with gloss Estapol, and the ceiling was re-painted using ceiling white.
11. Holland blinds were measured and installed.

This room was done between other jobs, and seemed like a work in progress for what seemed like a long time. It was especially challenging seeing it was our living space. All four of us slept in the kids bedroom until this room was finished, and while the kids bedroom was being done, we all slept in this room. Dismantling the beds and that big double bunk was super fun (and I can't begin to tell you how thrilling all four of us sleeping in the same bed was!).

This is the sixth post of the finished renovations (the whole series can be found here). Thank you for letting us share our renovations with you. The next part of the beach cottage will be revealed next week.

Would you have kept the bluestone wall, or would you have plastered over it?

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RENOVATING THE BEACH COTTAGE: FINDING HIDDEN TREASURES.

See those gorgeous bottles up there? It is the beginning of a lovely collection we've discovered under this Port Fairy whaler's cottage since we started renovating. Since taking this photo, we have another cute little bottle to add, and there are a few that don't fit here because they don't stand up (they have the most strange curved bases). We have also found some china, marbles, and broken trinkets. Nothing worth selling and retiring on, but it's so much fun to discover a little bit of history, and imagine how it ended up under the house.

Oh, and see the lovely little bottles in the shelf below our collection? That was a little gift from my sweet friend Kelly. She bought it specifically for our beach cottage. She thought it would look nice. She was right, don't you think?

Have you renovated and found hidden treasures? Do tell!

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REVEALING THE BEACH COTTAGE: THE LIVING ROOM PART I

Renovating this little beach cottage at Port Fairy has been so much fun! Okay, it's been hard to live and renovate in such a tiny space, but the satisfaction of seeing the finished product has been worth the inconvenience. Now that we are now extending at the rear of the cottage (the roof is now on, and some windows are in!), the renovations of this original 1850s bluestone cottage is almost complete.

This dining room was originally the master bedroom. Not exactly super-sized, but it had been partly renovated before we purchased the cottage. We are still using the space as our bedroom, but it's now a much nicer space!

Sometimes I think it's good to start from our first look at the house (when it was for sale), and work our way to how it looks today. Shall we take a peek then?

As I said before, this room was originally a very small master bedroom. No, it was tiny. There wasn't even room for two side tables. When we first bought this cottage, the original timber floor was terribly cupped, complete with bora damage. It took two days of using a floor sander diagonally to flatten the floor. While the floor has come up nicely (thanks to the lovely original thick and wide floorboards), the floor is not quite finished. There are plans to fix more of the bora damage, and top with another two coats of sealer.

For the period that we don't have another bedroom, our bed went straight back into this space. But when we finish the extension, this will be the dining room.

If you're interested in details, here is how it was done:

1. The bedroom door was removed, and a large opening was cut out of the wall, creating a window/servery between this room and the kitchen. The lower space of the door was re-plastered. (For more details about the kitchen renovation, see here and here .)
2. A shelf was made to sit on the servery.
3. The skirtings were removed and the floors were re-blocked. Rotten timber boards were replaced and short boards were rearranged to fit the space better. The holes where the wall was removed were patched.
4. While the kitchen fireplace shelves were re-built, the wall cupboard was removed and resized so it sat inside the alcove. A new door with Shaker profile (the same as the kitchen) replaced the old cupboard door.
5. The floorboards were sanded, the gaps between the boards were filled with black caulk, and cleaned. The boora holes were filled with teak wood filler, and the floor was sealed using three coats of FeastWatson Floorproof Pro Ultra High Gloss Floor Finish.
6. A split system cooler/heater was installed. Extra power points were put in, and switches re-worked. 
7. Skirtings with a more traditional profile were fitted and glued. The window, ceiling and walls were re-plastered.
8. Support strips were placed under both sides of the exposed timber shelf servery.
9. The cupboard door, support strips, architraves and skirtings were sanded and undercoated (using a 3 in 1 undercoat, then British Paints H20 Enamel in Dulux Antique White USA). The walls were also sanded and painted in the same colour (in a low sheen). The exposed timber of the shelf was sealed with gloss Estapol, and the ceiling was re-painted using ceiling white.
10. Holland blinds were measured and installed.

This room was done between other jobs, and seemed like a work in progress for what seemed like a long time. It was especially challenging seeing it was our living space. All four of us slept in the kids bedroom until this room was finished. I can't begin to tell you how much fun that was!

This is the fourth post of the finished renovations (the whole series can be found here). Thank you for letting us share our renovations with you. The next part of the beach cottage will be revealed next week.

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