staining the fence...pt.3 nearly there!

I finished the back fence today and also managed to do a few panels just outside our ensuite (also known as my 'Day Spa' lol

I have to admit, it's been a mammoth task but i can see the end is near and I should have it all completed by...I reckon about Tuesday

I can't believe how much it's changed the whole look of the yard especially the pool area, but even looking form the alfresco now gives it a whole new appeal

I reckon my plants have had a growth spurt in the last couple of weeks too, I can't see the pool (like I use to) when I take a shot from the back yard to get both huts in :( but i guess that's a good thing to know that perhaps i really do have a green thumb lol

Here's a few shots of what i done today:

here's where I got up to yesterday..pretty much inline with the hut

can you see how good it's going to look (once it's all done) from this end?

almost the same angle...this was taken back in September last year!

don't you just lurve my zen garden now? and it's right outside my ensuite!

 what a calming and relaxed view now

all 14 panels along the back fence are now done..Ive just got the left side to do...phew!

see what I mean...as I mentioned above, I can't see my pool :(

check out this old shot...and there is a pool!

look how small my plants were 

wow, this shot was taken before we did the deck in the second hut

god I'm a legend...bahahahaha

Staining the fence...pt.2

Yay, I've finally finished one side woohoo!

I was sooooo exhausted yesterday (Tuesday) that I had to have a rest and let my right arm recover

I finally finished the first side (on Monday) which I like to call the pool side and it looks amazing even if I do say so myself

I just love how it just makes everything surrounding it POP! 

Even my garden looks sooooo much more tropical now that the background is darker...don't you agree?

I managed to go over the deck and retaining walls again just to give them that extra boost of darkness  and just love how it's even lifted the look of the tiles

I can't wait to see it all completed and how it'll make our (already) Oasis feel more like we're on a holiday in the Bahamas! 

here's a view from the alfresco looking toward the back corner of the yard

looking from the back...don't mind my patchy grass, that's where the hubs has taken out some weeds

OMG, can you imagine what the view will look like from the bar area when the back is done?

here's a wider shot

what a difference...here's what the fence looked like before

at almost the same angel as the first pic, you can see how much the plants have florished!

omg, the fence just looks so plain

such a big difference hey?...wow!

Staining the timber fence pt. 1

I had a moment of pure wait for it....'mental madness' when I decided to do the unthinkable last Friday...staining the fence, all 100 plus metres of it, am I crazy or what?

All by hand I might add, no spray guns for me...lucky I love painting!

I started by staining behind the Buddha in the pool area first which was bloody hard with the gardens already in and getting established! I tell you it certainly wasn't easy getting behind some of the plants especially the Yukkas and I was literally scratched beyond recognition (maybe that's exaggerated a bit) and had my eyes almost poked out.. honestly!

But the end result was astounding to say the least and I'm so happy with it and cant believe how much it's changed the whole look again.

It's so Oriental looking now and if it didn't represent paradise before...then it truly does now!

I cant wait to see it all finished 

I completed the pool area by Saturday afternoon

By Sunday afternoon, I had done another 3 full panels towards the back fence

I took this shot with the mini iPad so its not that good but can you just imagine how awesome the fence will look once it's all complete?

I have another 4 panels to go before i start on the back...omg it's gunna take me forever!

Ta da...

It's surprising what you can do with a little bit of imagination and creativity!

It helps if you can find what you need for nothing or very little spending and I found both!

I bought the pine bedside off eBay for $20 and the hardwood dining suite was given to me by our lovely neighbours who was selling it on eBay to which no-one had bid for.

And he cut it to size for me since he's a builder and has all the tools...woohoo!

Because the wall that I wanted it to go on was 3300mm and the table being 1900mm x 1000mm, cutting it down the centre to give 2 halves (width now 500mm each) would've been too long, so he took 250mm off the end to make the 2 halves at 1650mm x 500mm each which was perfect as the bedside would be the support for the centre.

Since there wasn't going to be anything heavy on the desks, I felt that there was no need to put any battens on the back wall however, I put a batten on each end to keep it stable

By the time I got around to sanding it last Thursday, I finished it completely by Saturday afternoon and I think it's turned out pretty damn good considering I had no help!

It took a lot of elbow grease I have to admit, and quite a few sanding discs too...phew!

But I'm flabbergasted by how much more room it gives me and how it makes the room look sooooooo much bigger now!

Oh, and I had to pop on some 40mm round timber feet on the bedside to raise the height that the table would've been with the legs on 

I also scavenged around my neighbourhood for some timber (saves me buying it) that I could use as a batten to fix the top to the side walls, a very accommodating tradie allowed me to hunt in his rubbish pile to find the right one...a 1metre piece of 4x2...purrrrrfect!

I cut that at 450mm x 2 and fixed them to the walls using (3) toggle bolts in each as the studs didn't line up

I had to cut a piece out (on either side) of the decorative top on the drawers (using a jig-saw) to allow me to fit the facing on as i didn't want any gaps

I also cut a hole for all the cords in the top with a hole saw and placed plastic cover on it

I'm really happy with the colour of the stain and it matches up perfectly with the buffet that I bought off eBay a couple of weeks back see here

After putting it all together on Sunday, I went and done a little decor shopping and seen these frames at K-Mart for $6 ea and bought some wooden letters (x & o) from Spotlight too and just painted them black and white and hot glued them to the (painted) backing of the frame

I printed off a nice saying that I've always loved..."If you can dream it, you can do it" how fitting is that saying?

I printed off black and white stripes to put in this one














I also bought some floating shelves from Bunnings @ $21 ea

So here is a reminder of what the room looked like before...

looks pretty small and somewhat compacted hey?

So the end tally for my new home office is...

Table - $0
Bedside drawer - $20
Buffet - $50
Floating shelves x2 - $42
Orbital sander - $79
Frames - $24
Material - $10
Wooden lettering - $13.50
Toggle bolts - $9
Timber batten - $0
Timber feet - $20
Elbow grease - priceless!

Bal = $267.50
Less sale of old desk - $250

Total cost = $17.50