Saturday, February 15, 2014

Valentine's Day In The Bedroom


Long-suffering readers of The Hedge are well aware that this 70's house is full of weird architectural foibles. Beams traverse every single room & when we moved in 8 years ago, they were still in their rough, raw, murky brown, untouched state. They aren't just one big piece of timber, which quite frankly would have been a dream to deal with. Oh no, they all are 2 big individual timber planks bolted together & that creates one major problem, they are open at the bottom, just as these images from the main bedroom illustrate.



This has given every spider & bug within a 20 km radius an open invitation to set up home & we are fed up. MOTH's given up counting how many times something furry has dropped into his open mouth in the middle of the night during one of his snoring sessions. So 7 weeks ago, after a particularly nasty incident, he had a hissy fit & decided to seal up the bottom of them all, starting in the main bedroom. Uttering those famous last words, 'I'll crack on Mills & get it done over the weekend', 7 weeks later he's just finished. 


  
And this is the reason the job has gone on so long......these windows. Again a foible of an architect smoking something not bought in a flip packet over the counter we reckon. Every bedroom & the family room upstairs has this weird arrangement, a bank of 3 windows which pull out for airflow. All well & good you may say, except over the years the timber has become water damaged, swollen & rotten & impossible to open. There is a big window at the bottom that is easy to open & lets in the cool breezes, so we could really do without the top 3.



And just like the open-bottomed beams, they have become an absolute haven for the extended family of the spiders & bugs already warm & cosy. So just as he was finishing, he came hurtling out of the bedroom waving his arms. 'That's it, I'm gonna shove a big piece of plasterboard over those windows & don't say a thing Mills!' 


And so he did, during the longest, most intense heatwave we've had in 120 years! 


The beams are so much better, these are the ones directly over the bed head. No more screeching MOTH in the middle of the night.



The bit over the curtains is much improved, good job mate. 


 Enclosed beams = happy Millie.



While he was on a roll, he also ripped out the glass window over the door leading to the dodgy en-suite (that baby's the next project!!) & replaced it. A fiddly project, but well worth the effort. Ta mate.    

And on a really exciting note to end, The Hedge has another engagement. Son #3 popped the question to his girl while on a trip to the Grand Canyon on Thursday & she said yes! So it looks like we'll have 2 weddings this year, yippee!! It's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy. xx

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7 comments:

  1. Love your work moth.

    Your reasoning for the 'architectural' elements of your home had me laughing and remembering when I first bought my 50's fibro, I reckon that guy was taking someone else's medication.

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  2. Dear Millie,

    1 - Love the solid beams. MOTH has done a stirling job (no pun intended).
    2. Congrats on the engagement.
    3. What a peaceful bedroom.

    Look forward to seeing the results of the next mission.
    Give my regards to MOTH,
    David.

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  3. I don't understand what the person was thinking who designed your house :\
    Modern 70s?.... 60?
    What you and MOTH are doing is truly a miracle.
    I'm always astonished by the before and after shots.
    I've heard about your spiders. I won't say anything more about the topic because just that much gave me the willies. I can handle the small ones, but its the opposite of the small ones that ......... You and MOTH have really out done yourselves. I am so looking forward to ringing you doorbell with a vase full of hydrangeas and a case of stubbies. Then I can get the full tour. You will be the first to know when we book the trip. Take care, I miss you. Heidi

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  4. Hello Millie - love the title of this post. MOTH certainly knows the way to your heart!! The bedroom looks SO Good. A lot of those architectural gems from the 70's have similar problems with the raked ceilings... I can remember in first year Uni, the lecturers telling us in a design studio that we would graduate and realise that curved walls did not make for good architecture. We were all very determined in first year to do something different, and curves were the thing in the 90's. Sadly, they're right. Most rooms are far easier to live in when they're rectangular (and don't have odd shapes with windows/ ceiling lines etc, etc). Congratulations on another Wedding for your family - definitely on a roll, with only 2 sons left on the market! xx

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  5. Congratulations on the engagement and the beams! Well done MOTH, what a brilliant improvement. The room is totally transformed, oh how we love the power of paint! :)

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  6. Congratulations on the engagement and the beams! Well done MOTH, what a brilliant improvement. The room is totally transformed, oh how we love the power of paint! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This online journal site is really cool! How was it made !

    utility kilts

    ReplyDelete

And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden

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