Beach Shack Renovation Three

With 12 family members having access to the shack (two currently living in Berlin), it seemed sensible to streamline Granddad's amount of furniture and have more than a main bed and two hideous foam mattresses.
We decided on a Queen bed in the main bedroom, a double bunk in the second bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room.

The new furniture was bought as part of yet another shopping spree by my mother and aunt, but it was left to other members of the family to assemble it.

...and the three year old to test its possibilities as a tent by hanging a sheet from the upper bed over the lower one.

It was decided that she was too young for the top bunk and yet too clever at climbing up the ladder by herself, and so the rungs were removed for the time being.



To compliment the very colourful curtains, make the most of the opportunity to do some interior decorating with vibrancy as opposed to the whites and off-whites with which most people decorate their houses, and add vibrancy to what is essentially a summer beach shack, we went with the most outrageous sheets for the beds.

 

The discussion of what to do with the kitchenette unit was lengthy, though as one of the two decision makers insisted on keeping it, the suggestions of the rest of us are virtually unheard. It's currently getting a new paint job and a patch up as the green and cream no longer goes with the decor.

In the kitchen we decided on a buffet unit for more storage (can never have too much storage) with a smaller under-bench fridge. 

The former was put together from flat pack (like the rest of the furniture) while the fridge was an amazing bargain buy from Ebay. 

Beach Shack Renovation One
Beach Shack Renovation Two

Beach Shack Renovation Four

An Open Garden plan

Just the other weekend, Mum and I disappeared off to Fremantle to check out a private garden opened to the public as part of Open Gardens Australia.

An indecipherable recipe - Baton Sale/Salty Biscuits

At that time of the year when Kahk and Cornetti made their appearance at Granddad's, a form of savoury biscuits also appeared. My sister and I would eat them, but they weren't the thing we'd make a bee line for. 

Instead they were left for Mum, solid savoury sticks with cumin seeds mixed throughout that she would nibble on, as happily as we would devour the Kahk. 

Sprig Cotton Sun Dress

This was the fabric I decided I could definitely wear and therefore shouldn't leave in Spotlight:

Mystery of the Silver Container

Yesterday, Mum and I headed into town to check out a small exhibition of antique Georg Jensen pieces. We'd been exceedingly fortunate to even hear about it though a jewellery designer friend who happens to work at Georg Jensen, because it was not advertised anywhere.

Sculptures by the Sea - 2015

I know it finished a couple of weeks ago but I've been busy, or lazy...

Mum and I headed down on the final afternoon to check out the sculptures and in my case, critique some of them at least. 

The weather was beautiful, neither too hot nor too windy, in fact, perfect for wandering across the sand and then rewarding ourselves with frozen yoghurt. 

Breakfast Dessert batter pudding (Clafoutis)

I haven't made a clafoutis in ages, but upon raiding the fridge decided it was the perfect way to use a number of old and wrinkled nectarines.

Illuminated Rabbits of the South Perth foreshore

I first saw the rabbits in London, in and around Royal Festival Hall. One of them lay outside the door lazily ignoring the stream of people entering the hall. The others were indoors (out of the rain) wedged into the foyer between the pillars and cantilevered upper levels.
Though they had space, they still managed to look cramped and somewhat bored.

Recently, and somewhat appropriately,  they migrated to Perth and are spending this week on Sir James Mitchell Park enjoying the fresh air and views of the city. Managed by a number of staff, they are open to the elements and to the visitors who swarm all around them and crawl between their front legs.

Sunshine sundress

Combining my preference for 1950s/1960s style dresses, my growing collection of appropriately aged patterns and a desire to replace an old yellow cotton sundress, I rustled up a new wrap around dress in a becoming shade of yellow.

Beach Shack Renovation Two

When we finally got our hands on the beach shack and could implement our own vision on the place things started to change. Mum and her sister had the final say, but suggestions were tossed around and pressures were exerted to ensure some things were removed for good.

With access to the skip bins we were using to clean out Granddad's home, my cousin and I made a trip down to remove any and all of the larger pieces that could be fitted into the skips.

The kitchen counter was dismantled and it's complete destruction relieved a lot of built up tension and frustration as it too went in a skip bin.

With hygiene issues of some concern, we took great pleasure in tossing all of the old, used plastic kitchenware. Bin bags were filled over and in moments of hesitation, the response was always 'bin it'. Given how cheap kitchen utensils are at Kmart, and how long these pieces had been sitting here, we weren't willing to risk it. Besides, Granddad had virtually new stuff at his house that we could easily rehouse here instead of sending to the Op-shops.

The beds were dismantled and thrown away, along with all the other excess furniture, chairs and mildew-ing beach towels. It was rather nice to get a true idea of the size of the shack and discuss what we would be able to achieve with it.

With the vast majority of the contents removed it was time for a lick of paint. Something bold, with a little bit of brightness but without the fading properties of the former colours.

We'd already spent considerable time perusing paints as by then we'd repainted the inside, outside and outhouses at Granddad's. With some discussion, we reached a decision. I have a decent eye for colour and one that closely matches my aunt. Mother on the other hand has far more muted tastes.

Between the three of us we came up with grey and red, with furniture in black and a golden pine.

With the paint chosen, we went fabric shopping for the curtains. We'd been looking for something that incorporated the grey and red but wasn't too nautical or too depressing. The shade of red had to be right, and it couldn't really have a cream or blue background as neither would work with the grey walls. After raiding every fabric shop we could think of and not finding anything bright and colourful enough we finally ended on a delightful choice from Ikea.

13 metres later and we now had to measure, hem and sew these 12 curtains.

With Mum busy and my aunt having no skill on the sewing machine, I undertook the actual sewing of the curtains. However my aunt was roped in to help measure and cut, before Mum ironed the pieces down and I raced them through the machine. There may have been a few arguments as to how long the curtains needed to be and by how much they should overhang the edges of the windows to ensure they blocked out as much light as possible.

Now time for the furniture...


Beach Shack Renovation One

Beach Shack Renovation Three
Beach Shack Renovation Four