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Well OK, we moved in over 2 months ago now, a day before NZ went into COVID19 Delta lockdown. This put a crimp in getting the internet physically connected, so for a couple of weeks I was commuting back to the rental which still had a fibre connection. This was actually in breach of level 4 rules, but I wasn't changing bubbles anywhere and it was a very safe drive from one end of the motorway to the other with little traffic. E came with me once online learning started so she could access her lessons and class chats (and spend the rest of the day playing Minecraft). D. tried not to go slowly mad at home with only a data connection.
It's taken this long for me to have the downtime and energy both available to complete a post. We had a deadline for reaching a certain level of unpacking, that being the boys week down for the school holidays. Various things have been purged in the process including some bits of family furniture which were very hard to let go of. It's weird how items which came with Gladson, which I have lived with and used for 20 years I was able to pass on without a second thought but items which came from my grandparents but I personally rarely used tore at me.
There is still a garage half-full of boxes to be gone through, and the wardrobe in the spare room and some containers under beds/desks.
Anyway, the house itself.
Unfortunately landscaping did not come as part of the package. I'm currently playing a wait-and-see-what-grows game, in which if something looks like it will serve as manageable ground cover it stays. De-stoning and smoothing is probably going to be a several year project, as is cleaning up the unwanted cabbage trees / flax on the back hill (the sound barrier between us and the state highway / railway line). I have long-terms intentions to terrace this a bit and utilise the height for raised garden beds.
(Despite the hill traffic noise is a constant, even at night with big trucks and goods trains, but it is no worse than living next to a busy roads in town. It actually makes for a kind of soothing white-noise. Can't rely on the sound of a vehicle to tell us that visitors have arrived though, constant false-positives.)
~~~
Internally while smaller than we wanted the house makes use of almost every square unit and manages to not feel tiny. Internal noise is a bit of an issue, Except for the sewing room you can pretty much hear everything which means eg D. and I can't watch evening movies in the living area when E is trying to sleep in her adjacent room.
Particular areas of note are:
New appliances all round. We did make a bit of a mistake with the fridge-freezer, in that the freezer door (left) won't open all the way because wall, so D finds it a bit tricky to get into from some angles and if we want to clean out the drawers we need to pull the whole unit out. However so far it has plenty of space and we seem to be managing. Because there is actually more space and visibility in this one we are finding that leftovers don't build up as much as they used to because they are in-view when someone is hungry.
Although there is a reasonable amount of workspace and person-space (two people can get around each other comfortably), there is /not/ space to leave unwashed dishes building up and do anything else so the dishwasher is being run with great regularity. At the same time I've found this dishwasher will handle things I used to do by hand and so actually only have to handwash a sinkful every few days. The main sink itself is a good size, not as large as the one at our last rental but enough to handle a big pan or pot without issues. The second sink (with waste disposal) makes rinsing before/after washing so much easier, and has significantly reduced our green waste although I need to investigate further what things we maybe shouldn't be sending out in the grey water.
(Our council supplied green bin is actually very large which will become important later when I manage to tackle the hill of plants-we-do-not-want.)
One of our main considerations was making the house accessible in case one of us ends up mobility challenged (see also - space to move in the kitchen). The shower has two faucets and is large enough for two people to shower without bumping into each other, or one person with a seat / assistant. The water pressure is amazing :D
The bath also is large enough for two people who don't mind being in close quarters, or one larger bodied person to luxuriate. There is plenty of room around the toilet and although not originally part of the design the heated towel rail (firmly attached to stud) can serve as a handle for getting up/down.
Space constraints meant sacrificing half the double garage for D's workspace, vital to her sanity :) Here she can shut herself away from everyone as needed for peace of mind or to work/media through the night without concern for disturbing others in the house, and she finally has all her fabric organised just the way she wants it.
[Pimping, you can see more of D's work at Aurae Designs on Facebook and Instagram]
When working from home, this is where I'll be. When not - E frequently takes it over for Minecraft / Roblox with her online friends. With the desk the space is too tight for D to sit comfortably :( )
~~~
All colours (in these photos, curtains in the kids rooms are an exception) were chosen by D to be comforting/relaxing against a background of neutral.
The living area has a wall to point the projector at, and ceiling power-points / HDMI link so we can have it it of the way although we haven't installed a mount yet. This requirement does mean that the heat pump ended up not on the optimal wall.
Three bedrooms
- single - E's room, space for a desk and we've put in a bunk bed for when she has friends over.
- double - boy's room when they are down, spare room at other times.
- master - we had to drop the idea of an en-suite for both space and cost reasons but it still has a supurb walk-in wardrobe.
Power points - almost everywhere. So many power points, and the majority of them also come with USB charging ports. This has dramatically reduced the amount of power-boards and extension cables in use :D Network points in every room (and the hot water cupboard, where the router lives) except, in oversight, D's workroom :(
Folding ladder access to the roof space. Although we don't have a constructed attic space or much planking down up there yet that potential for storage is too valuable to ignore.
Hot water cylinder has fittings for both solar and wetback; although we don't have the former yet and while we've allowed space for a log burner at a later date the house is small (and should be warm) enough that will probably never happen.
Bonus photo: someone else also likes the hot water cupboard.
~~~
I had other thoughts I was going to include here, but I've lost them. A post for another time perhaps.
It's taken this long for me to have the downtime and energy both available to complete a post. We had a deadline for reaching a certain level of unpacking, that being the boys week down for the school holidays. Various things have been purged in the process including some bits of family furniture which were very hard to let go of. It's weird how items which came with Gladson, which I have lived with and used for 20 years I was able to pass on without a second thought but items which came from my grandparents but I personally rarely used tore at me.
There is still a garage half-full of boxes to be gone through, and the wardrobe in the spare room and some containers under beds/desks.
Anyway, the house itself.
Unfortunately landscaping did not come as part of the package. I'm currently playing a wait-and-see-what-grows game, in which if something looks like it will serve as manageable ground cover it stays. De-stoning and smoothing is probably going to be a several year project, as is cleaning up the unwanted cabbage trees / flax on the back hill (the sound barrier between us and the state highway / railway line). I have long-terms intentions to terrace this a bit and utilise the height for raised garden beds.
(Despite the hill traffic noise is a constant, even at night with big trucks and goods trains, but it is no worse than living next to a busy roads in town. It actually makes for a kind of soothing white-noise. Can't rely on the sound of a vehicle to tell us that visitors have arrived though, constant false-positives.)
~~~
Internally while smaller than we wanted the house makes use of almost every square unit and manages to not feel tiny. Internal noise is a bit of an issue, Except for the sewing room you can pretty much hear everything which means eg D. and I can't watch evening movies in the living area when E is trying to sleep in her adjacent room.
Particular areas of note are:
The kitchen, with walk-in corner pantry.
New appliances all round. We did make a bit of a mistake with the fridge-freezer, in that the freezer door (left) won't open all the way because wall, so D finds it a bit tricky to get into from some angles and if we want to clean out the drawers we need to pull the whole unit out. However so far it has plenty of space and we seem to be managing. Because there is actually more space and visibility in this one we are finding that leftovers don't build up as much as they used to because they are in-view when someone is hungry.
Although there is a reasonable amount of workspace and person-space (two people can get around each other comfortably), there is /not/ space to leave unwashed dishes building up and do anything else so the dishwasher is being run with great regularity. At the same time I've found this dishwasher will handle things I used to do by hand and so actually only have to handwash a sinkful every few days. The main sink itself is a good size, not as large as the one at our last rental but enough to handle a big pan or pot without issues. The second sink (with waste disposal) makes rinsing before/after washing so much easier, and has significantly reduced our green waste although I need to investigate further what things we maybe shouldn't be sending out in the grey water.
(Our council supplied green bin is actually very large which will become important later when I manage to tackle the hill of plants-we-do-not-want.)
The bathroom, with double shower, upsized bath and plenty of room to move.
One of our main considerations was making the house accessible in case one of us ends up mobility challenged (see also - space to move in the kitchen). The shower has two faucets and is large enough for two people to shower without bumping into each other, or one person with a seat / assistant. The water pressure is amazing :D
The bath also is large enough for two people who don't mind being in close quarters, or one larger bodied person to luxuriate. There is plenty of room around the toilet and although not originally part of the design the heated towel rail (firmly attached to stud) can serve as a handle for getting up/down.
D's sewing room
Space constraints meant sacrificing half the double garage for D's workspace, vital to her sanity :) Here she can shut herself away from everyone as needed for peace of mind or to work/media through the night without concern for disturbing others in the house, and she finally has all her fabric organised just the way she wants it.
[Pimping, you can see more of D's work at Aurae Designs on Facebook and Instagram]
My "hole" (D's term)
When working from home, this is where I'll be. When not - E frequently takes it over for Minecraft / Roblox with her online friends. With the desk the space is too tight for D to sit comfortably :( )
~~~
Other features:
All colours (in these photos, curtains in the kids rooms are an exception) were chosen by D to be comforting/relaxing against a background of neutral.
The living area has a wall to point the projector at, and ceiling power-points / HDMI link so we can have it it of the way although we haven't installed a mount yet. This requirement does mean that the heat pump ended up not on the optimal wall.
Three bedrooms
- single - E's room, space for a desk and we've put in a bunk bed for when she has friends over.
- double - boy's room when they are down, spare room at other times.
- master - we had to drop the idea of an en-suite for both space and cost reasons but it still has a supurb walk-in wardrobe.
Power points - almost everywhere. So many power points, and the majority of them also come with USB charging ports. This has dramatically reduced the amount of power-boards and extension cables in use :D Network points in every room (and the hot water cupboard, where the router lives) except, in oversight, D's workroom :(
Folding ladder access to the roof space. Although we don't have a constructed attic space or much planking down up there yet that potential for storage is too valuable to ignore.
Hot water cylinder has fittings for both solar and wetback; although we don't have the former yet and while we've allowed space for a log burner at a later date the house is small (and should be warm) enough that will probably never happen.
Bonus photo: someone else also likes the hot water cupboard.
~~~
I had other thoughts I was going to include here, but I've lost them. A post for another time perhaps.
