Saturday 12 October 2013

40 weeks to go... and Christmas musings

Now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as walls are reconfigured, I am starting to get a little bit excited about what the rooms might look like when they are finished


Isn't this Mary McDonald attic room divine? I am using it as the inspiration for my office, although currently it looks like this



But it definitely has potential! Especially the exposing of the brick fireplace.



and just look at the trap door now in the roof for my widow's walk (also known informally by me as the new location of the  Friday at Four drinks rooftop bar!)


I love the view from this floor of the city between the HH roofs

 

and Churchie looks good too, especially as Brisbane is abloom with the purple of the jacaranda trees


In fact, maybe I will refer to the new HH logo as jacaranda purple - since it was developed in October when I believe the jacaranda trees in Brisbane are at their most spectacular


Just look at these shots of Brisbane awash with jacaranda purple




The attic dormers are receiving lots of love and attention too


As the week wore on, it was becoming increasingly clear to me that the Mary McDonald dream may, in fact, be just a perfect inspiration for my favourite room in the house - see


and in a sad look back, this was the room after the fire


I went on a Houzz rampage (got to love that website) and was inspired by many other study and attic areas too




the possibilities are endless, if only the budget was too! I am not the million dollar decorator unfortunately!  But I digress, let's go back to the reality check of Week 40 (and counting down) and what things looked like at the beautiful HH 


Rendering the fire damaged walls which had been stripped to their brick bones was serious work

But very productive


Of course, with all the action about the house, Superstar Tea Cosy could not stay away and decided to pay a site visit just to see what everyone was up to - she checked in on the builder boys during their morning tea break

She disrupted the very diligent Lauren at work 



and made a nuisance of herself with our very new staff member - meet Michelle


she fraternised with the archive files

and did an audit of the newly re-painted bedrooms

She paid a personal visit to the demolition zones


and even donned protective clothing to ensure safety first!

She enjoyed a random toilet stop on a toilet which simply appeared in the middle of the garden!


but her particular interest was the render and plaster team and she spent many an hour with them



She became the welcoming committee for the newly arrived on site insulation


and provided the farewell committee for the wrought iron railings which were dispatched for repair


but in highly exciting news - she finally found someone on site who would give her some time of day - Thanks Kev, I hope you and STC will be eternally happy together - just don't get too attached as she is as flighty as they come and when the next worker bee walks in who gives her the eye, you bet she will run off again - that is just the kind of girl she is!

In other HH news - We were thrown out of our office to make way for a verandah
These now demolished cupboards were the very ones PA HH painstakingly contacted on her first week at HH
now gone!
The price of progress!
In other planning news, I'm thinking HH needs a Christmas tree so I spent some of the week planning - and handpicked this pine in the front garden as the tree of choice
My inspiration is this beautiful bundle of light fantastic


This is the gorgeous Christmas tree outside the Palace Hotel  in New York (also known by Miss HH as the Gossip Girl hotel)  - it is spectacular


This photo was taken at Christmas 2011 with our friends the family Higgins - all the girls were channelling Blair and Serena from the Gossip Girls series!


and I was channelling their mum (and failing!) Anyway, I love the tree and I think there should be a Palace version at HH this Christmas - so I am onto it - stay tuned!


 It is only 10 weeks until Christmas! So I had better hotfoot this decision!
Have to go and do my leg of the 40km walk to help autism and AEIOU - Check out our WANTZ team on the AEIOU walk here
x HH


16 comments:

  1. What a lovely post HH
    That MMc study is beautiful,Ive been dreaming of a bedroom I saw painted in that blue,it had pops of coral in cushions.Such beautiful colours
    Aren't the Jacarandas just so gorgeous,I wish I had one out the front of my house,that first image is beautiful.
    Gosh there is so much happening at HH.Time is really flying.
    Ooooh I cannot wait to see what you do w your Christmas Tree!
    Thanks for sharing all of your exciting progress
    Have a great week in that divine old home
    X A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks A and this week has been huge huge huge - I will need the whole weekend to simply write the post! Was just up in the study and it is looking SO beautiful. But so many decisions exhaust me! Have a lovely weekend, I'm working on the tree and a big sign goes up next week so stay tuned! x HH

      Delete
  2. I love that you support AEIOU-such an amazing charity. I love their work! Have any of your design choices changes since the fire, or will it look fairly similar to your original plan? x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree Ness, the walk was fantastic. Planning to get a bigger team together for new year for such a great cause. And yes, the plans have changed heaps since the original plan. everyone says you should live in a house a year before you change anything. I might need to live in HH 10 years. But the overall plan is roughly the same - but I changed my mind from smaller houses to one big community residence only after I moved in, and with the fire damaging so much, I guess we have moved towards restoration with some twists! One thing has not changed though and that is protecting and preserving the original house and structure, making sure it maintains its commitment to women. it is a great question, I might use it for a post if you don't mind! x HH

      Delete
  3. Hello Marissa- 3rd time lucky? Maybe a 'Hello and Best Wishes' will get through. Bye for Now Sue Dollery

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One 'S' or two!

      Delete
    2. Oh Sue, forgive me! I got your beautiful note after the fire and can you believe that I still have a pile that I have committed to writing personally too (you are in the pile) - I love that you wrote and that you have been committed to getting through. Thank you - would LOVE to see you someday. and wait for that thank you letter! it will happen, I promise! xxx HH

      Delete
    3. Great to catch up. It is lovely to be able to see repairs in motion via your blog spot. Best wishes to all. Bye for now - mature age P Floor person.

      Delete
    4. we are all mature age P floor people and I still see some of our vintage - you are obviously not too far away - do you pop my way sometimes? would love to introduce you to HH in person x HH

      Delete
  4. Hello Marisa -3rd time lucky? Maybe a 'Hello and Best Wishes' will get through
    Bye for Now Sue Dollery

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cannot wait to see it!
    Waiting to see the beautiful FF tree too,I'm hoping you both will inspire me to get cracking on the Chrissy decs
    Have fun creating
    X A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well A we know we can't compete with the FF tree. Mine might not be quite as exquisite, but it will be big! Can't help that! And I suspect that hers might be up a bit before mine. I will reveal it here first when it is due to happen and will await your critique! x HH

      Delete
  6. Two months before Christmas! How's the work on your attic office progressing? Your inspiration design looks nice, though I can't see everything. Does it have a window? I think it will look better with a skylight. Joann @ AJCRoofing.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I know, only 2 months Joann - so much to do before then! Attic progressing well. Yes it has 3 dormers - no skylight but there is a widows watch platform above the room which makes a skylight difficult - but provides a great platform for after work drinks - can't have everything I guess! x HH

    ReplyDelete
  8. Time flies fast. It will be Christmas in what, less than two weeks? Is the attic work complete? What design have you chosen? How does it look now? Sorry for too many questions, but I would love to know and get some inspirations on how to design such limited space. Kate @ AquaDuctRoofing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kate. Attic is nearing completion. I will be posting the results soon. Thanks for asking x HH

      Delete