Progress of My House Makeover - Front Exterior

I was going to begin this post with a statement about 'my boxy 1930's ex-state home', however I am retracting it to describe how I am improving my little piece of 'iconic' New Zealand. I recently met a woman whose daughter is studying the history of New Zealands architecture. I was moaning about the lack of interesting architecture of my home when she informed me I owned a piece of New Zealand's history, an icon and I should embrace it. After hearing this I decided to do a little research on the history of the state homes and what I learned was quite enlightening.

Apparently the early brick, state homes were originally built for soldiers and servicemen after the war. Later, the Government decided it vastly needed to improve the standard of NZ housing and plans were drawn up to build new houses in cities around New Zealand. Eventually the Government allowed the architectural plans for these 'state homes' be released for public use. The designs were claimed to be ahead of their time and aimed at providing New Zealanders with a far better standard of living. The drafty wooden villas and Californian bungalows so sought after today, were surprisingly classed as 'sub standard', which when you think about it with their scrim and wooden framing is most likely an accurate statement. I found an interesting article about State housing from the AC archives. If your a Kiwi, you may be interested in reading more, however, I think I have probably enlightened you enough on the history of state homes and realise most are here to see my 'before' and 'after' images.

In a previous post on 'curb appeal', I wrote about my  unattractive, 'iconic' 1940's bagged, brick cottage and how I am trying to improve its aesthetics. Unfortunately I don't have an image of the original exterior paint colour. When I bought the cottage the exterior, including the windows were painted a dark blue/grey. The 'before' image is after two coats of white undercoat and two coats of Karen Walker, Foggy Grey. I drew inspiration from interior designer Andrew Melvilles' home, which he has since sold. Andrew's house was a similar era to mine and most likely after what I have recently discovered about this style of architecture, is one of the privately built homes when the Government released their plans for public use.

My initial inspiration board:

My before...

My rather boring, ex state 'iconic' house in need of a makeover

Below, progress to date...

Not yet complete, however, lighter with a sense of more space and some badly needed landscaping. 

My Bay Laurels

The small white plant will be re-planted with something that will trail down over the pots (suggestions welcome)

• Windows stripped back and painted in  Resene 'Black White'
• Addition of two topiaries and pots to front entrance
• 3 Bay Laurels which smell divine
• white river stone chips, help reflect light and create a sense of more space
• Buxus either side of front entrance. The right side re-located from the neighbours so not yet established and clipped properly
• Star Jasmine to espalier in a diamond shape around wire to left side of the house

Still to be completed..

• Tile front steps
• New front door
• Shutters either side of front window
• Boxed trellis to either side of front door with Star Jasmine to disguise the down pipe from en-suite bathroom
• Small portico over entrance (see inspiration board)
• Star Jasmine to grow up the carport support post and along the front barge board, to soften the straight lines of the roof
• Replace the sensor lights with a carriage style lamp

One annoying problem is the front windows. All the windows around the house are quite large apart from the ones at the front which belong to an en-suite and master bedroom. There is a much larger window around the corner of this bedroom and I guess as there is a carport roof in front, the previous owners chose to keep these smaller windows when renovating. However, I feel they are set too high and look out of proportion. I had thought possibly a window box but don't want to end up with the house looking too 'twee'. Maybe when the shutters go up, it will look much better. I now feel quite proud to say I live in an iconic NZ house but still going about my way of trying to add some curb appeal and look forward to sharing the final reveal once it's finished.

Lee oxo

I will be sharing this post with the following blogs:

I should be Mopping the Floor
The Dedicated House
DIY Showoff
The Blissful Bee

Savvy Southern Style
Not Just A Housewife

No Minimalist Here
The Real Housewives of Riverton

My Romantic Home

The 36th Avenue

Miss Mustard Seed

Bedroom Makeover - French Cottage Look

Well, the sun finally showed its face Friday, I wanted to get the photos completed of my bedroom makeover so I dived in while the going was good. The light wasn't  perfect but without professional equipment or waiting till mid Summer,  I had to make the most of the natural light.  I easily took well over 150 shots (am I a pedantic perfectionist?), thank goodness for digital cameras! Although I have to repeat I am disappointed with the light.

Colours above are not quite true, the fabric for the Roman blind is more beige than grey.

The pair of weathered French shutters are from Yvonne Saunders Antiques.  Because they were only 500m wide I chose to have a space between to create better balance to the Queen size bed. Originally I was going to use an old door behind the bed but the bedroom is not large and I fell in love with the colour of the shutters. The great thing is if decide to change the look of the room, I can simply get the shutters stripped back to the natural wood.

All bed linen is Wallace Cotton the floral quilt and Euro pillows are Paridiso at Wallace Cotton.

The Paradiso quilt creates a cottage look to the room and compliments the shutters perfectly. If I'd wanted to give the illusion of more space, then I'd choose all white bedlinen with a little blue brought in with Euro pillows and scatter pillows. However, I have gone for a cosy, cottage look and Paradiso was perfect. 

I took advantage of the space between the shutters and hung a wall sconce for added interest.  However, I could have left it bare or added a pair of small vertically hung prints. Now looking at this photo it is a little out of kilter so I will have to move it a fraction.

The white seersucker duvet cover and pillowslips in cotton percale are  also Wallace Cotton.

The Roman blinds are beige and white linen.

White seersucker adds texture.

The Lamps are white washed with a natural beige linen shade that tone with the Roman blinds. 

I love the crackled candlestick holder, it reminds me of pretty birds eggs. The pretty cup and saucer are Royal Albert and part of a miss-matched collection of cups and saucers my mother gave me.  I saw a set recently very similar to this and it was $170 for a cup, saucer and plate!! Maybe I should be displaying it behind glass rather than drinking out of it.

These Gardenia heart shaped soaps came in their own little draw string bag. The antique silver sweet dish is a family heirloom and belonged to my grandmother.

These stainless steel tripod tables were originally purchased for my living room, however, they work well as bedside tables. Keeping it simple can sometimes prove best alongside a focal point such as the shutters.

The cross is a recent find in a lovely little shop called Distinctive Linens in St Heliers, Auckland. 

I love the black/grey weathered appearance of the cross, it compliments the shutters beautifully. I feel solid black would have been a little too harsh.

I bought this lovely little box to put beside my bed to drop my earrings in at night. I loved the french writing.  It was only NZ$12 from Romantique a NZ shop full of beautiful accessories and furniture from France.

The Before shot is prior to buying the house, a black and white theme with grey roller blinds. However the white walls and woodwork had a pink undertone which I wanted to do away with so I had the walls repainted 1/4 parchment and  the woodwork Alabaster both Resene colours.  I repositioned my own bed to face the smaller window.  The bedroom is actually wider than it appears in the first photo.




Addendum: March 2012
Since I originally posted my makeover, I have been thrilled to receive a "Rooms award" from Better Homes & Gardens.

It is now 2016 and this room has had a total re-vamp to Hamptons/Caribbean style, see the images and read all about it here