We moved into our house fifteen years ago.  And yes, all those cliche’s about time flying are absolutely true.  We did some cosmetic work to the house when we moved in – updated the en suite and bathroom, ripped up the heavy tiles that were throughout the house and polished the beautiful boards that lay beneath, and freshened up the paint in some rooms.  Five and a half years ago we did some major work to the house – added an entire upstairs (two bedrooms, a bathroom, linen cupboard and my sewing room) knocked out some walls downstairs, and added a back deck.  Now it’s time to renovate the master bedroom.

Some people think that the Melbourne Cup is about a horse race – no, it’s about home improvement! Yesterday we moved all the furniture out of the bedroom, crowding the hallways and filling the spare bedroom to capacity. I realised that I have way, way too many clothes, and have now bagged up lots of them to give away. The carpet was pulled up today, and my husband and daughters began painting. No “Dulux Chalk USA” for us – we’ve chosen Celery Green. Remember, this is a house with a pink lounge room and all the other walls in bright yellow.

The girls were incredibly keen to help. Stella hasn’t proven to be a huge help – not surprising at age five – and we’ve been trying to encourage her to do anything other than “help”. But Clare is doing a sterling job! She’s been helping with painting for the past four hours now, cutting in around the edges, rolling on paint – I’m very impressed, and her father is glad to have her assistance. Hopefully the second coat will be done on Cup Day. New built-in wardrobes will go in a week later, then new carpet. We’re so looking forward to it all!

But the problem with renovating is that you then see what needs to be done next. A desk, shelving and cupboards under the stairs as a “home office”, a shelving and cupboard unit on the wall opposite that, and maybe one day a new kitchen would be nice…..