When you are waiting (and waiting) for something to happen, life has a perverse ability to slow down. We have been trying to get our working drawings into council for some months now but they still aint there. The delay has a domino effect at this time of year of course, if they're not in soon, they wont get out before Christmas, and if they're not out before Christmas, we wont be building till well into the new year. If we're not building soon we can't sell out current house, we have to borrow more cash, and not move out, and live in a caravan, and build through the winter, and watch my hair grey and my forehead cave in from the stress...
So to do something constructive towards making all of that happen quicker, we've started getting back into our "Things to do to the house" list. We've steadily chipped away at it, and the big renovation we did a few years ago on the kitchen and bathroom has helped (I'll share about that at a later date). But there is still plenty to do. A large chunk of it starts and ends with paint. We live in an old wooden bungalow, and what we've fixed up, we need to paint or repaint to get it looking at it's glorious best.
My problem of course is the three and one year olds who are determined to help. I'm quietly chuffed I managed to keep Mr one out of the paint today as the trail of destruction his participation would have entailed might have seen me currently huddled under the kitchen table while inhaling a large bottle of chardonnay. I wasn't quite as skilled at duck and cover with Mr three. He helped. And to be fair he did paint a wall. He did however, also paint his hands, feet and hair. Oh well. It's done now. And paint washes off. Now it's just back to waiting...

Everyone tells you building a house takes longer than you think. And it's more stressful. And it costs more. I'd like to report that all of that is a lie. I cannot. 
What I can tell you is that there are bits of it that are all kinds of fun. Taking a three year old to try out baths for example... There's nothing like turning up to a clean, quiet, white, bathroom showroom with a grubby toddler (and he is grubby, no matter how recently he has been in a real bath) to strike horror into the heart of bathroom sales people. Especially when his little fingers start making a trail of who knows what along the lengths of those shiny glass shower doors. It wasn't that bad, honestly, but it was plenty fun having Fox "try out" all the bathtubs and have us jump in too to decide which was the best.
Thing is, of all the things I have let go of, compromised on, and agreed that we can live without, the one thing I have held on to is a bath with a view. My bathroom will have a bath in it. Period. The showers have shrunk and become acrylic rather than those glorious tiled artworks in all the magazines and a LOT of things will be coming from trademe, but the bath is staying. A freestanding bath no less. Lush.
We are finally starting to pick up the pace again after a long (long) push to get our plans ready to go to council, so the posts here will begin to come more regularly. When we're in full building mode I'll be chatting a plenty about the hows and wheres and whys and whos. Have to say, I cant wait. In the mean time thanks for the well wishes and do let us know if you have any questions.
Thanks for stopping by!

So that all-black house I mentioned last post? Here tis. Morning tea with Atlanta provided a whole bunch of inspirational sparks, as well as the opportunity to let Fox and Huxley mess up her house good. Viewing their place again, along with looking at our budget, has reconfirmed to us that Black Corrugate is the direction we'll be heading in. However, with a splash of Cedar. Can you have a splash of Cedar? 
As part of our build we'll self build a small studio space and my hubby came up with the great idea of having the two "speak" to each other with that splash of Cedar. It felt odd to just have one end of our black box being coated with timber, but if the two boxes each have that little bit of interest - facing each other, and with complimentary designs, I think it might just work. And If you're interested in checking out some of the lush light fittings on the inside of all that black. Check out our Instagram page. 

Cladding. It's a tricky one. We love timber and in New Zealand, it's a material that makes sense. There's a bunch of it around, and it does well in the sometimes salty, often sunny and even shaky environment (love to any rebuild folk after the Christchurch earthquake). But it comes at a cost. It's expensive and it needs maintenance to keep it looking good with all that nature has to throw at it.
Down in the Coromandel, a friend has a place that has been hammered by the ocean and wind and its cedar cladding looks great despite of it all. It has silvered to a soft tone and fits right in with the Pohutekawa along the shore line. 
Trouble is, we're not sure we can afford it. 
In contrast, other friends have just built on the outskirts of West Auckland and their whole place, top to toe, is clad in black corrugated iron. It's bold. Demands attention. Screams modern, it's cheap and it needs zero maintenance. 
So we're contemplating...and might even combine the two. We'll let you know what we decide. 

What about you? This or that? Wood or tin?

This is not just a blog about a box. It's not a blog about a box being a rocket, a ship, or even a planet either (although almost three year old Fox would quite like it to be). This is a journey. Our journey into the crazy world of new home building. We'll be sharing the great ideas, plans and vistas we get along the way, along with the things that go pear shaped. We'll try and find the funny bone in each situation - or at least not cry into the keyboard. You'll be able to see more pictures on instagram and connect with others on facebook and twitter along the way if you're keen.
There'll be some interesting environmental ideas in the mix, along with some quirky design and style concepts. We hope you enjoy the journey, story (and rocket ship) a plenty. Thanks for stopping by.