The kitchen, meanwhile, is still awaiting its fate.

Taking the kitchen out equals $5000.

Before deciding that this is the best course of action we needed to know whether we could do ANYTHING else to it to make it workable.

We'll save that decision to later.

Now that the bathroom has been removed, we began visualising a new bathroom (drawing it out on the floor in dust lying everywhere).

Meanwhile, the kitchen doors were removed in the hope that there was something we could do to them to save us the time (and money) necessary to replace it. We will see...

As for the upstairs, it was coming along nicely. The bedroom area (above left) saw the start of our colour choices.

The bathroom floor was taken out (leaving exposed beams, above right & below) and we ordered 3 meter compressed concrete sheets to replace the floor with. The wood you can see lying on the floor was our outline of where we wanted the bathroom walls to be constructed.

Outside, the hole in the garden was getting deeper.

We found a storm drain (from the gutters) buried just beneath the hole and decided to clean it out (it collects rain in winter & filters it out through the sand below). Upon finding this, we realise that there is a second gutter which has NO storm drain and apparently floods the garden every winter... (aaaargh)

So, me and Vijan dug the ENTIRE garden area down to the same level, added another storm drain, and decided that a sunken courtyard was actually a good idea.

Ross Marshall gave us several hundred white and grey paving stones, Tila found a free source of white limestone rocks (which we hauled by hand), and VIOLA' the garden began to come together.

Once we placed the limestone rocks, inserted the second storm-drain, and leveled the ground , we were ready for paving.

What I enjoyed most about this (besides actually DOING it) was the fact that I could make any pattern I wanted to!

Free creative licence! Hooray!

Meanwhile, the plasterer (sheet-rocker) and electrician were inside turning the house into a home.

The open ceiling beams downstairs were being covered.

There were only two electrical points in the entire house, and only three lights!

Our plan included almost $3000 worth of lighting and electrical installation - which was worth every penny.

There was one thing that I saw in my mind that I KNEW belonged.

Stairway shelving.

However, I wanted them to be sleek, stylish & classy, just like I had in mind.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find someone who could find a way to do this without handfulls of metal brackets holding the shelves up (which, in my opinion, would detract from the look I was going for.)

Until... carpenter John arrived with a brilliant idea.

He drilled holes in the concrete walls, hammered steel bars into the holes, drilled holes into the back of the wooden shelves and hammered the shelves onto the bars.

LOOK, no brackets!

Hooray for John!

Great job!

Once the walls were in, the outer wall (masonry) needed to be patched. This I did.

I knew that the entire bathroom had to be sealed before any tiling, shower base laying, or plumbing could be done.

I wanted the bathroom to be COMPLETELY sealed.

And finally, we begin the downstairs colour choosing. The hardest thing about this corner is the fact that it is two flat walls meeting with NO windows. What colour to choose?

Gold?

We'll see...

We hired scaffolding to paint the walls, assembled it ourselves, and Vijan was the first to the top of it, sanding the iron beams that had accumulated rust, preparing them for painting.

Devon loved all the climbing, though he was too small to climb it himself.

I must take this opportunity to say a special thank you to two men.

Serge (left) and Paul Roe.

They were literally the answer to my prayers.

... I was overwhelmed.

There were TOO MANY things to do. There was TOO LITTLE money and TOO LITTLE time to get it all done.

I knew nothing about tiling, which was the next biggest (and most costly) job to be done. I also knew I couldn't do it myself yet I NEEDED to get it done.

There I sat, on the mezzanine floor, my head in my hands, close to dispair.

I was on the verge of tears. I sat this way for while and realised what I needed was FIVE BROTHERS.

Of course, I only have one brother and he lived in the USA. Again, I sighed, and held my head in my hands. "Please! I need help!"

Two moments later I heard the sound of a motorbike and shortly afterwards heard footsteps outside. I looked up and saw Paul Roe walk through the door. "Need help?" he asked.

Do I ever!!! He asked me to tell him everything that was on my mind and I talked for ages about all the things that needed to be done. Paul said that he knew how to tile that he had the time (and energy) to help us out. My prayers were answered!

That same evening, during dinner at my friend Vistara's house, I spoke to Serge who said that he too knew how to tile and would be free to help! YAHOO!!! That same night (friday night) Tila and I went out and bought tiles so that these two awesome guys could start the next morning. And start they did!!!

Within fourty eight hours the bathroom had transformed. Tiles found their place along the bath and shower.

Not only that, but I'd gotten a tilng lesson over the phone from my father (in the USA) and both Paul and Serge taught me everything they knew.

That meant I COULD TILE TOO, which is a skill I am grateful to have. Thanks guys!

It also gave me the opportunity to think about HOW we wanted to tiles to look (rather than being concerned with HOW to do it).

And it began to take shape.

The shower (right) was tiled by Paul and the bath (below) by Serge.

Paul and I finished the bathroom floor, including a natural stone bath mat (designed by Tila) for stepping out onto.

Vijan, meanwhile, was still at the top of the scaffolding preparing the centre iron beam for painting.

Upstairs, Vijan gave the cieling a coat of white paint while Devon swept the floor clean.

And viola' the back wall of the bedroom became blue thanks to my lovely red-headed irish lady.

Meanwhile, I floated around the house filling holes in the walls, cracks in the cieling, and any other fillable gap I could find.

The sunrise wall (east wall) followed closely behind the cieling painting.

Mango coloured.

We completed the floor, bath and shower tiling in the master bathroom.

There were a few places that needed some sort of decoration (or tiling) like the thin outside edge of the bath-toilet dividing wall. These I tiled with the same stones we used for the bath-mat. It took a while, but the effect was spectacular.

It happened in an instant.

The large white wall, underneath the bedroom, was being painted blue.

I watched as Vijan taught Tila how to "cut in" the lines between the wall and the cieling.

I watched & watched...

I blinked...

... and I saw something unexpected.

A sea-scape stood out from the white wall, clear as day.

"Stop." I said.

Both of them stopped, turned and looked at me.

"Can I borrow that brush for a second?"

A few minutes later a mural was born.

A Grecian sea-scape with islands, trees, clouds and a dome.

Tila and Vijan stood there laughing with wonder.

"Great," they said. "Keep going."

Amen for an appreciative and supportive team! Thank you both for being open enough to make possible for me to do it!

The next morning, we found a note from Vijan.

His suggestion: wrap the mural around onto the second wall!
He even drew a small sketch to illustrate this idea.

It only took a few moments to make this a reality.
GREAT SUGGESTION VIJAN!

It opened up the space completely!