Sweet Fabric:
selling my house

  • Excellent Melbourne Tradespeople & the old house...

    Excellent Melbourne Tradespeople & the old house...

    What I've been doing for the last month (& a bit)!

    Thought you guys might like a tour of the old place.

    Obviously not our furniture but I did do the bathroom & had to kitchenify the kitchen (nobody I know has three pairs of vases in their kitchen).

    Trades I've used (& heartily recommend). This should be the "go to" list for Melbourne folk.

    A bit of back history...I used to work in Property Management so I've dealt with a lot of tradespeople in my time & these guys were all amazingly accommodating & just a pleasure to deal with. I'm sharing them with you because I know how hard it is to find good tradespeople & it's so helpful to have referrals.

    Garden Maintenance:
    LC Mowing
    Lucas 0409 998 508
    This guy is a machine! I have never in my life seen a skip packed so neatly or efficiently. He just goes & goes until the job is done. If you need your lawns done, weeding & general garden tidy up then Lucas is your man.

    Builder:
    Glen Johnston Home Improvements
    Glen 0414 325 722
    Professional, helpful & extremely particular. Just absolutely top quality workmanship. Glen's the man if you're renovating or building in Melbourne's East.

    Plumber:
    Marty 0438 771 007
    Just a complete champion. It seems to me that finding a good plumber is like the quest for the holy grail. Marty is it!

    Electrician:
    Armadale Electrical
    9509 9133
    Gary was "my" electrician when I worked in Armadale & frankly I'd never use another electrician. The guys from Armadale Electrical are all super professional & just lovely blokes.

    General Maintenance:
    Polished Properties Maintenance Group
    Mark 0438 019 994
    Mark was recommended by our Real Estate Agent as the guy "who does it all". He co-ordinated painters & carpenters & general maintenance items. He's professional & a pleasure to deal with.

    Concrete:
    RL Concreting
    John 1300 790 775
    John did the driveway at our new house (which is exposed aggregate) & also helped us out at the old house. He's professional, prompt & a pleasure to deal with. He went above & beyond offering advice & options for us.

    Render:
    Jolley Textures
    Reegan 0425 773 684
    The house was rendered about twelve months ago & it's transformed it! Probably the best thing we did for the place which was previously a hideous orange brick. Reegan was extremely flexible & professional & will be coming back to the new place to render our new fence.

    Garden Design:
    Imperial Gardens
    Tracey 0419 200 116
    Tracey came in & offered practical advice on excellent low maintenance (& not too costly) garden design. The difference the plantings have made to the house is unbelievable. Imperial Gardens have some pretty impressive "cap feathers" in Toorak & Hawthorn & Tracey is offering consultations so that you can DIY. She works with what you have & offers no nonsense solutions to maximise the look of the property.

    Further details on the house can be obtained from Tom Ryan (0413 872 550) at Jellis Craig.

  • Time management...

    Time management...
    Bathroom Ladder

    "I can do that...it's a 20 minute job - tops".

    This is pretty much my motto. Of course, most things end up taking me a lot longer than 20 minutes (& I often get myself into trouble) but really I wouldn't have it any other way.

    I'm not totally unrealistic & I didn't for one minute think the "old house makeover" was going to take 20 minutes but I did seriously underestimate just how long it was going to take...

    ...& I've still got another coat of "black japan" to go.

    Anyway, this is my bathroom in the old place. This was the only room I was in charge of & I confess it's my favourite.

  • Thinking about colour...

    Thinking about colour...
    Colour

    Right, we're all systems go. The old house is going to be sold.

    We've got a fair bit of work to do to get it ready.

    Some of it's going to be fun..."shopping" for hire furniture but most of it is pretty bland.

    The windows & all the ironwork (60s) needs to be painted. I think it needs to be darker than the Colourbond Jasper of the render.

    If you've got any thoughts on this I'd really appreciate your feedback.