Despite the ravages of winter weather, we have still been enjoying some sunny mornings with mild temperatures - it's so unpredictable for this time of the year.
I went for a lovely walk on Thursday morning with a group of great women - one hour around the lake, off on to the street, down the lane, up the zigzag and back to the lake.
Everything was drenched after the downpour and the ground was sodden. It is amazing how many trees are still hanging on to their leaves and there are splashes of bright yellow trees partially covered, standing on beds of yellow leaves - stunning on a grey morning.
The leaves on the ground were limp with moisture instead of giving that lovely rustling sound as you walk through them. I love the sound of rustling leaves - it brings back memories of the kids and I piling them high and falling into them or throwing them into the air or just simply kicking them along as you walked through them. Nature is such a beautiful distraction.
I've had the pleasure of working on a new home in Greytown, an eHaus build, and such a fun project working alongside my client on all aspects from choosing door handles, bathroom, kitchen and laundry fixtures and fittings along with the flooring, paint and wallpaper finishes, fabrics and lighting throughout.
With the exterior, we have worked through the finishing detail on the huge steel pergola that forms the front of the house over the entertaining area, along with the concrete finish and colour, all the exterior colours and lighting.
At the moment, the section is still mud but the concrete area will soon be boxed up and, once the concrete goes down, the landscaping will start to take shape. I can't wait to see this stage.
The majority of the interior is being painted, wallpaper has arrived, and the reading nook will be wrapped in a gorgeous colour.
The other splash of wallpaper is in the main bedroom with two walls being papered in a lovely soft texture and colour, and wallpaper will also feature in the drum light shades in the living area.
The walls are mainly neutral because of strategically placed artwork, but there is the odd wall that will have a bright colour because the artwork demands it.
I love working with the combination of good colour to complement artwork - sometimes it only takes one background colour to make a piece of art come alive along with the all-important aspect of lighting.
The house will have a welcoming earthy feel with warm timber floors in some areas, twisted cut pile in the bedrooms and living area, and a soft grainy porcelain floor tile in the bathrooms and en suite areas. Walls are partially tiled as we didn't want a clinical feel to the bathroom or toilet areas.
The bathrooms are simple with no fuss or clutter.
To keep costs down on flooring options, we went for an earthy vinyl in the laundry - something that will be easy to clean but also not show every footprint, as this room leads to an outside area.
Kitchen work surfaces are finished in stainless steel and engineered stone for the bench tops, with a rich deep colour in a semi-gloss paint finish for the cabinetry. We have injected a punch of colour into the kitchen with a gorgeous red in the splashback to complement the adjacent wall colour, while the cabinetry colour is carried through to a custom-designed bookcase in the reading nook.
This is the third house I've worked on where there is a reading nook incorporated - such a great concept.
You can see more photos of this build on my business Facebook page "Terry Lobb Colour and Design Ltd facebook page" or type in this link and click "like" to get updates - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Terry-Lobb-Colour-Design-Ltd/116121247772
Lighting has been a challenge as my client wanted primarily LEDs, which often illuminate with a harsh white light, and colour rendering isn't all that great, meaning that it sucks the life out of fabrics, flooring, etc.
With an eHaus build, the house is wrapped in (though you can't see it) an airtight membrane so traditional down lights are definitely not commonplace due to the piercing of the membrane to accommodate down lights which, in turn, creates a lack of control with warm air escaping into unused areas such as ceiling spaces.
I love it, because down lights are not my favourite form of lighting and there are so many beautiful fittings out there. It's a chance to be creative with lighting and not just be practical.
We have used a combination of compact fluorescents, LEDs and halogen lamps.
Picture wall lights were the best option to illuminate some of the art and track fittings, with halogen lamps, which have good colour rendering and tend to keep the artwork in its natural colours rather than washing the colour out, for other areas.
But halogen lamps also need to be kept at a certain distance from the art so as not to cause damage to the work.
There is a lot to consider in the planning stages so that the end result works.
I love each stage of a build or a renovation - I feel like a kid in a candy store.
The next stage will be sourcing furniture. What fun.
If you have questions about issues discussed or product supply give me a call on 027 6023298 or drop me a line on terry@terrylobb.com
July is ideal for winter pruning to maximise fruit production.