The Project

Just for a complete segue from craft, babies and teaching; I thought I’d share with you my Pop’s very exciting newest project.

He’s always doing something… be it building kitchens, creating amazing gardens, selling cars, inventing hydroponic gardening systems, rescuing battery-hens and raising them to be champion free-range layers… he’s always got some little scheme up his sleeve.

At the moment it’s a project on a bigger scale than usual. My grandparents have purchased the town’s old cordial factory. For the past decade or so (probably more!) it has been sitting out there, empty and dilapidated. Until, for whatever reason, it caught my Pop’s eye and imagination. So at the moment, he is in the process of a long-term project (fluctuating between 2-4 years in duration, depending on Pop’s mood) which will eventually see the factory become a liveable dwelling. A very unique, one-of-a-kind house!

So far, he has replaced the exterior corrugated iron with colourbond, and the roof is in the process of being repainted. One end of the shed, which is destined to be the loungeroom, has new interior colourbond walls.

It has such potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes from it all. The plans change daily (it wouldn’t be Pop otherwise) but the work is well underway, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of it all!

So here are some recent progress pics. I don’t have any ‘before’ pics unfortunately, but I’m sure my Nanna has taken some, so I’ll see what I can do.

Here’s the ‘so far’ pics….

The front… painting still in progress

The back of the shed. LOTS of tanks on this property! These ones will be removed to make way for a big back deck. There is a MASSIVE tank under the slab of the smaller shed that’s on the property which will more than suffice for residential use.

This is the only room that has been started. It will be the loungeroom. On the weekend, Pete, some of my cousins and a neighbour will help Pop install the ceiling.

This is the main part of the interior. It will become kitchen, dining and living space. It’s huge. Really. They’re going for the wide-open-spaces feel.

This will all be stripped and will become two bedrooms and a bathroom. I personally think that they could use some of the main space and make another bedroom, (especially considering the numbers that need rooms when family visit!) but that’s just me.

   This is a really awesome cabinet that my Nana picked up for $50 at a garage sale. I love it and wish it was mine!

This is a little room that was built on to the main building. It was supposed to be Nana’s sewing room but apparently Pop’s going to tear it down now. It does look very tacked on, I must admit.

  The gorgeous view! One of the best things about it.

From the front today. The roof has had its first coat, and Pop’s added the red trim. I thought it looked great before, but the red just really sets it off I think. By the way, the white railings is something the council put in a few years ago because some drunken fool came out of their car and rolled their ankle in the ditch when they couldn’t find the footpath. Makes a nice little entryway, no?

  The front window… And yes, Pop has already started his garden out the front there.

The front door. There is actually a door of course and I should have closed it for this shot but forgot, sorry! The glass louvers are originals which Pop kept from when he replaced the front window. He has a budget of $100,000 for this project – and that’s including what he spent buying the shed. For this reason he’s trying to ‘upcycle’ as much of the old material as possible. I think that will add to the charm of the place.

So there you go… Hopefully I’ll be able to add a few more updates in the weeks that we are here! To be honest though, we are all really hoping that Pop does as he promised and takes it easy and lets it be a long-term project. Slow and steady, and all that.

Hope your day has been wonderful!

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