Happy New Year!

It’s a new year, so the perfect time to upgrade the photo wall in our kitchen with some of the highlights of 2022.

It’s definitely grown in size since our kitchen renovation back in 2016 (see here).

Originally, I ordered the prints through Social Print Studio and they were amazing quality but not cheap. This time I did them effortlessly through Harvey Norman Photos choosing 4x4” and the white boarder. I also applied them using double sided tape rather than my original method years ago of blue sticky dots that did not last well!

Such a great way to celebrate each year that has passed and get those lovely photos out of your phone or camera and displayed.

If you want to do the same (or even print an annual photo book - I’ll save that for another post) I encourage you to create a folder on your phone for a photo wall or album and throughout the year when you take photos you love, add them to the album. That means when it’s time to create, the photos are there and ready to go.

Short video here. Happy New Year!

On the eve of a New Year we have finally been able to complete another room renovation in our house, leaving only one more room to finish inside, along with painting the outside!

Because this is our second lounge to renovate (visit here to see our Formal Lounge renovation), Symon wanted to have creative control and boy did he have fun!

We kept to our usual colour scheme (see below for a list of  paint colours and where items were purchased from) but before we could paint the room there was an awful lot of dark navy wallpaper to remove and walls to plaster!

And this is the part where I let you all know that Symon is an absolute legend. Most of the hard work is done by him and I so appreciate it! Also, jandals and socks… what a vibe.

When we repiled this house, the walls in this room cracked badly, so you can imagine what a mission this room was to prepare.

This room is pretty much a thoroughfare room and quite awkward to design layout for with three walls with doors. Along with that, we didn’t have enough room in our budget for new couches or carpet. Our dream is to eventually have polished wooden floors in many of our rooms but until then, enjoy the progress so far!

Symon wanted a retro gaming room design where he could feature some of his favourite things like his Arcade Machine that he built a few years ago (visit here) and some old authentic cinema boxes that he found in a video store (originally from America) and lovingly restored as well as his fight stick he made (see here). He also could finally display his giant Lego Millennium Falcon (video of that awesome surprise here) and guitars.

This is one of the original rooms of our old bungalow (many additions have been added on over the years) and is a rather dark and cold room in winter but during the warmer months is a lovely cool and quiet place to relax in. Perfect reading or gaming room!

Here are a few before and afters…

Before:

Before:

After…

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

The lights on the cinema boxes look so good at night!

Short room video tour here.

Room Details:

Walls = Dulux Half Haast with Okarito ceiling and trims.

Accessories = Black locker cabinet from NZ Locker Shop, plant basket from The Warehouse, Arcade Machine and Flight Stick made by Symon Drake. Authentic cinema light boxes made in America but purchased from an Auckland video store and lovingly restored by Symon. Cow rug from Trademe. Shelf handmade with brackets from Iron Moa.

To see more/all of our renovations, click here.

Farewell December and farewell 2022!

December was a tough month as it included burying Symon's mum along with me injuring my back, then the family getting covid again! But there were so many beautiful moments throughout it as well, just like the year of 2022.

Highlights for the year included going to Wellington with my daughter Shemayah, our church thriving despite a tough season, Mykah graduating as a registered Nurse, amazing moments with friends and family, the best Christmas Production, finishing more renovations to our house, and Totoro coming into our lives.

I'm sure I've missed things but I’m going to keep this “1 second a day” daily snippet tradition I post monthly over on my instagram going as it reminds me every day to take a second each day and be thankful no matter what the circumstances.

To check out our one second of every day for a year video, visit here!

Happy New Year everyone!

To check out my annual year in reviews, visit here.