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our kitchen renovation – day 17

November 25, 2011 By corrie 13 Comments

Well today was another big day. The arrival of the kitchen cabinets. I was so nervous about them arriving since I had chosen the colour and finish from a catalogue. But no sooner had the delivery drivers left and I was out the back admiring the cabinets. And the knobs complement them perfectly

This is my pantry.

And I know on Monday when the installer arrives that I will be peeking my head around the door to see how it all comes together. I just can’t wait. And isn’t this a pretty picture, the dining table’s new home. I just can’t wait to get some white chairs around it.

Filed Under: kitchen, renovations

koolaman designs

November 24, 2011 By corrie 7 Comments

I get a lot of requests to receive and try out products and tell you about them on my blog. The thing is if I accepted all of them I’d never have anything else to write about. But I couldn’t say no to a lovely pendant from Koolaman Designs. I’ve been wanting one for ages.

I’ve met the lovely ladies behind the brand, Stacey and Lisa, as they do Mathilda’s markets and we once had our stalls back to back in Canberra. Lovely mummies who live in the country and run their business from home. I love that. And their range of personalised jewellery is stunning. I had always wanted a piece after the twinnies were born but I knew my family wasn’t complete and I wanted to wait. If your family isn’t complete you can still leave space for names.

And I’ve been wearing this for a month or two now and it’s lovely and light to wear which I need with 4 little ones all day. The names look lovely and I’ve received lots of comments on it. That’s what you want with a piece of jewellery.

Next on my wish list is definitely the Amelia bracelet. Better send that off to retro daddy now then. I promise I’ve been a good girl all year. And I better be quick because orders need to be received by the 8th or 12th December depending on which state you live in for Christmas delivery.

image source

And with Christmas around the corner it’s the perfect time to put your request in or ask for a gift certificate if you can’t decide. I know you won’t be disappointed. You can even get cufflinks or keytags for your hubby too. And I’m totally in love with the bracelets and bangles for little ones. Definitely something special for my girls when they get a big older.

I’m just so in love with my necklace and hardly ever take it off. You can find out more about Koolaman Designs on their website, blog, facebook and twitter. And they have a few more markets and events before the end of the year, just check out their website. I know some of my readers are already big fans! And a big thank you to Koolaman Designs for sending me my lovely necklace. It’s come to a good home.

Filed Under: everything else

our kitchen renovation – day 16

November 22, 2011 By corrie 13 Comments

The table has arrived! And even if I had to wait all day at home for it, it was worth it. I just love walking out the back to look at it again. It’s big. 160cm in diameter and made from reclaimed elm wood. It is very rustic but I am already imagining it being set for a Christmas lunch with my best cutlery, glasses and white china. Maybe a touch of silver too. Even the little ones had to come in and have a look and admire it.

Since we went over ahem, cough cough the budget, the chairs will be coming from Ikea with matching stools to go at the kitchen island too. The upside is I don’t need to worry about the little ones damaging any chairs. That’s what I’m telling myself. The french bistro style chairs that I had previously envisaged will just have to wait. Because there really is no more money in the budget once everyone has been paid. But that’s ok, I feel that everything has been done and selected to suit the style that I wanted.

I’ll be back friday to show you the cabinets which are arriving. Sadly they don’t get installed until Monday and then it’s a 2 week for the lovely caesarstone benchstops to arrive but we’re making progress.

Filed Under: hamptons style, kitchen, renovations

kitchen knobs

November 19, 2011 By corrie 5 Comments

Well after weeks of indecision I went to the lovely door knob store. We spent 50 minutes in traffic to get there only to find they have sold out of the knob I wanted. waaaaaaaaaaaahhhh It wouldn’t be in for another few weeks. But I was shown a lovely knob and decided to go with it instead. Here it is

It’s a very simple knob in brushed nickel and I love it. It will look perfect in the kitchen without overpowering or taking away from the other features. Phew. Unfortunately they weren’t cheap and it was a $440 addition to the budget. Ouch. But I’m so relieved it’s done and another tick off my to do list.

Filed Under: kitchen, renovations

our kitchen renovation – day 15

November 18, 2011 By corrie 15 Comments

The thing about renovating is that there are days where although there are no workmen on site, there are still jobs to do. Today I had written myself a note that I must buy the kitchen tap. With the kitchen arriving next friday it’s kind of important.

Lucky for me that leaving it until the last minute meant I saved 15%. Now you have got to love that. I finally settled on the Nicolazzi bridging mixer in chrome. I went around and around in circles trying to decide what finish to go with and went back to my original choice.

This week saw us head up to Alfresco Emporium for the table. Quite possibly the most extravagent purchase in the whole renovation but I know we’re going to love it and it will just make the whole space complete. And I’m still loving the floors. Such a difference from the original cypress pine floors that used to be here.

This weekend I need to go and choose the tiles and kitchen handles and then I’m done with the little things for the kitchen. For a while. There are still bar stools and dining chairs to pick too. It’s the little details and having so much choice that can take up a lot of time (and worry). But it’s all coming together now. I hope.

And I realised I hadn’t even stepped out the back to see how gorgeous the french doors are from the other side. Gorgeous. I’m so in love with the french doors. Can you believe that there was once a daggy old brown sliding door here with a fly screen too. What a difference.

I might have found a new favourite place to photograph my littlies. In fact the whole space has just changed our house so much and I love the house more than I do when we bought it.

Before the renovation I wanted to sell and move on to a bigger house but now that it’s looking so lovely out here I don’t want to go. And isn’t retro daddy glad to hear that.

And totally unrelated to my kitchen. Today I took these 3 with me to Elodie’s paeditrician appointment and I forgot how many stares we get, are they all yours (and I only had 3 with me) and so on. But one man looked at them, looked at me, told me how beautiful they were and how blessed I was. Amen. Don’t you love it when people have something nice to say.

Filed Under: hamptons style, kitchen, renovations

cooking with tenina class

November 17, 2011 By corrie 7 Comments

If you have a Thermomix then Tenina needs no introduction. If you don’t have a Thermomix then Tenina creates the most amazing and delicious recipes for the Thermomix and until recently was their recipe creator. I had been itching for Tenina to come over to Sydney and run classes as she is based in WA. I was so excited to buy my tickets as soon as I heard she was coming to Sydney. I know I wasn’t alone. And today was the day.

The class was held in the Kleenmaid office in Alexandria and oh the kitchen! What I would do with an island that long and that many ovens, an induction cooktop, heating drawer, butlers pantry and more.

Unfortunately Elodie is still not a happy camper and had to come with me. That was not the plan. And she wriggled, and shuffled, and squirmed, and ate rice crackers and wriggled some more. And just as I wanted to sit down and enjoy my lunch decided she really wanted to go and would not let me sit down.

Back to the food. It was amazing! Amazing. Tenina made these absolutely delicious dishes for us:

Smoked chicken and salad pizza

Flaky puff pastry

Baked Camembert en croute

Apricot Glazed Ham

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Steamed Spinach with hazelnut and orange dressing

Pistachio and almond filled christmas roll

Pecan Dacquoise with orange chocolate cream

Gingerbread cookies with a glaze

Is your mouth watering yet? Can you believe Tenina got through so many dishes in under 3 hours. It was the most delicious lunch. I normally eat vegemite toast, leftovers or a sushi roll for my weekday lunch so it was a real treat to have lunch made for me.

The food was full of so much flavour and it was the perfect timing to think about making these delicious meals in the new kitchen this Christmas. And don’t ask me to pick a favourite dish because I can’t.

And since I’ve only had my lovely Thermomix for less than 6 months I learnt lots of new tricks along the way too. I have made puff pastry before when I did my vegetarian cooking diploma and it was a reminder how much butter goes into it. And lard! Lard! But it tasted delicious. I’ll save that for special occasions I think.

Now Tenina has a couple more classes in Sydney and Newcastle this week and if you get the opportunity to go then do it. Details are on the website here. The food was just so beautiful and while the recipes might be a little more challenging than what you’re used to, the Thermomix made everything look so easy.

A big thanks to Tenina for coming over to the east coast so we got the chance to meet you and have you teach us. You’re such a natural! To her lovely assistant, the lovely Kleenmaid staff who put on Dora for my little miss, Yvonne my lovely new Thermomix lady who drove me and the other ladies in the class for not minding that I had Elodie with me. Thank you. I had such a great day and can’t decide what I’m going to make first.

Oh and I just have to clarify something. A lovely reader thought that I was sent my Thermomix for my blog. I wish. I definitely paid for it with my hard earned cash and don’t know how I lived without it! I just go on and on about it because I love it so much! And totally off topic but can you believe I took most of these pictures with one hand – elodie in the other!

Filed Under: baking, cooking, tenina, thermomix

my letter to Harvey Norman

November 15, 2011 By corrie 78 Comments

Dear Gerry Harvey,

I hope I can call you Gerry. Now Gerry, you are always on TV and in the media going on about internet stores and how it’s hurting your business. Well how about a little customer service in your own stores. So that people will shop in them. My story goes a little like this. I went into your Balgowlah Store over a month ago, I’ve been trying to stay local for my whole renovation.

I go and buy an oven, a rangehood and some filters for the rangehood. Delivery is the following Saturday. My oven arrives and the top is scratched because the warehouse didn’t tape down the big heavy iron plate thingies and the delivery guys have tipped the oven over and the plates have slide back and forward and scratched the top of my lovely expensive oven. There is no manual or warranty card in the oven either. I ring to tell the sales person what happened. They’ll call me back about the manual. He never does. I have to call back a few days later and he says come in and get one. We go in, oh we don’t have a manual here anymore let me print one off the internet for you. Well thanks Gerry but I could have done that myself at home.

A couple of weeks later my rangehood hasn’t arrived so I call the store. The salesperson George says he’ll call me straight back. Surprise suprise he doesn’t. Why am I not surprised. I chase up a few days later to be told oh your rangehood has arrived 4 days ago. Well we don’t know why we didn’t call you to let you know and yes you can come in and pick it up now. I send in my husband to pick it up but guess what. You’ve given us the wrong one. You’ve put my details on a 600mm rangehood instead of 900mm like on my invoice and to match the oven I bought. Now it’s just getting ridiculous. I’m beyond cranky by this point, Gerry.

I call up and ask to speak to someone in the department, someone else says they’ll take my details and call me back. No I say no one has ever called me back when I’ve spoken to them so put me through to somebody because I’m very cranky and have the wrong product here.Yes, I know it’s just after 5.30 and they might have left for the day because you close at 5.30 but I’m not hanging up. I speak to Claude who tells me it’s a warehouse problem and I need to come back and swap it over tomorrow. Oh good, I’m going to bring 3 kids under 4 in with me to collect a large rangehood. Now that is my idea of fun on a Wednesday morning. Have you met my kids, Gerry. They are noisy and they don’t like waiting in the car.

We spent 45 minutes at your delivery dock this morning, Gerry. It was tough going but the first people to apologise to me throughout this whole story were the poor guys in the dock who can’t find my 900mm rangehood. Finally they admit they can’t find it. I’m over it by this stage and ask that someone delivers it to me because I can’t wait any longer. But I don’t think anyone will be delivering it today because I don’t think it’s there. I think you’ve ordered me the wrong product.

So Gerry if you want us to spend our hard earned cash, and I spent over $3000 at your store on my oven then how about calling customers back, making sure we get the product we ask for, making sure the product arrives without a scratch and just making sure that we want to come back. How about when you give me the wrong product someone says that they will deliver it to my house 5 minutes away just out of courtesy. Then I wouldn’t have spent my morning in your delivery dock. How about someone says sorry when things go wrong.

I find it really hard to want to go back to your store and buy the fridge, dishwasher and TV I still need when it’s been such an ordeal just to get my oven and rangehood. And do I really want to tell all my mummy friends about the wonderful experience it’s been? The number of calls I’ve made and the exact number of times no one has bothered to call me back.

Thanks Gerry. Just thought you should know!

Corrie Sebire

***UPDATED****

I just received an automated email that someone will contact me within 48 hours. Well isn’t that just old fashioned customer service. I’m so glad that I received an automated message when I’ve called the store this morning and no one called me back. I replied back to the automated message that it wasn’t good enough.

A little later I received 2 calls and the new rangehood will be couriered to me today and I can collect a $100 gift voucher from the store. Does it make up for the bad experience from go to woe. Not really. I don’t know how you can stuff a customer around that many times with a $3000 purchase and think a small gift voucher makes it all better.

Thank goodness for my blog and twitter and getting a call back because nothing was happening before. Thanks for the RT’s and comments my lovely readers. Never underestimate the power of a mummy blogger and her ‘army’ of readers.

Filed Under: everything else, review

our kitchen renovation – day 14

November 15, 2011 By corrie 16 Comments

The floors are down. No longer does it look like a total dusty building site now that the pretty floors are down. I’m very happy with the blackbutt. It was a real toss up between spotted gum and blackbutt and I was so worried I’d made the wrong choice. Even yesterday morning I was getting a little nervous. Floors aren’t cheap and if I had my time all over again I would have organised my quotes and floor choice at the same time I organised the builder and kitchen quotes so that it was totally factored into our budget.

The total cost for the prep work, installation, floors and skirtings has come in a smidge under $10k. And that’s not hardwood but is the Boral Silkwood, a timber floating floor. We just couldn’t afford the hardwood as we need to do floors for the whole downstairs. But I love the look and feel of the floors now and it’s lovely to walk barefoot on. These photos were taken at 7pm at night as soon as the floor guy had left and it’s such a beautiful space.

Earlier in the afternoon, I stood admiring it with the floor guy for a good 10 minutes before I then tripped over and into a door as we’ve extended the flooring a metre up the hallway. The reason was to make it look uninterupted when the rest of the floors are done. I think I need bright yellow tape so I don’t do that again!

Filed Under: kitchen, renovations

our kitchen renovation – days 12 & 13

November 14, 2011 By corrie 3 Comments

Well day 12 saw the painters finish up. The room was looking amazing and I made sure I told Dillon what a great job he did. I would recommend them in a heartbeat and they worked so quickly and quietly and did an amazing job. You can find the details here and I’ll be giving you a full list of all the tradespeople and stores I’ve visited once we’re all finished.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures as day 12 was when Elodie ended up in hospital so these photos are technically day 13. And day 13 I was still in hospital with little Elodie and left retro daddy in charge. He did good. The floor guy was in at 9 and stayed till almost 7 preparing the floors. We had to raise one level to the same height as the other half of the room and cover over where there was no subfloor after the ensuite was removed. The blackbutt looks great. Choosing your flooring is a really big job and something I wish I had started to think about before I ordered the kitchen

In the end I chose blackbutt because it wasn’t too dark or too light, didn’t have too much of a woodgrain or knots in the wood and wouldn’t draw the eye away from my kitchen. In the store they told me it was their top seller.

So now I can’t wait to see the flooring finished. It’s going to look amazing.

but it definitely looks like a worksite at the moment!

Filed Under: kitchen, renovations

our kitchen renovation – day 11

November 11, 2011 By corrie 11 Comments

More painting on day 11. The painters still have another day to finish the room off but it’s looking amazing. These french doors are now white on the inside and it makes such a difference.

and a quick before shot to show how it used to look

and even in the late afternoon the colours look perfect! I couldn’t be more in love with the colour scheme either. Totally hamptons and what I was going for.

So day 11 ran smoothly until the floor company decided at 3pm on a friday afternoon to let me know that I would need to pay another $2k on top of the original quote in prep work for the floors. To be done Monday. I just about had a heart attack as I knew there would be some extra work where the old ensuite was but not for $2k. I stewed over it for a while and got my builder involved and 2 hours later we reached an agreement for $1k and if I want the floor guy to do the things that he wants but that the builder thinks are unnecessary I will pay per hour. But my builder has told me he will pop in and do those jobs for me. I’ve learnt that a good builder you trust is probably the most important component of a good renovation. I’m still cranky at the floor company who were going to get almost $20k from us to do all of the downstairs flooring. Needless to say I will be finding another floor company to do the rest of my house.

Filed Under: hamptons style, kitchen, renovations

maxi dress for a mini person

November 10, 2011 By corrie 34 Comments

If there is one thing I’ll never be able to change about myself it’s my height. 155cm to be exact. For some reason I had it in my head that I was 157cm but since having kids and measuring myself on keira’s very accurate little kid’s height chart, I’m only 155cm tall. I think I might share the same height as another gorgeous Australian, Kylie Minogue. Unfortunately I don’t have her body! But anyway. I love being small but if there is one thing I’ve always hated it’s that I could never pull off a maxi dress because I could never find one that wasn’t dragging on the ground when I’ve tried it on.

Until yesterday. I was having a quick look in the shops without the twins and pulled out this maxi dress in Sussan. Put it up against myself and almost couldn’t believe it wasn’t taller than me. So of course it came home with me. So I’m happy to share this little secret with my fellow shorties out there because I think at $69 it’s a great buy. A maxi we can wear without taking up.

Filed Under: dress, review, shopping

our kitchen renovation – day 10

November 10, 2011 By corrie 4 Comments

Oh dear. That old saying, as exciting as watch paint dry. My blog. Right now. I apologise if this really is not your cup of tea. Yes, another coat of paint has gone on the walls out the back, but it’s the first time I’ve seen the colour on the walls – Dulux Vanilla Quake half. And I love it. The ceiling and trims are in Dulux Vivid White and I love the contrast. I just love it.

Thank you lovely Dulux colour consultant for picking the colours for me. They are just what I wanted and I didn’t even show you a shade of grey! Thank you lovely painter for painting it all. So glad we didn’t go with retro daddy as painter. It’s looking perfect already.

Filed Under: hamptons style, homes, kitchen, renovations

peanut butter cupcakes

November 9, 2011 By corrie 8 Comments

I love peanut butter. Looooooove. So when I found a recipe for vegan peanut butter cupcakes I knew I had to try them out. And I love a bit of late night baking………..retro daddy however doesn’t share my love of baking on really hot nights. In fact, it drives him crazy and he thinks it’s a really bad habit of mine. But he’ll still enjoy what I’ve made of course! Anyway, give these a go as they are really light and tasty and I still can’t get over the fact that there are no eggs or butter in them. This recipe has been adapted for the Thermomix and comes from Vegan Cupcakes take over the world.

3/4 milk (dairy or soy)

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup/110g chunky peanut butter

1/3 cup/60g canola/vegetable oil

2/3 cup/100g sugar

2 Tbsp golden syrup

1tsp vanilla essence/extract

1 heaped cup SR flour

1tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. In a cup measure out the milk and add vinegar and leave to curdle slightly. Meanwhile combine your peanut butter, oil, sugar, golden syrup and vanilla together and whisk well. If you have a Thermomix then process these ingredients for 20 seconds on speed 4. Add in the milk/vinegar mixture and process for a further 5 seconds on speed 4 or whisk in the milk. Lastly add in sifted flour and baking powder and process for 10 seconds on speed 4 or whisk until just combined. Pour into cupcake wrappers and bake for about 25 minutes until golden on top and a knife/skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool on rack and either ice with a delicious chocolately frosting, a drizzle of chocolate ganache or just some icing sugar.

I took this at about 8.30pm at night! Proof I was baking at night!

Filed Under: baking, dairy free, recipe, thermomix, vegan, vegetarian

our kitchen renovation – day 9

November 9, 2011 By corrie 9 Comments

What a difference some paint makes! I’ve started to feel excited again and so excited I’m giving you a little idea of where the kitchen is going!

2 more days of painting and I can’t wait to see it all finished on Friday afternoon. In the meantime I’ve been emptying kitchen cupboards and giving myself a serious headache over cabinet handle choices. There are just too many choices and I’m stuck between going for a dark French knob or light and shiny chrome/nickel knobs and drawer pulls for a real Hamptons look. Decisions, decisions.

Filed Under: kitchen, renovations

our kitchen renovation – days 7 + 8

November 8, 2011 By corrie 7 Comments

I know, I know. It’s been a little quiet here with renovation progress but work has been going on. Cornices are in and walls have been sanded and it’s looking more like a proper room. Everything has been prepared for the painters who have arrived today to work their magic on the walls and ceiling. I’m really excited (and a little bit nervous) to see how the colours turn out in the new space A very pale grey on the walls with vivid white on cornices, skirtings, the ceiling, doors and windows.

But we have serious cabin fever. It’s not safe to use the back room so we’re going a little cuckoo in the front of the house. But one month from today the kitchen and caesarstone will be in and the trades will be finishing off their jobs. Now that is exciting.

Filed Under: homes, kitchen, renovations