WE’RE up to our eyeballs in bricks this week, or what the builders like to call “at plate high”.

Every time we visit the site, Brendan and I come to the full realisation of what we have gotten ourselves into and we swallow hard as the propensity to freak out washes over us. We can’t believe how fast the build is going and how little time we will have before we need to make decisions about the flooring, window treatments, paint colours, light fittings, etc. But knowing we will have a space to finally call our very own quickly makes up for the nervous spasms and shortness of breath.

So another progress payment done and we’re also glad to see the timbers, lining sheets for the eaves, fascias and rolled steel joists delivered and ready for the roof to go up:

The feature walls and planter box have also been constructed:

This is likely to have yukkas, ferns, or maybe bougainvillea planted in it; Brendan and I have decided to go with a tropical-style garden. Contrary to belief, tropical gardens can be waterwise if you choose native Australian plants to create the look so don’t think we haven’t thought this through! It will also be a gentle reminder of home for me and give Brendan the luscious, dark green foliage he loves so much.

Brendan fiddling with the window frame to the games room. It’s nice to see all the brickwork complete and the full ceiling height:

The colour of our frames, i.e. charcoal lustre:

The garage recess as mentioned in the previous post. It should fit Brendan’s worktable (and more) quite nicely. The narrow wall on the left will house the fibre optic network box as well:

The finished feature wall seen from the master bedroom. Notice how there’s a hollow where the ceiling will go; strange but it’ll make sense once the roof goes on:

The double shower in the master ensuite. I am standing in the toilet (you can just see the wall on the left). The area on the left will house the vanity and sinks:

Brendan investigating hinges, something I’m assuming only men will do:

The finished living area; the doorway to the alfresco is straight ahead. I am standing in the kitchen, and the now-complete pantry is on the left. The dining set will sit next to those windows:

Giant pantry straight ahead:

If Brendan can’t make it look small, no one can…

The laundry. The first door on the right is the walk-in-linen, and the second is the guest toilet:

Close-up of the guest toilet:

The guest bathroom. The bathtub will sit next to the windows and the other cut-out is for the shower:

The alfresco is also complete, pending the roof to join the pillar up with the rest of the house:

We’re keeping this post simple this time, only because the main difference is that all the rooms are complete and we actually get to see the final layout. We were hoping to have a couple of extra special pictures but unfortunately, Brendan had this fantastic idea that didn’t quite take off, literally.

He wanted to capture video and pictures from a helium balloon lifted above the house so we could get an image of a real-life floor plan, so to speak. Unfortunately, we calculated the cost of all the balloons we would need and it wasn’t worth it. We might give it another try next week if I can convince Brendan that he shouldn’t give up on the idea so any encouraging words from the rest of you would be perfect.

Depending on what the supervisor tells us, we may or may not visit next week. There’s no point of us coming by if nothing happens with the roof but hopefully work won’t stop and we’ll have something to write about again next week.

On a parting note, here’s Brendan and Simon making use of a couple of extra brick pavers to create a little alfresco today at our current place. Looks like Bren wants to get some practice in before we have to do it at our own home!