The Apprentice

Jacob and John processing the headshots of actress Lucy Bird.

The Other Corner

Another peek into our living room, that used to be the office of the printworks. It seemed to be a very dark room. It was painted glossy pink, which didn't help making it look bigger. After being in there just once I was convinced this room had very low ceilings, while in fact they are 3,20 m.
When I say the room was painted glossy pink I mean THE WHOLE ROOM - not just the walls. They've been painting the ceiling and the radiators in the same colour. To complete the theme they also had pink blinds. (!) Maybe Barbie did the interior design...

On the floor there used to be a dark blue carpet and underneath we found red carpet and underneath that we found an uneven concrete floor.

John knocked out some of the uneven bits and put down new concrete. On top of that we put polystyrene and wooden floorboards, we took off the attic floor. I painted the walls and ceiling white. And... we had a window custom made to match the others at the printworks.
We put in our stuff and voila... WE LOVE IT!

What do you think?

The Transformation of The Old Printworks

Today you'll get a peek into our new home. So much has changed since I have seen the Printworks for the first time. Looking back at the photographs I took then, I realize how much we've done to the place to make it ours. We bought it in July 2009 and moved in in September.

Here is a photograph I took a year ago - and one I took at the beginning of March:

It's hard to believe that this is the very same corner of the very same room.

Handles

We finally got handles on our kitchen drawers and cupboards. It was quite tricky without them, but if you start with the bottom drawer and then pull out the next one... well you get the idea.

The decision-making was quite tricky, too, as I really liked some vintage style ones we found at car möbel, but we finally settled for some modern looking ikea ones as they go well with the oven handle and all the other stainless steel in the kitchen. There is already different types of wood going on and I wanted to keep things plain and clear.

Moving

All August we have been converting the printworks and finally things take shape. So we are about to move from Bankfield Mill





to the Old Printworks in Clayton West.

We have been shifting stuff most everyday, bit by bit.

But hopefully some of our friends will help us this weekend. It would be great to have some more hands and extra wheels to shift the bulky stuff. We should be able to crack it in a long half day, then we’ll light up the BBQ and crack open some beers.

[images, and indeed some of the text, by John Coombes]

Superfluous signs

Some more signs had to come down at the printworks.




















And whilst John was up there to check if the big sign at the front would come down easily he put in the missing apostrophe. He just couldn't resist. Punktuation mistakes really bother him.

Possibilities and facts

The possible flowers have turned into real flowers,
the possible garden has turned into our garden
and the old printworks, well, John signed the contract last week and we will turn the old printworks into our living and working space.



Taking the sign down.

Places with a past

I like places with a past. I like to be inspired by what was there and then find what might be.



The entry to the former metioned "possible garden" is not a beauty [yet]. But when you are there, you see all the potential and all the possibilities and then, somehow, you can almost see and feel that something special has been there before. A truly loved garden.



This photograph of the very same spot was taken in the fifties or sixties. Imagine what this may look like in colour!