Who doesn't love the smell of clean linens?!?!

What female doesn't want al lovely clean, fresh, sparkling laundry to wash all of her beautiful items in?!?! Well this is something that I need, which is why I purchased a new laundry for my parents for xmas and why it is currently the only recognisable 'room' in the container so far.

My week had been planned. I was to purchase everything during the week and on Thursday's day off (Australia Day, a day reserved for drinking and being an Aussie) I was going to pass on the fun and water proof the bathroom ready for tiling on the weekend... Enter dad, plans out the window. I'm not to tile, I'm even not to nail the tile underlay on the walls or floor.. Exit dad, with boat in tow for 2 days.

Thursday: The every rebellious daughter that I am, as soon as he has driven out the driveway I'm on the drop saw. Today I'm going to build that cupboard we have been disagreeing on. I will do something and continue progress.... The idea is a large space hidden by sliding doors that will house the laundry and of course provide much needed storage. Nothing overly romantic or high tech. It needs to be functional and clean. A frame is created off the sliding door that we installed a couple weeks a go. Can't be that hard, just need to measure and cut. Gees it's hot! After some mucking around and deciding what I want where and changing this a couple of time's, the frame is up and it's time for a Bunnings trip and lunch!

Malamine purchased and loaded, time to build the rest of the cupboard walls and get tiling! I really needed to tile something after the amount I had spent on tiling products and of course to prove to dad that I actually know what I'm doing. Need to get everything finished before he gets home! Whats the point of 'score and snap' if it doesn't snap?? Little bit short, thats ok, I'll cover it up, hopefully! Now just need to wait until the glue dries before I start tiling the 'backsplash'... Better go do the friend thing, off to a bbq.

My first experience with rubber based tile adhesive. It dries quick in this heat and it's not as firm as the regular stuff. How do you use this damn tile cutter?? They just keep snapping! Stuff it I'm doing them upright and straight.. Anyway a long day comes to an end and I have the first tile large in place and the start to the feature tile (same colour as the floor tiles).

Friday, back to work. But due to the wrong milk in my coffee I end up unwell and I'm home in bed by 1pm. After a couple hours I'm feeling ok, so I brave the heat to try and get the rest of the tiles in place before dad gets home! Wow that didn't take all that long, ha, I'm pretty good at this, bring on the rest of the bathroom! Umm I may have forgotten to mention that I gave up on cutting any tiles so the second row of tiling is incomplete, that's another days job! It doesn't look like a laundry yet, I think it needs a sink! Stroke of genius! Lucky I buy random things when I see them on sale and I have a round sink and mixer that I was going to use in the kitchen, meh, I'll buy another... Let's give this a go, hope there's instructions! My $29 jigsaw works a treat and it's a laundry!

Dad's home and the first thing he does is head into container to see what type of defiance I have been up to this time. Not a bad word, he's proud, and my job here is done. I'm stuffed, time of some feet up and food.

The night before

The fram is complete and the tile underlay is in place, lunch time!

End of Thursday - First tiles are up!

Bottom row of tiles are in!

Looking a lot like a laundry!

Stick to what you know..

So after weeks of waiting for plumbing to be installed or decided on or even remotely considered I have moved on. Very touchy subject...

Container One, Wall Two: Kitchen/Laundry.
With the back bathroom wall frame installed and a hold on any form of progress I figured I'd just build the second wall to keep me moving and avoid a blow out of emotions (I'm not pleasant when grumpy). This wall is the back of the cupboard that is to house the laundry and plenty of storage. It opens out into the bathroom and will also hide my sliding door cavity. Simple wall with a door cavity tacked in right? So turns out I'm wrong, but I guess I hadn't quite explained my self well and this wasn't realised until we're at Gay's (hardware store) and dad's trying to read my diagram. An hour or so later Gay's man and dad have sorted it all out and I swipe the credit card. Lunch time!

Did I mentioned we borrowed a nail gun? I wasn't doing this hand nailing thing EVER again, I could hardly use my hand/wrist section after the last wall. Back to the wall..

The wall from the kitchen will be an antique sliding door flush up to the wall which will be finished in either a wall of glass tiles or the regular cladding that will line the rest of the kitchen/dining area. Internal decorative finishes change as often as my eating habits! Once opened the door will lead into the modern bathroom complete with rustic bespoke vanity unit, toilet, free standing shower, and huge sliding cupboard doors. The large floor to ceiling cupboard will have a built in bench, room for the washing machine, hanging space and some shelving. This will also be my closet until my WIR is built (container two).

With dad on the drop saw, nail gun, measuring and planning, the "apprentice" was free to start restoring the antique door. The frame went up in no time and I'm feeling positive and motivated again! The cupboard frame is still yet to be built, but we have the supporting wall and the sliding door in and they are the hard parts! I'll work on the cupboard framing tomorrow and hopefully have it completed by the end of the week.

Looks small, but this is just under 2.5 meters wide.

The door - before I mess with it. Couldn't walk past the lead lighting, so beautiful!

Still waiting on the plumbing before I can start tiling and finishing off these spaces, but I feel that now the bones are in that once the plumbing is completed then it's all pretty easy from there!

Construction begins! Finally!

Container One: Bathroom/Kitchen/Dining
With the container being the frame of the building the only walls that need to be constructed are non-structual and purely for dividing the rooms. Two walls need to be constructed within this 'pod'.

The first wall is the back of the bathroom, it will be purely something to install the plumbing into and to allow a beautiful tiled finish. I still needed it to be strong as the weight of the plumbing fixtures, tile underlay and tiles is nothing to laugh at.
With my parents away and dad not being around to be head builder I set to work (on a Sunday & hungover). I draw for fun and to get things out of my head, not for planning purposes. Construction began in the drive way...
The local salvage yard provided approx 20mts of framing pine, the rest was a trip to Bunnings while dressed in a floral dress. Being a female, driving into the timber yard of Bunnings in my cute little black Barina (with roof racks) and getting out in floral and impractical heals I wasn't really expecting to be taken all that seriously as a home builder! However this same trip was the introduction to my favourite Bunnings employee, "Bunnings man" an ex builder who was able to provide many insights and suggestions!
With the drop saw pulled out from the depths of the forgotten corner of the shed I feel confident this will be a big success and I can't wait for dad to get home so I can show him how much I did without his direction or him actually doing it. Where the hell is the hammer? I'm pretty sure dad has a nail gun somewhere, I'm not calling him to ask, he'll tell me not to cut anything until he gets there. Stuff it I'm nailing it by hand. I measure a couple times, write down some figures, try and remember all those useless things they talked about in maths class and away we go. My God My Arm Hurts! Anyways, I'm finished, feeling pretty good about it all and now its just time to wait until someone gets home to help with the install!
Installation. An exhausted female, no longer in floral, a tired and supportive mother keen to show off her daughters "talents" to her husband, a metal box and a frame that wont fit. After some hammering, smashing, grating of corners we retire with the wall half in. That's it for me today!
Luckily dad is a crafty man and by the time I get home from work the following day I have my first wall. Love you daddy! I did measure twice and cut once by the way!

It all starts with a frame!

I had some left over and decided a shower nook was in need!

Installation complete!

As pictured the frame is not flush to the back of the container to allow room to get behind the wall to install/fix/change plumbing. This means that all the plumbing can come in and go out together meaning less damage to the integrity of the structure.

Very happy with my wall! Time for plumbing, better get saving!