73 Sandhills

Living Room - Warm and Cozy

Keith — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:00:01 +0000

This is one of my favourite rooms in the house.

I just love the colour and style of the floor and how well it works with the fireplace. The fire itself is gas and on a cold winter day it’s wonderful to be able to enjoy a fire without having to clean out ashes etc. It’s the first gas fireplace that Sylvia and I have had and we were surprised at how good it looks.

The house is warm so we normally don’t need the fire for heat - but you can’t beat the feeling it gives you when it’s cold and rainy outside.

Bedroom 3

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:04:23 +0000

Here are a few pictures of the single bedroom upstairs. It’s what would traditionally be called the “box room” but it’s actually quite spacious. Considering that Sylvia uses it as her reception room - it has shelves, a table and chairs and one of the water fountains she sells - you might expect it to be tight. However - when we have visitors we still have room for a bed in the room and their luggage.

Hallway

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:23:16 +0000

A handy feature of this photo is that you can see both sides of the hall at once. This is the area just inside the front door. We’re using a freestanding press for our shoes and polishing stuff. It’s very handy as we remove our outside shoes when we come into the house and put on sandles or slippers.

It sounds a bit wierd to some people but it’s amazing how much cleaner it makes things. Plus the fact that I like to put my feet up on the couch. I can’t really do that with shoes on and taking them off just for that is annoying.

The hall (most of the downstairs) has a glossy dark tile installed. We got them because they look really good and don’t show up dirt. It makes me wonder how people can live with the dirt that gets ground into carpets in other houses.

We can really see the value of paying for a good tiler - the place still looks perfect.

The wierd looking white lines on the wall are reflections from the flash.

Utility Room

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:21:55 +0000

In one way - one of the least interesting rooms of the house - but for me there was more to it. When we lived abroad the washer and dryer were in the basement - we had to go down 3 flights of stairs to get to them. In my parents house the washer is in the kitchen so it’s impossible to talk or watch TV while it’s running.

Our home in sandhills has a seperate ulility room where we currently have the washer and dryer on one side (see the photo below). On the other side there is the boiler and storage space. All the “junk” that would take up kitchen space is in there instead - laundry detergent, the hoover, mops, brushes etc etc. Just having the washer & dryer in a seperate room makes them quieter - the fact that we can close the door on them just makes it perfect.

Don’t tell Sylvia - but it’s also a great place to hide stuff when we have visitors e.g. My dirty boots.

Hall - More Photos

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:20:51 +0000

Here are some more photos of the hallway. The sketch of us was done at Disney a long time ago.

Click on the photos for larger versions.

Stairs

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:13:32 +0000

What do you say about stairs? They go up and down at the same time. :)

This is the only place in the house we put carpet - mainly because we didn’t want any footstep noise while going up and down. Our Interior Designer, Ann Gordon, suggested a specific dark (almost black) carpet. At the time we were worried that it would show up dirt - but once again Ann showed she knew her stuff. The carpet is brilliant.

I already showed what it looks like behind the door. Here’s a photo of the hall to the left of the stairs where the downstairs WC is located. The hall swings to the left - that’s where we have a coat rack hidden.

Dining Room

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:12:51 +0000

Here are some photos of the dining room. You can see the double doors in the background - these lead into the living room. There is a TV socket on the wall and we have satellite cables (for SKY TV) hidden away on the right. These go through to the living room.

Click on the photos for a larger version.

House - Front Area

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:12:02 +0000

Here are some photos of the front of the house. I’ll do an update later as to why we picked this specific house - it may interest you that there were a number of reasons why we felt this was the best placed house in Sandhills.

Master Bedroom

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:11:12 +0000

Here’s a picture of the main bedroom. The original design of the house was to have the bed on the other side but we preferred it this way. There is a TV socket in the room and we upgraded it to have a network/Internet socket. We have a controller for the remote control that sends the signal downstairs to the sky box etc so we can control it in comfort.

This room has an ensuite bathroom. Originally we were going to take it for Sylvia’s studio but decided to keep it for us instead.

Kitchen

Keith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:10:51 +0000

By popular request - here are some pictures of the kitchen. There are a number special things about it:

- The kitchen itself was made by Trade Kitchens and Bedrooms in Carlow. We’re so happy with it that we’re getting them to make the kitchen in our new house. Not only that - but we’re keeping the same style. You’d think after 3 years we’d like a change - but it’s just perfect.

- The cupboards on the upper left side of the kitchen are not part of the standard kitchen configuration for the house in Sandhills. We paid extra for them and they have been invaluable for all the extra space they provide.

- The pictures don’t show them very well - but the tiles on the wall are a really large. Why do I mention it? It means there is less grout and they are much easier to clean.

- The hob is gas - 5 rings rather than the standard 4. The centre one is a really big one for a wok etc.

- The extractor is nuclear powered. OK - that’s not true but it’s so powerful that on full blast you can see the steam from the kettle being pulled over to it.

- The dining room is to the left of where the photos were taken with double doors leading to the sitting room and double doors leading outside. Open the doors and it feels like one massive room - great for a party.

Click on the pictures for larger versions: