2025 January continued

     The below photo shows the outlet for the rangehood which is above the stove in the kitchen. The black flaps open when the rangehood is turned on and let the air out. There is steel mesh which stops the bugs from getting in. We chose black as it goes perfectly with the black trim on our windows.

The below photo shows how the rangehood exhaust fits seamlessly into the side of the house.

Meanwhile we put a wall cabinet in the bathroom above the laundry tub, but instead of paying $40 for a door I used this piece of second-hand offcut to make my own door.

I cut a template out of paper based on the doors of the cupboards in the kitchen, so that it would suit the Bunnings Kaboodle Hettiche hinges.

I will admit I made a mistake with my first attempt at cutting the hole for the hinges, but then I turned the door around and cut the right version of the holes on the other side of the door.

Eventually I will paint over the edges and the hole, and no-one will be able to tell the difference between this and an expensive door!

Meanwhile I was trying to sort out a greywater system for the house. I drew up my own plans based on my research.

I thought that the area downhill from the house would be perfect for a gravity fed system, and then we wouldn't need to depend on an electric pump which would suck power, be noisy, and inevitably break after a period of time.

I spent months contacting all the local plumbers, but they all refused to install anything other than the usual septic system with a underground tank of stagnant water, and an absorption trench which would only get clogged with roots in a few years. Of course the system they wanted to install would also cost more too. I kept researching plumbers further and further afield, and eventually had a list of over 30 plumbers who either refused to do the job I wanted, or just never got back to me at all. Eventually I found a plumber who was new to the area, who said he was willing to do the job. Finally!

Meanwhile I kept myself busy making rustic wooden mini-fences which would make the edges of the greywater absorption area.

Eventually in July we had delivery of the greywater system, and were ready for the plumber to come and start work. The next bit gets very exciting!

 2024 November continued...

     The kitchen needed a rangehood above the stove, so we bought the bunnings wall cabinet which is specially made for rangehoods, and also another smaller cabinet to fit in the gap next to it. These cabinets were so easy to assemble that I could do it by myself. Here are all the parts for the small cabinet.

Here is the assembled cabinet sitting below its final spot.

Here are both the cabinets assembled, sitting on the floor.

There was an awkward mini gap between the cupboards, so we custom made our own mini spice rack.

Here is a photo of the box for the range hood.

2024 December - This photo shows the two cupboards after they have been screwed into place on the wall above the stove. You can also see the rangehood has been installed, it is the blue part with the white part above it. You can also see the silver flue which is coming out of the rangehood and exiting out through the wall to outside. You can also see the square hole which was cut into the back of the cupboard so the wiring could come through the wall. This will be a powerpoint that the rangehood directly plugs into, when the electrician comes back to finish the job. You can also see the black power cord from the rangehood sitting there ready to go. We can plug the rangehood in and use it if we want, we just need to run an extension cord over to it. You can see another square hole in the wall under the left side cupboard with wires sticking out of it, this is going to be another power point.

2025 January - The doors for these cupboards are ready to be painted.

Four coats of paint later, and the cupboard doors are now black.

We used the Bunnings Kaboodle Hettiche hinges, expensive but apparently the best ones.

Here are the three doors installed and looking great. You can see we have put some spices in our mini-spice shelf!

The final touch is the 'push to open' magnetic spring latch. We love using these and it means that the cupboard doors don't need any handles.

Next time I'll show the picture of the outside of the rangehood exhaust. Josh did an amazing job!