The title of this blog is a variation on that memoir of breakdown and recovery by Elizabeth Gilbert. If movies are your thing, then the 2010 release of the filmed version starred Julia Roberts. (She of the romantic-comedy genre, starting with Mystic Pizza in 1988.)
This image is of the vestry from the back door, looking towards the room that will be my bed/living room. The pale blue double doors, bookshelves, and large cupboard were the first items to go, followed by the fluorescent lights and false ceiling. The desk and chair now serve as the construction office furniture in the vestibule.
Those who know me well know that I’m not a ‘morning’ person. This made for lots of fun and games when I shared a room with my sisters growing up. I read somewhere that east-facing bedrooms were optimal for sleeping / waking. For the vestry conversion, I didn’t have any option but to go with the bedroom in the east-facing corner of the building.
I’ve lived in old houses with large bedrooms for the majority of my adult life. At just over 4 x 3.5m, I’d need to be careful with how I organised the space and what furniture I’d put in it. Fortunately the high ceilings (3.5-4m) would maintain the sense of space. Early on I had decided to put a pocket door opposite the back door for the bedroom, and to replace the window opposite with French doors to increase the amount of light and maximise the view of the mountain.
As a minimum, I needed to have a table, couch, and bed to make the space comfortable for short stays. A lot of my furnishing decisions have been based on aesthetics rather than anything else!
I found second-hand dining chairs and a small square rimu dining table that I liked quite quickly on TradeMe in January 2019. What took a lot longer to find was fabric for the dining chairs that would go with the couch and overall colour scheme. When I did find a fabric I liked, it was no longer available anywhere in the world! Eventually I settled on a plaid pattern that was simple, elegant, and reflect the Scottish heritage of my Presbyterian kirk.
I decided on a leather couch as being suitably hard-wearing as well as giving a touch of luxury. I was fortunate to pick up a lovely two-seater recliner model over a year ago as described in this post. I’m still tossing up whether or not to add a floor lamp and coffee table to the reading area. I think it’s going to depend on how much space I have once the main pieces of furniture are in place.
I’ve always liked the Design Mobel range of bedroom furniture, ever since I bought my first bed from them over 20 years ago. Unfortunately they went out of business a few years ago, so their solid native timber beds and furniture is starting to attract a premium. I decided that the Ironbark range had the right aesthetic for my space, so I’m slowly picking up bedsides and a queen bed as I come across them at a reasonable price.
Curtaining has been a bit of a dilemma. I’m still wanting to use natural fibres where I can so have focused on the range offered by Verdant Living. I’d originally picked a bird print on a cotton and hemp fabric, but the fabric colour didn’t go with the dining chairs. Most of their other prints are too small, but I’ve now settled on another bird print on a hemp fabric which works quite well. I’ve gone with a light colour for the paint to go with the overall scheme.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, and it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3)
One of the challenges I have with my conversion is getting enough light into the kitchenette area. Very early on I’d decided to position the doorway to the shower room opposite the sash window. At 2000mm x 1000mm it would let in a bit of light when the door was open – but when it was closed, not so much.
A roof window would provide light and ventilation, so my original brief specified a roof window adjacent to the existing partition wall. I then realised that it would be better to centre it in the space so that it would throw the light in equal amounts. The photo above shows the roof window installed, with the door lintel and wall framing below. At 4m high, it’s powered by a solar panel for easy opening and closing.
I was still concerned about the amount of light I’d get into the kitchenette, especially since the lower sash in the shower room will have a mirror finish. I’ve decided to install a pane of glass above the doorway to borrow more light from the upper sash window into the kitchenette. Hopefully that will do the trick!
The old roof.The new roof post new rafters, purlins, insulation, underlay and ‘True Oak’ corrugate in ‘Grey Friars’ showing the roof windowThe view from below
Just one look and I knew That you were my only one Oh oh oh oh! I thought I was dreamin’ But I was wrong, yeah, yeah, yeah Oh, but-a, I’m gonna keep on schemin’ Till I can a-make you, make you my own!
These lyrics are from the song co-written and first released by Doris Troy in early 1963. It was also recorded and released by The Hollies, Lulu, Linda Rondstadt, Mark Farner (who?), and Anne Murray among others. I think I first heard it when it was performed in the film Mermaids (1990).
Warning: long post follows
I remember when I first saw this photo of the kirk. It was Easter 2018 and I was staying in Turangi for a family gathering. In between events I took the opportunity to search for properties in Ohakune as I’d decided that was where I wanted to buy a property.
My first reaction when I saw the photo was “ooh that looks and interesting” followed by “that vestibule is ugly”. It’s not that I objected to the vestibule per se, just that it was out of proportion to the rest of the building and unbalanced it.
I knew that building would have looked quite different when it was first built, and that it would have a lot of potential. Thus was the beginning of five months of attempting to, and eventually buying the building.
The first attempt was when it was listed for sale on TradeMe, together with the church hall on the neighbouring section. I made inquiries of the agent, registered my interest, and bought a valuation from QV for the property. Unfortunately by the time I had the information I needed the church and hall had been sold to a developer.
The second attempt was me contacting the agent a few days later to see if the new owner would be interested in the selling the church in situ or for relocation. The agent indicated that he was interested, so I arranged for a building inspection and Land Information Memorandum (LIM) Report.
I also arranged to go up and have a look through the church and a couple of other properties I was interested in. The viewing of the church confirmed that it was the property I wanted to buy, and the viewing of the other properties confirmed that I didn’t want to buy any of them.
I needed to wait for the building inspection report before I could make a decision about what price I wanted to offer. I knew the price the vendor had paid for both buildings, and what he wanted for the church. Given that settlement hadn’t taken place as yet, I factored in a reasonable profit for a quick sale.
I decided to attend the decommissioning service at the end of April and present my offer to the agent at the same time. The agent received the offer and advised he would pass it on to the vendor once his purchase of the church had settled. He also undertook to contact the original vendor to let them know that there may be a re-sale of the church.
I signed the sale and purchase agreement with the amount I want to offer for the church. The new owner counter-offered with the amount they originally wanted despite the LIM indicating there are problems that will need to be remedied. I counter-offer, he counter-offers with no movement, and I counter-offer accepting his price.
The next thing I know, the agent indicates that there are other parties potentially interested in the church, and I’m now in a multi-offer / sealed bid situation for both properties. I decide not to bid on both properties, and leave my existing offer on the table as part of the multi-offer process. (Attempt #3)
But it’s not to be. A couple of days later I receive an email advising me my offer was declined, with both church and hall sold to another person for a ‘ridiculous amount’. A few days later and I’ve missed a call from the agent. Thinking it might be good news, I phone him back immediately to see if the sale had fallen through. But no – it’s just a pocket call! He assures me that he’ll contact me if anything happens.
Over the next couple of months I looked at a number of other properties and sections in Ohakune but dismissed them as being too boggy. Frankly, my heart just wasn’t in it. So I was very surprised to see the church advertised on TradeMe at the beginning of August, this time with a different real estate agent, and going to auction at the end of the month.
I schedule a call with said agent to find out why the latest owners want to sell. Imagine my surprise when I discover that the May sale had fallen through, and the seller had “lost all potential buyers”. I advised the agent that I’d not been contacted when the sale fell through, and was still a willing purchaser.
I asked the agent what figure the owner wanted to take it off the market before the auction. She indicates a starting point, so I send through an offer to purchase two days later and get the sale and purchase agreement drawn up. (Attempt #4) The next thing I know there are other parties interested, and it’s going to a multi-offer situation – again!
I decide to make a play for both properties to see if I can get the church off the market. I figure I can always renovate the hall first, sell it and use the profit to renovate the church. (Attempt #5) The play doesn’t work, so we’re now in the multi-offer process.
So I up both of my offers to see if they are attractive enough to seal the deal. (Attempt #6) Unfortunately the finance condition makes them less attractive than other offers, and it’s a no-go. However, the vendor decides to level the playing field and let the properties go to auction two weeks early.
My bank had offered me a mortgage in May based on the offer to purchase I had made. That offer had lapsed, so I now needed to find out how much they were prepared to lend me under auction conditions. Because the property wasn’t in the region where I lived, the decision was referred to my bank’s head office and that was taking a bit of time.
I had decided to drive up to Ohakune the day before the auction, and stay at a colleague’s holiday home. I made a call to my bank that morning to find out the status of my application, only to discover that they had decided that they couldn’t offer me a loan on the property after all!
So it’s now ‘phone a friend’ time – fortunately my friend had worked as a mortgage broker and had some contacts. She spent the rest of the morning furiously phoning around trying to secure finance ahead of the auction.
I worked close to where I lived, so I was able to get on the road pretty quickly and start the nearly four-hour drive to Ohakune. I had been on the road for about 20 minutes when my friend called to say that she hadn’t been able to get finance, so she thought I shouldn’t go to the auction.
I wasn’t about to be deterred after five months, so I made the call that it was my job to buy the church, and her job to try and find finance. I continued on my merry way, confident that we could achieve both objectives.
Another work colleague and my friend had coached me on how to bid at auction. I knew that I needed to let the bidding go, and hold off making a bid unless I needed to stop it being sold to someone else. So I sat there in the front row watching the bidding start off with a flurry, then slow down and stop.
The hammer nearly fell a couple of times – I’d put in a bid just before it was ‘gone’ and then it would be off again. There were some bidders on the phone but one by one they dropped away. I’d slowed the bidding down to $500 increases, and eventually the final bidder stopped bidding and it was mine! (Attempt #7)
Deposit paid, I now had two weeks to get finance and settle on the property of my dreams. Thanks to the sterling efforts of my friend, I eventually secured finance via a third-tier lender. It was going to cost me an arm, a leg, and the money I was planning to use to renovate, but at least I now owned a church. Let the journey begin!
This is a close-up of a 1975 photo before the vestibule was added. Note the ‘out-house’ at the back, the church hall in the middle, and the manse (minister’s residence) to the right.
You may recall in an earlier post I outlined my planned layout for the kitchenette. Well not much has changed since then, although I’ve made some other design decisions.
It wasn’t until I set up and used the ‘construction kitchen’ that I realised that I hadn’t allowed for enough power points in the kitchenette. I’m trying to have a minimalist kitchen, but the basic appliances alone needed four power points, so I’ve doubled-down and am planning for eight, plus one under the bench for the washer-dryer.
Council requires an extractor fan in the kitchenette. Originally drawn in the external wall over 3m from the bench-top oven, I’ve relocated it to the wall above where the oven will be. Ducting will take the exhaust out through the wall and under the nave floor. Hopefully that will mean that the fumes will exit the area without setting off the smoke detector!
The kitchenette area plumbed-in and (almost) wired up – note the sub-floor insulation which is recycled wool
I managed to get a good discount on the washer-dryer I wanted in the Boxing Day sales. It operates on separate feeds for hot and cold water, and the condenser-dryer will drain out via the sink. That should cut down on the humidity levels and power bills!
One of the decisions I had to make was the dimensions of the sink and the thickness of the bench as it affected the plumbing set-out. I wanted a sink that would work as a kitchen sink in phase one, and a laundry sink in phase two. Fortunately the supplier I’d scouted in 2019 had a comprehensive online catalogue, and wide range available.
This line is from the poem ‘Mending Wall’ by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet. It’s about two neighbours mending a dry-stone wall on their boundary to stop their livestock from wandering.
I never ‘got’ poetry at school – the modern stuff was too obscure for my taste. Likewise, I never got people’s need to build whacking big fences around them as a barrier. I like the fact that people use my section as part of a short-cut to the nearby Catholic church and a school.
So I was a bit concerned when my neighbours started talking about building a fence. Fortunately they were thinking of a ‘soft’ fence of plants along their boundaries. I thought that my future church-raising plans might trample all over their plants. I’ve shared my plans with them and it seems that it’s the back boundary they were keen to mark out.
And we’ll they might be! I was aware that the back section was owned by a widow living in Auckland. She had sold her adjacent chalet to a local neighbour who used the empty section as an occasional garden. Locals also used the empty section to graze their horses as there was an ‘internal’ fence across the back part of my section and the neighbour’s to the driveway. The person who had bought the chalet was keen to buy the section as well.
Needless to say I was a bit perturbed when I visited my church at the end of June to discover a couple of wooden pallets up-ended and hammered in next to the boundary pegs. There was a building site excavated and piles of earth and building materials on the section.
I made some inquiries and discovered that the section had been sold to the chalet-owner, and that they were planning to build a structure of some kind and fence off the section. I managed to track down someone who was able to pass on a message to the new owner who contacted me a few days later.
The conclusion of our conversation was that they were determined to build a 2m high fence out of wooden pallets on their side of our boundary, but not the boundary with my other neighbour. Needless to say I was less than impressed that the first thing I’d see when I opened my bedroom curtain was a black fence made out of old pallets. I already have an ordinary fence on one boundary, which was one too many.
They rejected outright my offer to pay for more appropriate fencing materials if they were prepared to construct it. Fortunately the Fencing Act gives me a vehicle to protect my property rights by enabling me to build a fence onthe boundary. It’ll be tall enough to screen out their structure, but still give me a sense of space. It’ll also be a pretty white picket fence with pales shaped to reflect the pitch of the nave roof.
Unfortunately they rejected my proposal in the legal notice I gave them, and proposed that I pay for the materials and construction of a fence on the boundary line, or agree to them building the fence they’ve proposed. Then came the delaying tactics. They would consider my proposal if I got a proper quote and provided it to them by a certain date.
Quote duly obtained and provided, it took about three days for them to decline my proposal. No surprises there. I advised them that I would make application to the Disputes Tribunal to adjudicate on the matter, and submitted my application the following day.
Imagine my surprise when I returned to Ohakune the following weekend to find a ‘fence’ erected close to my boundary line. So close, that it’s not possible for me to build a fence on the boundary line without them moving their pallets. The picture at the top of this post is what I discovered on my return.
I made contact with the owner to discuss access to their section to allow for construction of a fence on the boundary line, and moving the pallets to allow for construction to take place. She refused to meet with me and stated that moving the pallets to allow for construction was “not happening”. So it’s off to the Disputes Tribunal we go to get a ruling on access, construction costs, and materials.
Meanwhile, I’ll get the remains of the internal fence and the tree stumps removed so that section of the lawn can be mowed and made tidy. Building a fence was going to be one of the last things I was planning to do, but now it looks like it’ll be one of the first! At least my cousin will have something to hitch her horse to if she rides over from the Rangitikei.
This is a photo of a photo of Olearia nummularifolia in the Rangipo Desert all framed up by my own fair hands. I now have a much deeper understanding of the costs behind those eye-watering quotes you get to have something professionally framed.
I took my 15-year-old niece with me on the hunt for lights and curtain fabrics one day. We were discussing what artworks to put up on the walls, and trying to come up with a concept that would fit in with the ethos of keeping things simple.
I developed a love of Impressionism in my teenage years from wandering around my local art gallery and studying art history in my final year of secondary school. My sense was that I needed something more local and natural than contrived for the vestry.
My first thought was photos of indigenous alpine fauna and flora. Then I remembered that someone had given me an old calendar of photos taken in the region. Perfect, I thought.
When I dug them out I realised that the photos were different orientations and sizes, so standard frames wouldn’t work. I was reluctant to invest in professional framing for mass-produced copies. A quick online search identified a weekend picture-framing course scheduled within the next few weeks at a local art college. Fortunately they had one place left so fee paid and off I went.
The tutor was great at explaining everything and helping us with the tricky bits. Unfortunately some of the equipment was very manual. I’d chosen chunky wooden framing timber that was prone to splitting when cutting it with the special guillotine. It felt like I spent most of the weekend cutting framing timber!
Fortunately I managed to get two pictures framed which I can hang in my current bedroom until the vestry bedroom is painted. Unfortunately I lack the patience to make a meticulous job of cutting and pinning so they’re a bit wonky! I like to think it adds to their charm.
I’ve decided to use some of the photos from the White’s Aviation series for the kitchenette. I’ll print them off as A3 and frame them in standard frames to create a bit of rhythm. That just leaves the art for the shower room to do!
This basin image informed the overall concept for the shower room vanity. We’ve come a long way from the original concept!
I’ve previously outlined my predilection for buying stuff online. Usually it’s something that’s secondhand, but I also buy new ‘cheap and cheerful’ stuff from online retailers. I figure if it’s just got water or waste going into it then function is just important as form.
One of the builders I met in September told me about Trade Depot who provide basic items at reasonable prices. Since I’m going for the simple look I decided to use them for some of my bathroom and kitchenette products.
First up was the basin for the shower-room vanity. My niece had in mind a nice curvy vessel basin to act as a counterpoint to the rimu tongue and groove sarking, and the lines of the vanity.
We finally settled on something that closely resembled her concept image. Then the cabinet-maker who was modifying the vanity unit alerted me to the fact that my elbows would be at ear level when I was cleaning my teeth. Not a good (or comfortable) look I thought.
We settled on an alternative that has some curves but was about 2/3 the depth. Job done I thought. I picked it up from the store during a road trip to Auckland in January, and handed it over to my stonemason along with the granite slab I purchased at the same time.
I haven’t been in a hurry to get the granite cut, polished, and the holes for the tap and waste cut out. I figured that it was a finishing element that could be done at a later stage.
However, I’m trying to choose fabric for the shower-room blind and stool, so gave the stonemason a bit of a poke last week so that I could get a small off-cut to cart around with me. (Did I mention that the granite slab needs at least two people to manoeuvre it – it’s fecking heavy.)
Unfortunately it turns out that the sink I bought five months ago isn’t suitable as a free-standing basin. One side is an unfinished ugly terracotta colour. My stonemason contacted me to let me know so that I could get a replacement before he cut the hole for the waste.
It’s been more than a month since I bought the unit, so the supplier charges a 20% ‘restock’ fee. I have to pay to have it couriered to Auckland, take a loss on my original purchase price, as well as paying full price on a replacement item.
Note to self: take stuff out of boxes and check it when your receive it.
I’m currently mulling over a few options. Plan B is to source something locally and take the hit on the original item.
First option was too high
Second option isn’t suitable
Third option
Fourth option
The preferred third option is out of stock, so we’re now going with this number!
One of my design aesthetics is for the building to look as though it could be returned to it’s previous use without undoing all of the new elements. The vestry was the area where the minister would get into their robes (vestments) prior to a service. It was also used as an office for meetings.
For phase one of the conversion, I’m turning this area into a shower-room, kitchenette, and bedroom. The bedroom and kitchenette are relatively straight-forward. The shower-room is where most of the design and construction challenges lay.
There’s no water or sewerage connections to the church, so the nearest toilets were attached to the back of the church hall next door. (I still have the tags that were on the keys for each toilet.) The nearest available toilets are now at the park around the corner in Conway Street – a bit inconvenient. Boom tish!
The new layout will see the shower to the left of the window, vanity straight ahead, and toilet to the right of the window. I have a thing about noise so the toilet is as far away from my bedroom as possible! I’ll also be using sound-deadening plasterboard to keep the noise levels down.
One of the early layout designs I was given had the vanity squished in next to the shower so that there was wall space for a mirror above it. I’m not that vain! Nor am I an exhibitionist. As the locals have a tendency to use the grounds as a short-cut I’ll be putting a mirrored finish on the bottom half of the sash window for modesty purposes……………
I like good design but that comes at a cost. I’ve opted for bog-standard things like the hand basin, shower, and toilet which I’ll source from Trade Depot or TradeMe. The vanity cabinet is coming from BespOak NZ and the granite top is secondhand. However, I’ve struggled to find basin and shower mixers that I like.
Well, that’s not quite true. I have found a brand of mixers that I like but the prices are eye-watering! I’ve opted for an Italian brand priced between the cheap-and-cheerful Australian and well-engineered German products. No surprises there.
Yet-to-be-resolved is what type of oil finish to apply to the rimu sarking on the walls and ceiling. My choices are an interior oil that gives a milky-white finish, tung oil, and danish oil. I also need to decide whether or not to install a glass panel above the shower-room door to let more light into the kitchenette. What do you think?
Basin mixer
Shower tower
Danish, Tung, & Interior oils separated by untreated wood
Red car, red sofa. There’s a theme here somewhere……………………
So here’s the thing. Apart from old buildings and cars I also like other old things. I think it’s a family trait. I remember my eldest sister inheriting an old lounge suite from our gran which she had for a good few years before she replaced it. She’s still got gran’s coffee table in her holiday house, and I have the oak sideboard from our other grandparent’s holiday house.
If I didn’t inherit my furniture I’ve generally bought it second-hand from a shop or online. This two-seater couch is a recent purchase that I’m looking forward to trying out. It reminds me of old railway carriage seats – railway carriages are another mild obsession of mine.
I’m determined to try and buy second-hand furniture where I can – except my mattress – I think that needs to be new as you never know where they’ve been or what adventures they’ve had. I made the mistake of buying a second-hand bed and mattress online a few years ago to discover the mattress was stained. I’ve now learned to read between the lines!
I do like buying new kitchenware and appliances for some reason. So far I’ve had to restrict myself to the basics that are essential for making coffee and heating lunch. I’ve still opted for quality as I figure it will only cost me once.
Borrowed? Well that may take the form of something a relative ‘insists’ that I use. I’m trying to avoid it becoming a dumping ground for other people’s unwanted stuff without offending anyone. I want it to be a peaceful and relaxing environment without jarring elements that don’t work for the space.
Blue and black? They aren’t colours that I like or wear which is a bit of a challenge when it comes to purchasing clothes. At least I can avoid them with my decor!
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