After the flurry of activity last year, I’ve just sat back and enjoyed the Convent with it’s freshly painted interior, polished floors, carpeted bedrooms, curtains and some furniture. It’s been nice having the place to myself and not having to make decisions and co-ordinate the tradies for a while.

However, there is still much to be done at the Convent and I’m moving into the next phase, which is a bit scary. The main things are:

• the two separate toilets, one of which needs a handbasin added
• fixing the tiling in the original bathroom, which is still in  condition with its tiles
• opening two fireplaces and making them functional
• building a large eat-in kitchen in a new room
• lighting throughout the building – there are few light fittings worth keeping and a good share of fluorescent tubing

Some of the preparation has started and I’m keen to get done what I can this year. The aim is to retain original features where they still remain.

I’m also starting to add to the furniture, given this is a pretty big place to furnish. One of the challenges is that although there are lots of rooms, none of them are particularly large. Quite a bit of the period furniture I like has been made for much larger houses so I need to choose smaller pieces when they come up. I’m finding the auction houses particularly useful and good value however given my distance I’m limited to absentee bids with all viewing done over the internet, so it can be a little hit and miss at times. I’m just very careful to bid conservatively in case it’s not quite up to expectations. So far there have been few disappointments with purchases (although many disappointments with pieces I’ve missed out on for want of another $10 or $20 but wasn’t there for the live bidding).

All in all, the Convent is coming along nicely and is looking very much like a comfortable home with its own character.