Our makeover is complete

I thought I'd write a quick post here (before it gets too late) to tell y'all about our little makeover^[1] which was completed today.

Jess and co. from Temple & Webster arrived at 9am this morning and immediately started unloading a van with various things -- I dawdled as long as I could, but eventually had to head off to work (dammit!), with a promise to return circa 3:30 for the wrap-up and photo shoot. Luckily (?), I'm so busy with work at the moment that the intervening hours just flew by, so before I knew it I was taking my leave and heading back home...

... to find all sorts of shiny interior design-y goodness had magically transformed our habitat into a cosy little home. We had new furniture and furnishings, plants and greenery galore, a dining table, lamps and haberdashery^[2]. I wandered through the space in awe, finding new marvels at every turn and only half-listening as Jess explained each item or another. A rug made from saris? Hand-stencilled cushion covers? Tiny poison bottles-cum-vases? A fiddle-leaf fern in our house?? All very cool, very "us" (I think) but somehow more than we would have been able to put together ourselves (price notwithstanding).

Last weekend we cleared all the outside furniture and pressure-cleaned the deck, then put down a layer of decking oil; Monday and Tuesday night Dee finished off with another layer. We had to keep the kids off it as long as we could, but when Jules finally slipped through he just loved running around the empty balcony.

When he got home today to find the new stuff, he walked around saying "Oooh!" and "Cool!" a lot -- unimaginably cute. I'm very happy with the result, and so was Jules: "I like it," he declared. Let's face it, I'm probably only still up now (at 11pm) because I want to spend time here, and can't afford to work from home tomorrow (like Dee is). But yeah, photos^[3]!

[1] As a reminder, I entered a "25 words or less" competition from The Livingroom (TV show) and won an $18,000 lounge room makeover. As you've seen from the photos, in a small little cottage like ours that actually stretched to include our bedroom and the outside balcony area.

[2] Honestly, I didn't even know that was a thing (although I'm not using the term correctly -- think "knick knacks" rather than buttons and beads).

[3] I've asked for copies of the professional photos, which should include some of the "making of" behind-the-scenes. In the meantime, these iPhone and Android photos will have to do.