About me...

imperfecto evolved from the restoration of my heritage listed property located in Gulgong. Originally a butcher shop, the building was operated as a Dry Cleaners for many years so it's heritage listed as Gulgong Dry Cleaners. The building maintains many of the original features including a cedar old style coolroom. The project included having the exterior of the building repaired and painted in heritage colours chosen to harmonise with the tiles on the shop facade. The scaffolding really was a sore point with the neighbours and the tenants but somehow I persisted (even during a pandemic and don't mention the mouse plague). The charcoal and white awnings really added the wow factor. The shop awning over the footpath had pressed metal panels that needed to be replaced and repainted. Some of the tiles on the shop facade were missing or broken. I had to source similar tiles which was proving a difficult task as modern and heritage style tile stores didn't have anything that matched. Then I found the Discontinued Tile store at Peakhurst which is a one man operation run from an industrial style shed. He disappeared for what seemed like forever and returned victorious with a reclaimed tile which was similar in colour and size and seemed like a bargain at $10 each!!! The windows on the balcony were removed to return the front facade back into original condition. The plumbing and electricals had to be updated. Many hours was spent on sanding the apartment floor boards to remove the paint spills and take them back to bare timber. The timber floors were then hand rubbed with a dark wax to seal and protect the timber. When I purchased the building, I had a tenant in the shop running a successful market style fast fashion store. I really liked their shop and on several occasions I would spend $150 a week in the shop (which was the amount of rent I received) to support their store. After their renewed 12 months lease was coming to an end it was time to give them notice to find another place to operate their business and time for me to progress with the restoration of the rest of the building. The shop interior had to be patched and repaired and then painted. A stable style door added back to a door opening that had been sealed off a long time ago. The lighting updated and a reclaimed shop counter added. I bought the counter from a garage sale from a local couple. The counter (which was not really for sale)  as the owners didn't really want to part with it. No wonder! As the counter originated from the Post Office in Redfern circa 1880's??? Cut into three pieces hence the unusual shape, my piece is approximately 3 meters long, so the original counter was at least 9 metres!  So I made them an offer and they countered and the deal was done. Anyhoo, I've added a library and some additional shelving, security system and more...the evolution of imperfecto.

Mary xx