The end and the beginning

So the time has come. We are leaving our first home.

Messy video tour

Tidy sales brochure

New house post coming soon!

Some time later

This week Keren has mostly been wallpapering the kitchen.

Last weekend the bathroom got painted which was a team effort.

Plans for the dining room are a melange of vibrant jewel colours. For the lounge, a dark cosy chill out zone.

Christmas update

Boxing Day walk

Saga of the sofa... Trip to Ikea to get the bookcases for the dining room. Decide to wander through the showroom for inspiration. Husband spots a large modern style black sofa on sale. We both sit on it and realise it is very well designed with maximum seating area while taking up the same amount of space as our existing, more traditionally styled sofa. Husband can stretch out his long leggies and wife can still have space to sit! A very helpful staff member orders the various bits for us. On the way out we visit Bargain Corner. What do we see? The same black sofa. Gosh! We can hardly believe our eyes. Bottom line is, we got the sofa, matching footstool and bookcases for the same price as the sofa would have cost. Hurrah!

If only the bookcases had been perfect, that would be the last time we went to Ikea for a while. But unfortunately one of the uprights was a second right, rather than a left. Still need to go back and get it exchanged!

Room for furry throws, a sheepskin, a fluffy dog and a husband.

Christmas Day fire, candles and general obnoxiousness.

The dining room is almost completed, having two of the three bookcases up and filled with books. Wifey put up shelves and the bar on Christmas Day, although the bar still needs another varnishing attempt (old unmixed varnish tends to crack off as it dries apparently - who knew). Dining table and chairs were well in use for a Christmas dinner of roast beef in the most delicious gravy. Yes we added wine to the casserole dish! Along with a stock cube, Worcester sauce, a heap of onions and some rosemary. Yum.

Wifey also hung various items in the now fully wallpapered hallway.

Christmas Day bar installation, including coffee maker!

Christmas Dinner!

Dog escapades!

Posing in front of a very nice tree.

Pre-Christmassy lounge update

General update - Nov 2015

It's been a long time coming, but the plastering and electrics are done in most of the house (exceptions being kitchen, bathroom). We also have full gas central heating and infinite hot baths, courtesy of a combi boiler. The combi boiler is quite possibly the best invention of all time! We did face quite a lot of hassle getting the location sorted due to conflicting regulations. Even though other houses on the street have their boiler exhaust pointing into the back garden or onto the street, it is now illegal for a new installation to do the same (madness). Ultimately there was only one place in the house that would be legal, and as far out of the way as possible (who wants the boiler in their bedroom?) - the small back room which we hope to convert to an ensuite. So that's a pain so far as using the already limited space goes, plus working with the health and safety regulations around electricity in bathrooms... Future us can have the joy of working with a bathroom fitter on that!

Beautiful boiler.

Brand new obscure window and brand new light fitting, with brand new plastered ceiling. Also some wallpaper samples clinging on for dear life.

In the meantime, Ross has been to visit and he and Husband were galvanised into stripping an awful lot of evil, evil textured wallpaper, as well as a lot of filling in gaps in the skirting boards, replacing crappy skirting boards, etc., and dealing with the ridiculous hole in the beam boxing in below the attic, which was exposed when the old hot water tank cupboard was taken out:

Empty room! No more horrid fitted furniture. Also no more horrid textured wallpaper!

Ridiculous end to the boxing in, with the start of a repair.

Admire the lovely naked walls if you please!

Ross had to cut wood to size to slot into the boxing in, which just stops... Next we have to come up with some way to reproduce the smooth surface of the boxing in (yes it's boxed in, plastered over and then painted... what and why, who knows).

Basically it's all about the No More Nails. Skirting board, kitchen worktop, garden gate, curtain rail, that stuff is a miracle in a tube.

The front room has been papered over the course of one fun-filled weekend by the Wife, assisted by the Husband. We were lazy and went over the woodchip. I say lazy. It was not laziness so much as "oh it'll be easy to get off... hmm hot water should do it... Oh $%&£ my hand is shredded... Okay, okay, let's just paper over it and then at least one room is fairly close to being done." Top tip: dark wallpaper, textured wallpaper, vinyl... yes do test an area with a sample first, you will be surprised as to what can hide the texture and what can't. We painted the ceiling first, then stumbled out and about to procure the wallpaper. We went to a wallpaper shop we've driven past every day for at least a year, only to find ourselves ignored and no wallpaper for sale, only pattern books. (Seriously though, you're running a decorating shop, a couple come in with paint splattered through their hair wearing clothes with paint smears everywhere and you ignore them?!) So we dashed across town to this totally bizarre place which looked to all intents and purposes to be closed down since 1982, but actually was open, though it looked and smelled like 1982 inside. Walked away with SO much wallpaper. Result!

Yes we had already tried B and Q, they did not have anything of the darkness and texture we needed except some fashionable "city at night" type glittery stuff which wasn't really appropriate for a bedroom (!). We were tempted by the Star Wars movie poster collages but...!!

It's from Italy dontchaknow.

Brand new and very exciting plug socket.

The new plastering has made such a difference. It is looking like a real house now, and less like a stupid time warp hell hole. It is actually quite nice to have a darker ceiling colour as it brings it down and makes the room more cosy. Of course we will have to paint it white, but it is funny how colour can change a room.

Dining room looking smooth.

Lounge looking very clean.

We have got a multi-fuel stove put in and the horrible old concrete monstrosity removed. There was a bit of fuss getting it in as they measured the chimney breast wrong the first time and brought a hearth which was too wide... Then of course the plasterer boarded over instead of knocking it back (to save time because he was late from another job and desperate to get it done) so actually the one that was too wide would have been perfect given the chimney breast is now wider due to the boards... Argh! Never mind. It is far too late now and I don't think anyone is going to notice or give a $%&&. Just one of those things. On the plus side we did pay a lot less for the plastering than expected because he didn't spend an extra day knocking it back!

The stove is absolutely gorgeous and we are very happy with it. They tested the chimney during the survey, and as we are finding, it is an excellent "draw". Having had a few fires we're getting the hang of controlling the air vent properly. Buying the tongs and brush etc. was a surprisingly emotional experience! Currently the room is empty but we're planning to move furniture back in ...once we've given everything that all important coat of paint.

The firebox hibernates under the sheet while the dining chairs stand guard.

The dining chairs are a departure from our approach so far - brand new, made to order from a high street store. The vision for the dining room is a cafe/bar style atmosphere, so we wanted chairs that were good for "dining" but also for "lounging". They are in every chain coffee shop but surprisingly difficult to find for sale. We're looking forward to getting the decorating done so we can enjoy sitting in these and relaxing! Personally I feel a bit conflicted in buying brand new furniture. Stuff is not the be all and end all but it is nice to have things you really like rather than just "something". In this case we decided to buy new - it's not like we are planning to buy any more dining chairs...

The lounge lights have also been rewired, resulting in a working ceiling light and a two-way switch for the wall lights. This means it is now possible to switch off the lights without going to the front door! I know, I know... we worry about getting soft with all these mod cons...

Beautifully plastered re-wiring.

Beautiful new 2-way light switch.

In other news the attic remains the same, albeit with brand new windows. All the doors and windows are done now, hurrah! The only issues are to do with finishing which was sub-standard on two of them - they were supposed to fix this way back when they were done, but window company had a guy suffer a car accident. That is terrible but at the same time deeply annoying because they cancelled the fixing appointment and have no space until December. So it's dragging on but there's no point getting upset about it - it will get done eventually.

The attic blinds were an interesting adventure - Velux told us they have a new warehouse in France with "teething problems" which meant the (highly expensive) official Velux blackout blinds were lost by TNT (or Velux - who knows). It took several assertive phone calls to sort it out and then they were delayed by a few weeks due to being out of stock (!). All this despite the original order being for delivery within 1 week! Wife put them up after a week of trying to get Husband to do it - definitely worth getting the official ones, they are a perfect fit and very effective at blackout.

Most of our stuff is in storage, and some is just piled up in the attic. Looking forward to unpacking it again once the rooms are decorated!

Attic bedroom/lounge

Attic bedroom/storage unit

Bathroom has been updated with a new sink, mirror with storage, and of course the vinyl flooring laid for the benefit of the mortgage valuation. Wife is quite handy really.

Nifty!

Almost a proper bathroom...

Now with infinite hot water!

Both sink and mirror are from Ikea. Sink took an entire weekend to purchase and fit. Mirror one evening. If you ever try to purchase a sink from Ikea, make sure to take drinks and snacks in with you...

Wife is also proud of her terranium:

Growing like it's going out of style.

These plants are the descendants of a plant originally belonging to Wife's great-grandmother, and are very happy since being moved into the bathroom. It's south facing and the increased humidity due to frequent hot baths seems to be of benefit.

The kitchen remains in a fully operational, if aesthetically basic state. We have discovered sticky-backed vinyl, which has a range of uses including the covering of old kitchen units. Hey presto! Looks just like Ikea! Wife did a test unit in black wood-effect - literally indistinguishable from Ikea. The units are perfectly functional - we'll see how we go when we get to the point of having the kitchen done.

House clearance electric cooker, with prodigious condiment collection.

I was so good this morning, I even did the washing up.

Flat surfaces attract stuff.

Aaand that's about it for now. I shall not write a list of everything else that needs doing! I'm off to carry on recovering from the flu and knitting. Ciao!

Green deal update and general news

So a glazing man came from Sheffield several weeks ago but has not forwarded a quote to the Green Deal Provider. Likewise the boiler company are not returning my calls or the GDP's calls... ho hum!

Meanwhile we have got our Green deal voucher by email... which is valid for less than 6 months. Curses.

I'll give it a week or two before I start asking questions like "should we just pay for the windows out of our wedding fund then"...

Quote for most of the windows (no doors) coming in around 2500. But the central heating is 5000. I guess we can limp through one winter on a crappy gas fire with nice tight DG in place. Just need to get the dripping and rust-encrusted bathroom radiator removed/replaced... and maybe hammer in some draught excluding seals around the doors.

In other news, saggy guttering is causing leaks into the box room and bathroom extension roof. Still gathering spirits to find someone to sort that out.

On the plus side, I have wired in a lovely halogen rail to the kitchen ceiling. I found it in a skip. Very nice.

Kitchen ceiling - Final onslaught

So, you may have been wondering what's been going on that's so important the blog hasn't been updated for days. In short, life. More specifically, the hellish purgatory of the Groundhog Day that is the kitchen ceiling. Looks like this:

Step 1. Wash.
Step 2. Paint. Grease comes through.
Step 3. Paint. Grease still coming through.
Step 4. PVA.
Step 5. PVA.
Step 6. Paint test patch. Grease comes through.
Step 7. Soak ceiling with water. Scrape off paint, PVA, decades of stinking orange grease and horrible popcorn texture into a soggy rain of squishy flakes of stinking doom. Note: this is for masochists who enjoy sore shoulders, wrist sprains and disgusting crap landing in their hair and inside their clothes despite all precautions. 3 days of my life I can never get back.
Step 8. Wash.
Step 9. Wash.
Step 10. I may wash one more time.

Then my plan is:
Step 11. Size (prep paste for wallpaper)
Step 12. Wallpaper a test area. If minimal grease appears, proceed.
Step 13. Paint with kitchen paint.
Step 14. Paint with kitchen paint.

If grease appears through the lining paper I will switch to vinyl textured paper.

Masochists please note: it's best to prep walls before the ceiling is finished. That way you can do the walls twice...!!!