A lot can happen in three months

Has it really been that long?

In just twelve weeks we have finished the demolition, plasterboarded, replaced windows, plastered, painted, installed the kitchen, thrown the old one in the skip with a whoop of delight, installed the downstairs loo, tiled the utility room, remodelled the fireplace, hung a few things on the walls and laid 40m2 of parquet effect Karndean flooring.

That is, of course, the royal "we". Husband has done the vast majority of the work with a little help from family, a great plasterer and a fantastic flooring man. I mainly looked on from a safe distance whilst trying to keep two small boys out of danger.

We have yet to do the woodwork (skirting, door frames and doors) and we're a bit lacking in furniture until that is done so photos of the finished product are not yet available, but for now here are some of the nicer finishing touches (including a peek at that fabulous floor).

This was the fireplace the day we moved in. There was something of the Flintstones about the original design and as for the carpet, well, words fail me.

And here it is now! There will eventually be a multi-fuel stove installed when funds permit, so for now it's still a huge improvement on the original. It's tiled with tumbled Chinese slate. I am planning to paint a narrow border in metallic gold around the opening but we're keeping it simple with no surround or mantlepiece. The mirror was found on ebay, the HUGE world map is from Ikea.

A few years ago my Dad gave me a carrier bag of cookery booklets. Amongst the rubbish (think the Woman's Own diet plan from 1989) were half a dozen great vintage finds, dating from (I think) the 1930s to 1950s. The contents were not hugely useful, with almost every recipe starting with, "take a large block of lard..." but they were too beautiful to put away so - thanks to six Ikea Ribba frames, a roll of sellotape and some of the kids' craft paper they will now grace the wall above the dining area.

Village News

We have a free monthly village newsletter. It's mostly adverts for local shops and businesses, the usual warnings about locking your shed and, if you're lucky, actual news.

I really shouldn't laugh, but occasionally it throws up a gem like this:

Half time

Himself - 2, Walls - 0

Dust - 100, Me - 0

Over the last couple of weeks, two structural walls have come down. To the left is the old external wall (at the back is the extension) and on the right was the wall separating the old back room from the kitchen. Despite yards of plastic sheeting and duct tape the dust that drifted into the rest of the house was immense - I came home to find the hideous red swirly hall carpet had turned a lighter shade of grey.

Where you can see an old RSJ (just about, where a hole is knocked in the old plaster) on the right above the old kitchen, we will be putting in a stud wall and door so the area with the sink and washing machine will become a utility/WC. Building Control have approved the installation of the new steels so that's the last we'll see of them until completion. Yay! Just the small matter of plasterboarding, plastering, levelling the subfloor, fireplace and decorating plus many many more little jobs to go before we even start doing exciting things like installing the new kitchen and flooring *sigh*.

Still, it won't be hard to improve on this, will it?!

Going down

The upstairs is sort of done - the bedrooms are all decorated and carpeted but I still need to put the finishing touches in the way of shelves, pictures and storage. Now the really big work begins downstairs. We built the extension last year, started in the summer and got the roof on just in time for winter to strike, but were yet to start the really mucky work of knocking through into the existing house.

In the last couple of weeks, Himself has taken out two internal walls which has completely opened up the back of the house and you can really see the shape of the new space which will become 50m2 of open plan kitchen/diner/living/play room.

Here are some photos of the work in progress. I will take some new ones soon!

The old kitchen

Previous view of the rear of the house - starting to take down the old outbuilding.

Out comes the wall!

Digging the footings

Helping Daddy

Building the extension

Rub a dub dub

So, the bathroom is now done! It's heaven to have the choice of bath or shower, and I am just luxuriating in being able to shut the door! Am completely in love with the flooring, which is Stone Spot by Cath Kidston, and to have so much storage above and under the sink is wonderful.

I had my last bath in the 'old' bathroom on a Saturday morning. Himself was supposed to be watching the boys downstairs but as usual, they'd come to find me and the lack of wall/door meant they could just wander on in. Five minutes later I was sharing the bath with two toy cars and half a dozen rice crispies. I do not think this would have happened if we'd had daughters.

The right to bear arms

The Previous Occupants were your normal couple in their 70's. 'Traditional' taste in carpets and decor (see previously posted photo of open-plan bathroom for swirly red carpet and acres of anaglypta wallpaper...). A fondness for beige, as exhibited in their choice of bathroom suite and tiles in both kitchen AND bathroom, complete with floral and countryside scenes. And a love of dogs, which a year on, is still obvious every time I vacuum the red swirly carpet.

As the work goes on, we are building up a more detailed picture of their lives. Their DIY skills left a little to be desired. A one metre piece of skirting board in the bathroom was fixed with two flat head screws, two phillips screws, and four nails. The mind boggles.

Events took a more disturbing turn when we found a shotgun licence, hidden at the bottom of an old filing cabinet. Nothing too unusual there, this is the countryside. Until I remembered that he was registered blind.

Every day brings more junk mail for them. Lots of stuff from animal charities. Catalogues with elastic-waisted beige slacks. Fairly run of the mill stuff for people of a Certain Age.

And then yesterday, came not one but TWO copies of The Flag, a newsletter produced by the National Democratic party - previously known as the National Front. Eek.

I don't think I'm alone in thinking a blind, Far Right sympathiser is probably not really the best person to be in legal possession of a shotgun...

I saw this, and thought of you

Eldest son is obsessed with Postman Pat. All postmen (and women) are Postman Pat. Every morning he is just amazed, thrilled and delighted to see the post on the mat. Makes his day. Me, not so much, since most of it is junk mail for the Former Occupants.

So, anyway, the ongoing house renovations. We were in dire need of a new bathroom, having survived with just a bath in hearing-aid-beige and NO SHOWER for a year. So, Himself started work. At first, it was just a couple of tiles. Then the radiator which didn't work anyway. Then removing the back of the airing cupboard so the plumber can get to the hot water cylinder easily. And then- it looked like this:

See the pale green tank on the left? It used to be inside an airing cupboard. And to the right of that airing cupboard? Well there was a wall, and a door. A traditional arrangement, I suppose because most people prefer a little privacy whilst using the facilities. I went out for one afternoon, leaving Himself to his own devices, and this was what I came home to. I'm all for exposed brick and open plan living, but being able to sit on the loo and see the postman at the front door wasn't quite what I had in mind.