29.11.09 The Kitchen

All the cupboards are in and there was a last minute dash to change the size of the cupboards for the middle island on Wednesday.

The sink is installed and we no longer have to wash the pots in the bath!

We bought the tiles yesterday which are a mix of grey, dark brown, light brown and cream. You can see them laid out on the central work station.

There was a mix up with the appliances but they should be coming next week so we really need to have tiled the chimney area so that we can just slot the range into it.

17.11.09 The Kitchen Cupboards

The kitchen cupboards have started to go in...finally! We don't have a kitchen sink and all pots are being washed in the bath. The washing machine is out of action, so too is the cooker and I expect it to be like this for the next 10 days, groan!

Otis loves being on top of the cupboards and it's his favourite place at the moment, he's being so chilled about the changes to the house, unlike Ollie who runs away every time there is a loud noise and Jake who has so far had a wee on most things including the settee...lovely!

10.11.09 The Kitchen

Nearly all the kitchen floor has been tiled and grouted. We have started to move things back into the kitchen and it's starting to feel a bit more normal again.

The living room is a complete mess and the whole house has dust everywhere! By the end of this weekend the kitchen should actually look like a kitchen again...hopefully!

08.11.09 The Kitchen

Rob has started to lay the floor tiles. The floor is so old that even with the levelling compound it's nightmare to lay.

07.11.09 The Kitchen

We put some self levelling compound down on the floor. We had some from three years ago which had hardened in places so I got to sieve it all...lucky me!

One of the pics shows that Otis woz ere!

Rob has also wired the kitchen up, well it wouldn't be a room in our house if it didn't have extra lights!

06.11.09 The Kitchen

The plaster has been and completed all the plastering that we needed him to do.

We didn't want it all plastered or it would have taken twice as long and most of it we won't see once the cupboards are in anyway.

The double glazing people have installed the window and door but fitted a magnetic cat flap and given us two magnets. We have three cats and non of them wear collars!

02.11.09 The kitchen

Rob has finished his lighting feature and it has been filled ready for sanding.

All the ceiling paint and woodchip has been removed in readiness for the plasterer.
The fireplace has also been boarded.

The floor tiles have been removed and we managed to fill 5 boxes worth of old tiles.

30.10.09 The Kitchen

We are having a baby! I am 17 weeks pregnant and so we decided that we really did need to finish the house off before the little one arrived. I've had an endowment policy for 10 years that hasn't made any money so I decided to take all the money out. We have been busy researching as usual, for the best kitchen and appliances for the best price. Well Rob has, I've been busy researching for the best baby items at the best price!

We started taking the plaster off the chimney breast hoping that there would be lovely 200 year old bricks behind it, there aren't! In fact they couldn't be worse and there's no wonder that it has 3" of plaster on it in some parts. The soot covers the kitchen quite nicely!We've given up with that idea now and will tile it all!

Rob has made a lighting oblong feature on the ceiling, well it wouldn't really be our kitchen without a million lights, some PIR and some on switches, some big and some little!

The water and gas pipes have been boarded up and Rob's Dad has been filling all the gaps today ready to sand tomorrow.

The kitchen has arrived from Wren and we now have all the boxes in the living room and hallway. The picture shows some of the cabinets, but definitely not all of them.

We have also ordered an American fridge freezer, range cooker and dishwasher from Jual Domestics which should be with us soon.

We are also having a new double glazed window and door.

A moses basket arrived today too!

It's all very exciting, apart from living in a complete pig sty for probably the next 2 weeks! At least that means there's no point in hoovering or dusting for the next few weeks either, as the dust and sawdust seems to be making its way around the whole house! I think the cats help with that though!

07.07.2009 The Middle Bedroom

Another room finished! Only 3 years after we bought the house! I've just finished touching up and painting the chimney breast today. I think that it finishes the room off.

My Mum will be very pleased as apparantly this is her room should she wish to stay! We just need the flat screen TV to put into the cabinet. The middle part swivels around so that you can watch it on the settee (that we also need to buy) on the other side of the room. Pure luxury! I think Rob's done a fabulous job of the cabinet and wardrobe.

30.06.09 The Middle Bedroom

We had a slight drama after we came back from our holidays in May. The upstairs ensuite shower had leaked through the floor and onto the ceiling in the middle bedroom. Rob had disconnected the shower and the ceiling had dried out enough for me to be able to sand, fill and paint over the stains.

Also, when we re-tiled the roof we did not replace the leading in the internal valley. When the rains came so did the leaks, so we have now painted the lead with a special lead sealer. But unfortunately, the damage to the paintwork in both the top floor bedrooms was already done. On top of that the tap in the en suite also leaked but a new tap has resolved that.

We decided that with the current economic climate that our money which was in an ISA was doing absolutely nothing. So we have decided to use some of it to finish another room off. It's more of a motivational tool to feel good about the house again as we had become stagnant and absolutely nothing had happened with the house renovation for quite some time.

So on Saturday we bought a new King size bed for our bedroom and a carpet for the middle bedroom. I have also been busy buying new bedding and curtains for both our bedroom and the middle bedroom. The carpet and new bed arrive tomorrow, so we shall be having a re-jiggle around of furniture. I have next week off work to re-decorate both the top floor bedrooms and ensuite. All the chimney breasts will be painted to inject a little colour into the brown house! It will be a new house! I can't wait!

04.03.09 The Middle Bedroom

We've had a busy few weeks. Rob finished making the wardrobe a few weeks ago and stained it today. Rob has lowered his big cabinet but he was still doing this as I was taking pictures before it got dark.

I have painted the ceiling and walls and have started glossing the skirting boards. The lights have gone up and it's starting to look like a bedroom. The room should hopefully be finished tomorrow.

04.03.09 The Garden

Rob removed the railings and gate last weekend from the top of the wall. I weeded last weekend and painted the wall this weekend. I think the garden looks so much better. I think pruning is in order for next weekend.

26.11.08 The Middle Bedroom

We have a little bit of money now and have decided to make a start on the middle bedroom. This is Rob's mighty erection! It's taken quite a bit of sawing, fixing, routing and probably a bit of cursing too.
It shall stand in the middle of the room to divide the bedroom area and the small living area. It will turn the other way so that the cupboards face the living area. I have to paint the bedroom and then stain and varnish the room divider. It will probably be ready after Christmas as Phil the carpet man is busy laying carpets before Christmas.

26.11.08 The Bathroom

We were getting a bit worried about the amount of water that goes all over the tiled floor. The grout was looking past it's best too. I dug it all out and re grouted it about two weeks ago while I was on holiday. We ordered a proper shower screen and Rob fitted it last Thursday. He was so excited he fitted it the same day as it came!

The other picture is to shown that I have real plants that live in the bathroom. These have been in for over a year and I haven't killed them yet. I'm sure they survive on neglect! Notice the lovely new grout.

24.05.08 The Front Garden

Here is the finished front garden! We managed to get the rest of the plants today and finished it off. Maybe in three years it will look like it's supposed to. But you get the general idea.

18.05.08 The Front Garden

Whilst we have been renovating, we had acquired lots of old copper piping and scrap metal. Rob weighed this in yesterday and got £250 from it. This has bought the plants for the front garden. I can't believe how expensive the plants are and in this shot alone is £76 worth! We have only completed this corner section as the garden centre did not have all the box hedging that we required.

The garden is starting to transform and whilst it will be about 3 years before it has properly developed, I think it is beginning to look great.

The courtyard where all the scrap metal was has been swept and Rob has hung the hanging baskets up. The pots that the plants from the front garden are in are now dotted around. Rob has also put up the outdoor clock that I bought him for our first wedding anniversary. It's not worthy of a picture, but it does look better.

11.05.08 The Front Garden

We have spent all weekend breaking up the slate into varying sizes. The slate needed to be broken with a hammer, sieved for the bigger pieces and then sieved again for the smaller pieces. It's been a dusty and quite boring job. However, now that it is all in place, I think that it looks lovely.

We have started digging the soil up and getting rid of the big stones in readiness for planting which will hopefully be next week.

I have also scraped the post at the end of the garden and have re-painted it black.

05.05.08 The Front Garden

Rob's been busy today. I haven't been able to do much until the brickwork is complete. The basic structure is there now and Rob's still busy in the garden pointing. If you have a look at the far end, the weed suppressor is in place. We have started to place the old slate that came off the roof to see what it will look like. We think it looks great!

04.05.08 The Front Garden

The garden starts it's transformation.

Can you tell what it is yet?!

03.05.08 The Front Garden

Our garden looked a bit like this when we began to hack it to pieces last Thursday. Rob got the urge to do something and then attacked the pathway last weekend. He cemented the pathway and added a row of bricks down the side of the path and then it rained!. He then started taking up the lawn and I finished it yesterday. We have since moved wheel barrow loads of soil to the back garden. Our neighbour Fred on the way back from his allotment, decided to help. I have never known anyone of his age with such energy and he puts us to shame and doesn't allow us little breaks!

We have a plan. I could tell you about it, but then it wouldn't be as exciting as seeing it develop slowly over the weeks. Or maybe faster if Fred is involved!