Bedroom - all done bar the wardrobes

All that's left to do in our bedroom now is to buy & put up the fitted wardrobes & iron the curtains.  The former task won't happen until after Christmas & I'm not sure when I'm going to feel like the latter - anything that need ironing in my wardrobe is rarely worn!


The oak effect laminate made a big improvement when it went down - I'm hoping that this will be our default flooring for most other rooms in the house.


Really pleased with the new bedside cabinets.  I have been trying fruitlessly to get hold of the same Habitat series cabinets as the bed, but admitted defeat.  These are John Lewis ones - but they go rather well with our bed.


The walls are more grey than I hoped - but the shade seems to go well with the oak wood colour.


We now each have a bedside lamp - something we never had at Edward Avenue!  Tried to keep to the vaguely 70s retro thing going on with our bed - and the house!


The thing I'm most pleased with is the pendant lampshade - chosen by Husband.  Plain hessian kind of thing when unlit, but has a fabulous bamboo design when lit.

Kitchen - getting there. Kind of.

Well, the kitchen is progressing.  Not finished - or anything like finished, but at least it's starting to look a bit less like a gutted shell & more like a room.
A few hiccups - a broken elbow, electrical shuffling & a predictable amount of glaring at the plans vs reality!
The oven does work - but we've been too chicken to try it out.

En Suite Bathroom Finished

Drum roll......


En Suite is finished!  Our first finished room.


We removed the old suite - which included a corner bath too short to stretch out in and a leaky loo.  The carpet and a goldfish shower curtain were also consigned to the household recycling centre.


We kept the tiles - and managed to find a very close match to add in where needed.  The light, mirrors, towel rail, radiator & shelves were all good - so we kept them too.


Additions were:

• Large shower cubicle with a low profile tray and sliding doors.
• Thermostatic mixer shower, that thanks to the megaflow has a decent level of oomph.
• Oak vanity unit 
• Tile Loc flooring
• Non-leaking loo! 

It all works and it is so much more enjoyable to use than the blue, daylight free bathroom.

We moved into the main bedroom this week as we welcomed our very first overnight guests - my Fabulous In Laws en route home to Torquay after a long birthday weekend in Vienna (many, many thanks to Xis!).   Really good to be sleeping in a nearly finished room, but I'm so looking forward to having a kitchen so that we can be proper hosts.

Temporary Kitchen

I am very lucky - no need to do the washing up in the bath!
Fridge is in the hall, crockery & coffee machine & cutlery in the dining room, food & microwave & slow cooker are in the utility room - which also boasts an operational sink.
Our most luxurious temporary kitchen to date!
Actual kitchen is being plastered & having sockets shunted around at present.

Heating Upgraded

We had our heating upgraded this week - so I've been very grateful for:

• Lack of cold weather
• Having an electric shower at present
• Gym membership
• My sofa blanket
• The kettle!  

The boiler worked fine, but was of an age where replacing would make sense for our heating bills.


Husband describes our new unvented cylinder as a "luxury" - I think I've been spoiled as I regard mains pressure hot water as a requirement, not a luxury.  The Megaflo we've chosen will deliver that and will also help to keep heating bills under control.   It means that we don't have to install shower pumps - so it will make more financial sense as the house-to-home project progresses!

We don't have solar thermal - but we are intending to next year when the RHI kicks in.  It wasn't much more to go for a Megaflo that can cope with 2 heat sources - so it will be appropriate for when we do go for solar hot water and will reduce the installation cost for that change.


Radiators downstairs have been replaced - but the vertical rad that will release some wall space in the lounge is still outstanding (the one the plumbers ordered arrived dented).  The new rads that have been installed do look much smarter, albeit nothing designery! In the cloakroom, we've now got a chrome finish heated towel rail.


A radiator in the hall's been moved - again, to free up a wall.  There's a dark corner that's been evolving into our bag & gym stuff storage area.  Moving the rad means that we can shelve this properly.  

There was a room thermostat already - but the numbers had rubbed off so we've had it replaced with a basic but legible version!  I can now practice what I advocate at work and set up our heating to suit us - which hopefully will keep the bills down.


The programmer remains unchanged - and even the timings are unchanged.


It's odd that Husband and I both baulk at spending money on furniture and decoration, but we are happy to spend on electrics and heating!

Pyracantha

I spent quite a bit of today in conversation with a pyracantha, accompanied by a tree lopper & a pair of secateurs.  It was labouring under the illusion that it was a tree & was to occupy some of next door's garden as well as ours.  I've explained that it is a clambouring wall shrub & that it is welcome to stay providing it behaves as such on our fence.
I did leave as many of the yellow berries as possible for the birds (although they would prefer it if it were the red berried variety) - and have attempted to keep it looking like a prime nesting spot.
We've also discovered a rambling rector on the same fence.
I'm a bit stumped about a live willow arbour - need to research how to get it behaving.

4 unfinished rooms

John the Builder finished his first stint with us yesterday - so we now have an unfinished en suite, unfinished bedroom, unfinished lobby & an unfinished utility room - note the theme.... 


The lobby & utility are waiting for new exterior doors (John's sourcing).   Everything else is now at the level where we need to get the paint brushes out & ask Tony to start the flooring.


The main priority is to get the utility room finished as much as poss before John comes back in a couple of weeks as that will be our mini kitchen whilst proper kitchen is destroyed & replaced.

However, I think we're going to focus on getting out for a day this weekend - and then maybe some gardening.  Even I have to accept we've been jamming too much into weekends recently.


We spent most of last weekend shuttling green wardrobe doors, old bathroom & utility units to the household recycling centre (aka tip).  


Really appreciated Sunday's lunch guests taking the corner bath there for us in their estate car as I don't think it would have fitted into the Panda even after husband sawed it in two...

De-Greening continues

John the Builder started work today on the main bedroom & the en suite bathroom.  


He was very complimentary about our wallpaper removal work - very much appreciated as we only just got it finished in time.


I left the house for work just as he was ripping off the lovely green louvre wardrobe doors - great to see them all gone by the time we got home!


He's sorted out a sagging ceiling, but has found some electrical nasties to get sorted in the loft - nothing major though apparently.

Wardrobe doors are now outside waiting for me to take them to the wood bin at the tip at the weekend...

Lots of visitors & de-greening commenced

My running buddies came over this weekend to use the house as the start point for 2 extra curricula runs.  The long drive is perfect for warming up with a little screening from passers by, but being on top of a hill is rubbish for ending a long run - so mixed performance as a running base.
The house performed better on Wednesday when my 2 colleagues came over for lunch & to do some planning - so good for work.
And it did fine today when Adam came over to have a look & eat crumpets with us.
Lots of time stripping wallpaper from Main Bedroom today - it's so time consuming when it is covered in paint & doesn't respond to a steamer.  Still, the room is nearly de-greened....

Nearly a ha ha...sort of

The landscape gardening team have finished replacing the depressingly overgrown herbaceous borders with a lawn.  I'm so chuffed with the result!


My sole contribution was to paint the retaining sleepers (and my shoes and arms) forest green.

Husband's challenge has been to keep the moles from destroying it before the roots penetrate the soil!  They are forming mole hills under the turf - which give a very telly tubby/tumulus appearance.   


Tempting to keep - but not sure I'll be able to mow a micro-undulating lawn very well....

We both feel much more positive about getting the rest of the garden sorted out now.  Our neighbour claimed that the new lawn made it look very stately home - but I'm not sure that it's in Capability Brown territory!

Decrackled phone line

BT decrackled our phone line this week - so we can now listen to calls without the accompaniment of static.  It's sped up our broadband noticeably too.
The printer is now back in action again - new cartridges.  
On the gas & electric front, Husband got us switched to a better energy deal online. 
Not very exciting - and not very photogenic - but important nonetheless.

Gardener has begun

If I didn't work full time, I'd love to have spent 3 months lovingly restoring the bindweed overgrown herbaceous borders that dominate the back garden - but sadly, we really don't have the time.  


Given our rat issue, we decided that living with the overgrown beds until we could find the time was not a great idea - so we've called in a landscape gardener who started today.


The guys have done lots today - all the plants are out although I think there is some work to do still on getting the roots out.

Boulders have appeared that were buried in the undergrowth - not entirely sure what to do with them, but I'm hoping that the gardener has some ideas...


We entertained our second visitor on Sunday - and this time, we managed to feed our guest!  James came over for lunch in between fishing and cycling - loved his ideas about using glass bricks, but I don't think that they are Husband's taste!

Reorganised Box City

Box City still occupies the conservatory - but is a bit better organised.  We went to North Devon last weekend without any cycling routes as we couldn't find the right box - and I wanted to track down some key kitchen items - shoe polish for example.
It took a morning to examine each box, relabel and sort into 3 areas: Books/CDs/DVDs, Kitchen, Other.  I wasn't aiming to empty boxes, but did manage to release 4 by sorting stuff out.
Found my most beautiful shoes!
Husband applied his latest purchase to the front garden - an electric hedge trimmer - and it's looking much smarter.
I've also cleaned out the food recycling bin that appears to have been used as a compost holder so we can start to get our landfill contribution down.

Italian tiles found

Previous owners of this house had good taste in tiles - as already mentioned, I quite like the 70s style red ones currently in the kitchen.  The main bathroom has blue tiles that I can't get excited about - but equally, can certainly live with.
The ensuite bathroom's tiles are tricky - we like them and they aren't broken so would like to keep them.  However, we plan to replace the corner bath with a shower enclosure & the loo & basin with white versions.  This means spaces that will be tile free.
A box and a half had been left behind - not quite enough.
It seems nuts to re tile a bathroom when we like the current ones for the sake of a couple of boxes, so we've been looking for them online.
No match anywhere for the barcode or any of the information on the box - but on the back of the tiles, it says "Novabell White Collection".  Much more success!
No UK stockists nearby (that I could find anyway), but there is a store in High Wycombe that deals with Novabell so we are going to pop in on the way to Baby Sister's on Saturday to double check & place the order.
It's not going to be cheap to have them shipped from Italy - but much cheaper than re tiling!

Kitchen is ordered

Not quite the 3 week lead time I was expecting, but as it's not due until the 19th November, at least we'll be able to get the room ready!  

We had to choose the tiles and flooring in minutes in order to add them to the interest free credit deal - which was surprisingly amenable and squabble free.  For both, we ended up switching from what we'd chosen from the brochures.


I have also decided that I'm going to salvage what I can from the current tiles - I do like them in a very 70s way  but there really aren't enough in good condition to keep as the main kitchen tiles.  I do have some ideas though.

We have a possible home for the worktops - a friend has been eying them up for his workshop.


The current flooring though is beyond recycling - much as I approve of cork!

Kitchen Quote

Kitchen was measured up yesterday by Mark from B&Q.  I haven't seen the latest iteration of the kitchen CAD software and it's impressive!  He took minutes whereas I would have taken hours to measure & plot the units and the finished visuals are very helpful.  

I've put up the "before" photos here so you can see what we are working with.  It's a good sized room with a u shaped layout that we are not planning to change significantly.  We are reducing the number of wall units on the left side to give a more open look.

Quote was predictably more than I'd budgeted for - but there is an IFC deal at the moment which will certainly help!

Radio GaGa

Now this may not look like a milestone, but it is an important ingredient to the house-home project!  I struggle to do housework, DIY, unpacking, laundry, cooking, gardening and many more things without Radio 4 keeping me company.

I  

I can't find my little portable anywhere - but as the aerial had snapped halfway down & the battery was failing to hold charge, I decided to invest in a replacement today.  I'm not nice to the radios in my life - they get dropped regularly & have been spattered with paint.


Hence this really basic purchase that's hopefully me-proof!

Online Finally

Broadband went live on the 3rd September but we were on holiday so only got to set it up last night.  The biggest challenge was finding the wireless router in the box city in the conservatory, but Husband succeeded where I had failed.
It does keep cutting out - not sure if it's the router or the line.  I suspect the former as it wasn't perfectly behaved in the old house.  But still so much better than squabbling over the (v.useful) PAYG dongle!

Keep Calm....

A housewarming card that's inspired me!

Bait Update

Mouse levels in loft above back bedroom & rat levels at the bottom of the back garden.  Still no internal rat bait take which is fantastic - and none in the front garden!  I'm not overly worried about the garden take as it's not unreasonable & exactly where we would expect to find the lovely furry animals.

Rat Staircase Removed

The prickly shrubby climbing thing, acting as a potential rat/mouse staircase all the way up our front wall is no more. 
I got back from work earlier than expected to find Husband had managed to remove it - a big job for one person! 
We then removed the hedging that's right up against the house for the same reason, bagged it up to take to the tip.  The latter was hampered by being unable to find the secateurs - had to use a tree lopper instead!  3 car loads.....
I was curious how the front of the house would look without it - and it has definitely smartened it up.

Our First Visitor!

We have hosted our first visitor!  "Hosting" may be overstating a tad as G was very wise and generous, bringing curry to heat in the oven rather than us cooking. 
But a major milestone nonetheless!
We ate in the dining room for the first time having given her the grand tour. She was very complimentary about the house - good to hear!

I may have to admit...

...that I have too many clothes!  I've managed to put most away in the Dressing Room's built in wardrobe, my old chest of drawers & a wardrobe that was going to go into the main bedroom but wouldn't bend around a critical corner.
"Most" was only achieved by being brutal.  Several black sacks are now full of clothing ready for responsible disposal - tempted to be more organised than usual & use the Oxfam/M&S £5 voucher Plan A deal rather than use a clothes bank in a convenient car park.

Phone Connected

A week later than expected, BT have connected our phone.  It's the same number as before - a benefit of only moved around the corner.  Fabulous Mother In Law was concerned to hear the previous inhabitants' comedy answerphone message when she called it though so we must get around to plugging in our phone!

We have TV!

An aerial in the attic in a dodgy reception area was never going to be great - and even less so when Husband knocked it over whilst baiting the loft!
Quote for new aerial took place this afternoon - and I was really pleased nd surprised that the installer was able to fit it there & then - aided by his boy who is apparently "working" for him over the school holidays. 
I don't think of us as particularly fussed about TV - but it has made a real difference to how the house feels.  It has definitely brought some much needed normality!

Squatters

Our home’s previous human inhabitants were late in moving out – but we’ve discovered some squatters too.  The house was sprayed for carpet moth today (loads munching through all things wool with the porch and hall as the epicentre) by a pest control company. 

But whilst getting odds of carpet out of the loft for disposal, Husband found rat & mouse droppings.  The advantage of finding these whilst the pest expert was present meant that bait could be laid straight away!  This does mean though that:

• Can’t hoover properly for 4 weeks due to the moth treatment.
• We must vermin proof the house as much as possible.  This changes the “things to do” list considerably!

To give a bit of perspective, the house does back onto a meadow – and from there to farmland – so rats aren’t really unexpected.