My lovely friend Sara and husband Neil decided that by way of house warming gift they would give me 8 hours of hard labour.... With four renovation projects between them they are way more experienced and whipped us into shape in no time.
Only 2 hours late, the eagerly awaited skip finally arrived and in a matter of minutes was full to overflow. As well as the hundreds of bags of rubble, bricks and wallpaper we were able to clear some (not all I might add) of the delights that the previous owners had left us... 2 microwaves,
washing machine, children's bike and toys a plenty, reading books, MDF drawers and surely the highlight... soiled underwear! I am afraid I exaggerate not folks!
My grand plans of stripping the living room walls were quickly ignored as Sara pointed out that we needed to tackle the plague pit that is the kitchen. Oh the desire to simply rip every filth stained cupboard and drawer out of there... but no, we have to live with them, so suck it up and bleach on! I simply cannot explain the levels of filth existing in this house, pipes that we thought black and rusty turned out to be gleaming copper (once the inch thick layer of grease had been scraped and bleached away), drawers of a
greyish hue were actually white once zapped with the Cilit Bang. 2 days of back breaking hand burning scrubbing and it almost resembled something I could bear (if I really must) to make a cup of tea in. 
Meanwhile the legendary builders work on, bathroom very nearly ready to go in... and the next dilemma... wall colour. I am a big big fan of dark, intense greys and earthy colours which create a beautiful luxurious and cosy feel, and had fully planned to go charcoal grey in the bathroom. Yet the voices of the masses are swaying my determination... "don't go dark in the bathroom, never dark in the bathroom....". Various tones of grey, brown and mossy greens have been reviewed and right now, my friends, against all your better judgement, I think I am going to the dark side!
Only 2 hours late, the eagerly awaited skip finally arrived and in a matter of minutes was full to overflow. As well as the hundreds of bags of rubble, bricks and wallpaper we were able to clear some (not all I might add) of the delights that the previous owners had left us... 2 microwaves,
washing machine, children's bike and toys a plenty, reading books, MDF drawers and surely the highlight... soiled underwear! I am afraid I exaggerate not folks!My grand plans of stripping the living room walls were quickly ignored as Sara pointed out that we needed to tackle the plague pit that is the kitchen. Oh the desire to simply rip every filth stained cupboard and drawer out of there... but no, we have to live with them, so suck it up and bleach on! I simply cannot explain the levels of filth existing in this house, pipes that we thought black and rusty turned out to be gleaming copper (once the inch thick layer of grease had been scraped and bleached away), drawers of a
greyish hue were actually white once zapped with the Cilit Bang. 2 days of back breaking hand burning scrubbing and it almost resembled something I could bear (if I really must) to make a cup of tea in. 
Meanwhile the legendary builders work on, bathroom very nearly ready to go in... and the next dilemma... wall colour. I am a big big fan of dark, intense greys and earthy colours which create a beautiful luxurious and cosy feel, and had fully planned to go charcoal grey in the bathroom. Yet the voices of the masses are swaying my determination... "don't go dark in the bathroom, never dark in the bathroom....". Various tones of grey, brown and mossy greens have been reviewed and right now, my friends, against all your better judgement, I think I am going to the dark side!
I think you should go for whatever you think... first projects are all about making your own mistakes and far better to regret something you have done and all that! You can always paint over it! By the way, my greatest regret bathroom-wise was not putting underfloor heating in the upstairs one (just FYI!)... was going to comment that I enjoyed the boy's post but it has mysteriously disappeared????
ReplyDeletewhat happened to the boy's blog? the boy speaks! he needs to be heard!
ReplyDeleteNow people, yes the boy speaks, quite loudly in most cases, but I am afraid this is a one woman blog. Plus he swore in his post - really a blog ain't the place for swearing!
ReplyDeleteYes Emma you are write, it can be re-painted but trying to avoid that where possible. xx