A Hard Days Night

Ouch! That would be paint in my eye then. I have decided it can wait no longer, I am attacking the staircase - with gusto.

So hideous is this job that my builder refused to do it, for any amount of money. This leaves no choice, I must man up, don my favourite building outfit and get the hell on with it.

I have been advised that what is required is sanding, lots and lots of sanding, by hand (to get into all the intricate shapes of the spindles). However approximately 5 minutes in, it is apparent that if I follow this advise, I will still be here, 30 years on, sanding away, with little but callouses to show for it. Clearly this is a stair case which has not been stripped back, ever.. there is layer upon layer of paint. It's like when you are too lazy to remove your nail varnish so you just paint over the top (when I say you, I mean you, clearly I would never do that) like that but times a million!

Sanding, frankly my dear Mariusz oh wise builder, is not going to do it!

What I need here is a state of the art paint removing implement, the Viacal of paint stripping. A blunt kitchen knife and some bleach?

Hazardous paint chips are flying everywhere, there is dust in my hair and bleach down my arms. It sure as hell is glamorous work.

I would love to show you smug little photos of my progress, but frankly after 3 hours of graft there is little to notice. So instead, I will show you photos of stair cases I admire... so the question is grey or white? To carpet or not to carpet....?

Lazy Days

I was warned about the dreaded renovation epidemic that hinders many an otherwise successful project, it's commonly know as loosing momentum. 6 months in, 8 months, a year even I was totally immune, impervious to it's powers. A year and a half, it's a whole different story, I realised recently that I haven't really done anything to the house since.. well.... February?

Is it because it's all finished? - No way, do I not have time? - On the contrary, do I just not care anymore? How very dare you! It boils down to the simple fact that I lost momentum. Plus nothing is quite as urgent, yes the bedroom needs decorating, the back-door varnishing, numerous handles need fixing and no the stairs don't have carpet but, well that's all very easy to live with ignore.

So in an attempt to regain momentum and get through these final tasks I have turned to my friend and motivator - EBay! I had, briefly forgotten it's addictive powers, but I'm back in the game and I fear somewhat overly click happy with my bidnapper friend behind me. In the last 2 weeks I have become the proud owner of:

3 new (old) skanky looking radiators - I only actually need two and already have one to sell, I also didn't realise they would need sand-blasting and testing.
A moderately ugly metal storage chest - it's way to big for the required location and function
1 pair of .... wait for it....this is a good one....... anglepoise lamps... for the bedroom. Ooo now there's a buy, well yes, except I failed to notice that these lamps were for renovation/ parts and will therefore no doubt need thousands spending on them, or in fact will never work at all.
1 bedroom fireplace - so far this one actually seems to be pretty perfect, the right size and everything.

Of course none of these items are in place, they are mostly littering the back half of the living room where I imagine they will stay for some time. Not the fireplace though, that is actually in the bedroom - in position, sort of, well it's leaning against the wall where it will eventually live (is that not how they work?).

I am hoping that by writing about my new found laziness it might actually spur me into action.

One thing that has been achieved (Not by me of course) is a mini blog to advertise the house for Olympic Rental, please please pass it on to friends, relatives from abroad/ pop it on work intranets etc and let's see if someone else can bask in the glory of the squat whilst we escape the Olympic madness:
http://59trehurststreet.wordpress.com/#olympic2012

The Bed

There was only one thing on our minds last week, Design week daring!

The great and the good of the design world displaying/ flogging their wares to what they hoped were international buyers for huge design emporiums. At every stall they looked up hopefully, then it came, the dreaded question “What do you do? Architect, designer, buyer?”, Me: “Erm.... student”, the disappointment/ disdain was palpable and I quickly shuffled onto the next person, reeling in how my one time position of (Semi, not really, but kind of) buying clout in one industry, has descended to this in another. Still, what do they know? In 2 years time I could literally be the hottest property out there and you know what, I will remember who was nice to me and who wasn’t... oh yes I will.

There were obvious favourites for me. The Tramshed on Rivington Street, with it’s De La Espada collection of designer-led brands, resulted in actual drooling and, for just a few moments consideration that somehow, it would feasible to buy the Studioilse (http://www.studioilse.com/home/) king-size bed with it’s beautiful brass feet. (entirely feasible if I sell my house and don’t eat for 2 years).

Decorex, on the other hand, appeared to have stepped straight out of Homes and Gardens, all very lovely...lovely fabric, lovely people, lovely, lovely, but nothing to really challenge or excite.

Back in the real world my design skills are being put to good use as I have been enlisted to help with the semi-transformation of a family home in Lewes (pictures above). The house is a beaut in its own right, all wooden floors, bright white hallways with an abundance of space. But having not been decorated in a few (read 20ish) years it needs some love. (the downstairs loo has pretty much come back on trend with its garish 60’s influence). Nothing structural required, it’s all about accentuating the existing features and disguising the anomalies, all, of course, for nil pence. Ahhh if there’s one thing we love... it’s a challenge....

Dream A Little Dream

Sincere apologies for the delay in posting, I appreciate that you may be verging on dispair by now.

Fear not, my time has not been wasted.... no no I have in fact been, pursuing/ living the dream.
I am sure it hasn't escaped your notice that I have a slight interest (freakish obsession) with interiors and renovation. I love it all, I love building supply shops (except B&Q), I love managing builders (except nasty Bulgarian ones who suffer from halitosis), I love sourcing radiators, lights, paints...., I love watching it all come together as though there was a plan there in the first place (which in the main there wasn't) I LOVE IT.

So, rather than continuing cutting out images willy nilly and frittering valuable hours designing the perfect kitchen for the house I don't own in my head, I have decided to take a more constructive route and have now started an interior design course. A 2 year, part time, full on, course that (if I pass) will award me a diploma, which I think basically qualifies me to design my dream kitchen for the house I don't own in my head.

So far, so good. Great people, learning how to draw lines (harder than it sounds) and angles and attempting to sketch (it's clear I am not naturally gifted at all elements). My first client will be Ziggy Stardust, it's fictional client you understand. Scary, exciting times.

I have also been en vacances, en France. As many of you know, my long standing pipe dream is to renovate and own a property abroad, to spend a year living in the culture, getting to know the language and the people and building a beautiful home. I speak a smattering of French (Tricolore 2 eat your heart our), it's close, bloody beautiful and they have amazing wine, so this seems like as good a place as any (Portugal and Italy also close contenders).

Step 1 - visit the country. A blissful, relaxing week later with amazing weather, an abundance of cheese and rose and staying in the most stunning house I have possibly ever seen, I am afraid the dream grows ever stronger. Somehow, some day, it will happen. IT WILL HAPPEN!

Sweet Dreams

Painter Man

Operation stair sanding avoidance goes from strength to strength. This weeks diversion, the back bedroom. In many ways the back bedroom has been something of the underdog, one of the first to be done, at that point we had neither time nor energy to think about it so simply white washed. The time hath cometh to give it some love.

Usual colour debate ensued and many samples toyed with. I was initially keen on the pale walls/ dark wood combo which I often think looks great. Contenders included Farrow and Ball's Blackened, a shade which provides a satisfying range of colours depending on the light. But it is a cold colour and in an actually cold room I had reservations. For one crazy moment green was considered - green! A lovely rich, dark green, which wouldn't be out of place in a dining room. It looked great, the only problem with green, well it's not grey!

It's a fairly small room and not particularly light at certain points of the day so a vast majority would say go pale and there is some wisdom in that, so, I thought about it..... for about a milisecond. We all know that the samples were just tokenistic, there was only ever one contender - downpipe. I had my doubts, let me assure you, even I was concerned that it might be too muddy for a dark room. But it has never let me down yet and I had faith. Sure enough the wonderful moody hue is working it's magic, it doesn't look dark it looks rich, from green to blue to black depending on the light, it makes all the other colours stand out ... I love it!

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Sweden to see the lovely Maya. It got me thinking how all of our styles are so very influenced by our neighbourhoods. None more so than Sweden which has an incredibly strong signiture style, not so much of the downpipe here. Everything is very perfect and uniform, with nothing out of place. The fact that Ikea came up with all those brilliant storage devices is no coincidence! It's not my personal style (alas) but it has a real beauty, I admire it's crisp orderliness and man they give good light!

My hood, on the other hand, could not be less ordered, a total melange, with sleek million pound homes next to semi-derelict high-rises. But wherever I am in this crazy town I can't help but find inspiration in the oddest places - a beautiful window here, a cart that could be an amazing coffee table there. I sometimes wonder if everyone thinks in interior?

With the mix of styles there is the equal mix of people. Crazy crazy times round these parts and many others and like alot of us I have a love hate relationship with the area. Some times you literally fear for your life walking down the street and sometimes, like a few moments ago, a neighbour you haven't met before knocks on the door and gives you a bag of greengage plums from his garden.

We might not have a deli on every corner and there might be many many problems, but mostly, it feels like a community who care and are trying and I like that.

Neighbourhood

Firstly I think I need to clear something up, contrary to my last slightly misleading post. Project squat is by no means over and neither is this blog. 'Phew' I hear you communally cry, I know you would all be lost without it.

Simply, we are considering options. With work all but done (all but, being a flexible term), I am obviously looking into what next. Heaven forbid I have any free time to enjoy the summer or spare cash to, I don't know, buy an ice-cream. No no no, as many of you know, I, like many other ladies, need a project and a project I will find. Chances are nothing will come of it but I am currently spending many an hour, perusing house websites and visiting properties in need of a total overhaul. If I had my way, and ALOT of money I would have snapped one up ages ago and be knee deep in plaster dust buy now, such is my enthusiasm for the world of decorating. Thankfully I have an altogether more sensible voice in my ear and a total absence of readies... so for now we continue to consider...

My research has resulted in some lovely outings. On a recent visit to Walthamstow whilst cycling through the marshes, along the canal, past the families with small children picking wild blackberries and the groups of Australians picnic-ing on the vast green landscapes and swathes of wild flowers, I literally felt like I had stepped back to my childhood in Yorkshire. (Minus the Australians, we didn't have so many of them in 80's Ilkley).

Walthamstow village itself was a delight a veritable oasis in the heart of the city - little cafe's and bars and THE most beautiful streets with incredible houses... Who knew? (well no doubt alot of you, but not me!).

From one extreme to the next, I then ventured to Hackney Wick to sample a bit of Hackney Wick-ed (see what they've done there?) So, this is where the cool kids go?? The most urban of urban landscapes, towers of rust, dis-used warehouses car-parks come theatre spaces, cinema's set up on dis-used fridges, but mainly thousands of trendy young things with wild eyes and cans of red stripe. No doubt all artists, DJ's or photographers. I was immediately taken back to Brooklyn, Bushwick to be precise (so post Williamsburg!)

Both areas have their charm and both contenders for squat number 2.

Meanwhile back indoors we are still left with the one major piece of refurb, the beast that is the staircase. I am between jobs at the moment, 'resting', I believe they call it. Ample time to tackle the monstrous task. So, I have resorted to the only option left, procrastination. Suddenly, even though it never bothered me before, I am struck by the monstrosity that is the bathroom door is. A cheap, pine emergency purchase, how could I have let this go, it MUST be painted, I can bare it no longer. So bathroom door is now the same delectable shade as the walls, yes your favourite and mine.. Downpipe.

As for the stair case... have you seen the state of the shed....?