Entering into this week, we were both feeling quite fed up & disheartened. The plumbers had another place to be on Monday so couldn’t redo our tiling. So Seb and I felt we should tackle something that would make us feel better!
One of the things that is getting me down is that nothing is finished. Everything we’ve done in every room is almost there or half there or barely even started… but absolutely nothing is finished.
So it was time to stop feeling that way and we decided to tackle our bedroom. It was one of the first rooms we started and had a top coat put on way back when… However, it’s been knocked and scraped and general tradesmen mess has bled over into the room. We threw on a throw-back Ricky Gervais XFM podcast (or 50), dug out the paint pots from all those weeks ago and decided to tick this room off our list.
I went round and did all the painting while Seb filled in any areas that needed filling and tackled the fiddly bits like window frames, skirting, architrave, door etc… Once that was done we started work on the floor. Seb had sanded it so well and after a few washes and hoovers, it really did look beautiful. However, I personally really didn’t want to keep them with their natural finish because I think it is too harsh for a bedroom. So we compromised and agreed to paint them white and keep the kitchen ones natural (#relationshipgoal)!
We both agreed once it was finished, it looked pretty darn good! It just opened the room up and made it appear taller and brighter. The reality is we are probably going to have a massive rug down anyway but at least it sets a nice backdrop for our furnishings.
It was also really pleasurable having a day, just Seb and I. No tradesmen invading our space and making a mess. Just us, doing finishing touches, together. We left at the end of this day much happier people.
The guys from A Jupe’s Plumbing came back in on Thursday and started tackling the bathroom once again! Retiling the devil wall and finishing the grouting. It was a stupidly exciting moment to see we had a sink and the water actually came through! Then the shower head went in and we were thrilled with how it was shaping up. Aaron did a marvellous job grouting our floor tiles and they piped in our bedroom radiator too, so that we could seal it off and make sure no one can now get in there! Sadly, they are now squeezing us in around other work so the bathroom didn’t get finished (which was actually a blessing because it gave us a chance to paint the walls before everything else gets fitted).
Next on mine and Seb’s list of things to finish was our shop counter. Bought at the start of the year off eBay for £150.00; when we finally got it into the shop we realised just how utterly enormous it is! In fact, it no longer works in any of the locations I had set aside for it in my head and really only looks any good at the back of the shop.
However, I think our tireless repair work – sanding, priming, painting, cutting in and finishing it all off with my new best friend, “finishing oil” – really paid off and it looks absolutely brilliant. Also, painting it has managed to make it appear smaller and not quite so imposing.
It was also time to go back to our friends Barry & Debbie from The Pig Shed and collect our shelving and wooden doors. We were keen to keep the live-edge wood that we used for the kitchen shelves running throughout the shop. They made us 12 shelves, a mantle and 2 doors which all have their own unique “look” and feel to them. We are ridiculously happy with them and enjoyed seeing them come to life when we started working the finishing oil into them. Seb absolutely loves wood and should have been a carpenter really. He was in his element and left me at work on Saturday to finish up and get them looking as good as possible.
Now all we need to do is find someone to help us hang them… (next weeks task!)
Sadly the plastering is still causing us a headache. We may have someone secured for next week. However, I am not counting my chickens just yet…
Hopefully the bathroom will be finished Monday and they will have solved our kitchen tap drama too so our list of finished rooms grows and doesn’t stagnate again.
Keep everything crossed… We are now off to enjoy the company of Laura and Rory for a much needed evening of FUN!
