We’re now painfully close to being able to use our new space and it couldn’t come any sooner. Haz and I are ridiculously irritable and Basil is getting pretty frustrated with having only the living room to roam (see below image). I sound like a very ungrateful man but I reckon if you’ve ever had any significant work done to your house you’ll know where I am coming from!
Building work
Whilst there are still a fair few small jobs for the builder/electrician/plumber to do, the onus is now mainly on us to get stuff done before they can crack on. The builder has therefore only been on site for 3 or 4 days in the last fortnight, focusing mainly on prepping the area under the stairs for the tiny w/c. It really is going to be the smallest loo of all time.
There was once a ‘coal store’ under the stairs that was accessed from an outside door which has been blocked up. As with the previous side door, the coal house doorway was filled in with bricks that came out of the back of the house so we’re chuffed with how seamless it looks. On the photo below you can see the small opening for the loo window which is where the coal house door once was.
The only other decent-sized job the builder has worked on recently has been blocking up what was once the doorway from the hall into the kitchen.
It’s a shame that we’ve lost this doorway as A) it gave a lovely view right through from the front door to the apple tree at the back of the garden and B) it’s made the hallway darker. BUT, to get the extra space in the utility will be worth it.
Boarding up the doorway has allowed the utility back wall to be plastered so now we just need to wait for that to dry before we can paint it and fit the units.
I’m conscious that 0.4% of people reading this will remember what our new floorplan looks like so here’s a wee reminder.
A large amount of painting
We both took a week off work to get our overalls back on and get stuck in. Haz is in charge of decorating and has spent the entire week painting. I think she’s on about 55-60 hours so far and there’s still more to do. We always underestimate how long painting is but this takes the piss. To demonstrate my appreciation of Haz’s commitment to the cause, here’s a small collage of her painting exploits.
It was a shame to say goodbye to the plaster as we loved the colour but now all in white, the extension looks so fresh and so clean, clean.
We’re both well chuffed with how the fireplace and green wall have turned out.
Kitchen fitting
Our kitchen arrived last week. Thankfully Haz was on hand to tick items off the list and have a giggle with delivery guys whilst I hauled 20 kitchen units round the back of the house.
Being the sad man I am, I’ve been looking forward to fitting our kitchen for yonks. And, whilst there has been the odd hiccup/mental breakdown, it’s gone pretty well and has saved us a heap of cash, £35 of which I spent on a laser level which is my new favourite gadget.
We ended up ordering from DIY Kitchens and so far have been really impressed by the quality, value for money and customer service. I’ll probs do some posts soon on how we planned and fitted the kitchen.
We’re getting a bloke in for the worktops as I don’t have the right kit/don’t trust myself to get it right.
With a bit of luck, some of our appliances will have gone in by the end of next week which is ludicrously exciting. I’ve had enough toaster potato waffles to last a lifetime. In other exciting news, we’ve ordered our flooring and sofa. Please appreciate this photo of our sofa using DFS’ visualiser tool, complete with spotty plaster drying pattern.
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