For the Little Miss

Of all the rooms, Alannah's playroom is probably the most complete.  It is fantastic to have a room right off the main open plan area that is designated for her toys and play.  Now she's still too young to be off there all the time on her own but it's great to chuck everything in there and have far less stuff to trip over in the kitchen, living room, hall, etc...

It was originally a bedroom with a north facing window.

However, the renovation plans include the creation of our laundry room/utility that will be behind the wall where the window is.  So first step was to move the window.  A fantastic move because now the room gets absolutely amazing light when the sun is setting (on the days of course that it is not overcast or rainy).

The previous owners had already fit a skylight in the roof so we just needed to open up the ceiling to access it.

The trip to Ikea in June was definitely worthwhile as we picked up the Klippan sofa, Expedit unit, and Lusy Blom rug to finish up the room.  The Expedit unit I'll have to say is perfect for the size of the room and Alannah's age.  She can get in and out of the boxes easily and there aren't any drawers or sliding units to break or catch herself.

Here's our before/after:

 

And Rocky (our dino slide) loves his new home.  As do we.  In the old place we had to put him up on the couch to get him out of the way when not in use!  

Everything else we already had.  Alannah loves playing with the foam mats (as do all the kids who come over) and taking the mats apart are a lot more fun than putting them back together.  A lesson learned is that it takes a lot longer for us to tidy up a mat that looks like ours:

As opposed to these other mats that I've seen at the store:

And there's a lot more smaller pieces that kiddies love the chew (thankfully Alannah never did but most every other kid who has come over seems to enjoy doing so).  So if you're thinking of getting some of these, bear this well in mind when deciding what to buy!

As for the finishing touches we just need to get some pictures on the walls.  I'm thinking a small gallery of pictures of the kids or brightly coloured prints.  And I saw a cute set of decorative flowers in Horkan's last weekend that would be a great cheap and cheerful addition to the white walls too.

The natural light from the two new windows really makes the room a surprise gem we didn't expect and it makes sitting or playing in here great for both kid and adult.

First Look

I always think I'll have loads of time to do 'stuff' while on mat leave because babies just 'eat and sleep', right?  This is my 2nd child as well and for some reason I was still disillusioned.  Perhaps also as having a c-section this time around, I figured I'd have loads of time to be in front of a computer to post updates, Skype friends & family, etc.  Admittedly, I have had loads of opportunities (as I've spent atleast 2 weeks stuck on the couch feeding this babe) but I've lacked the focus (in retrospect, ok I should have anticipated that) which has just started to right itself recently.

So our official moving day was July 20th but we still had the other house so there was on-going bits & pieces getting moved over the next week.  I was seriously skeptical about settling in on that Friday as I still felt there was so much to be done but all fears were for nought.  We had all the necessities and things have just gotten put away or moved around in drips and drabs since.

We still need to do loads to settle in but it's early days really.  I have no idea how people can have everything in turn-key condition right from the get go.  So here we go, 'bienvenue chez nous'.

Well, it doesn't look so inviting yet but hey, the door's open, come on in!

The entry hall has a double height ceiling so it gets lots of light from the skylight.

Turn left and it takes you into the living areas of the house.

Remember, this is what it originally looked like:

And then after walls came down and loads of work under way ...

Walls plastered, painted, radiators in & floors poured ...

And NOW!!!

The funny square above the window is where the old electricity meter used to be.  It was only moved last week so a bit of fill and paint will touch that up fine.  There are shades to go on the chandeliers.  Decisions about blinds.  What sort of storage/shelving to get.  What to put over the stove.  The list is endless.  And I would love a new set of sofas that would suit the space better but everything's money now isn't it?!

The old main door was replaced with a single pane window.  It lets in loads of light and on a good day I can't help but stare out it and think what fabulous scenery surrounds us (minus the building site rubble of course!).

 You walk immediately into the kitchen from the entry hall and here's how it turned out:

I love it!!!!!!  Colin, at Abbey Kitchens did a fantastic job on the units.  The colour is a sort of khaki grey instead of a blue grey (which I initially thought I wanted).  And without even planning it, it goes perfectly with the feature stone.  So as you can see, I went with grey and decided on this pewter-kind-of bar type handle after the handle dilemma I 'faced' a few weeks back.  And while I still like cream kitchens (which we had in our other house),  after a few weeks of living here I can already see that the grey will hold up far better against the tornado that is our 19 month old toddler.  I'll try to do a separate post on the kitchen features I like best when I get the time to take a few more pics.

I'm still on a look out for light pendants above the sink & counter.  I'm undecided about what sort of backsplash should go behind the cooker (glass, tile, stone?).  Eventually, I'll decide about blinds too.  And of course there's the little bits that bring the kitchen together both for the pretty factor and functionality.

As for the living room, here's the best before & after extreme:

A shout out to the many people who gave us a hand, with moving, storage, cleaning, baby-sitting, etc ...  This just a small group of the gang taking a break with a fry up.  Thanks so much!

And Tommy, this one's for you!

So hopefully I'll start posting again more frequently, if not for you, then to keep the ball rolling on further projects and finishing touches!

Stoneworks and Stoves

I have been dying for the fireplace/stove area to be finished so I could post the progression of the sitting room.  It still is a work in progress but there's enough done to justify a dedicated before and after posting!

So remember again, our living space area developed from knocking through a hallway between an original bedroom and sitting room.

Original bedroom

Original sitting room

Bedroom and hallway walls knocked out

Working space for the living room

We closed up the access to the 'study/office' on the left side of the fireplace and ripped out that awful built-in unit storage unit to the right of it, as well as the fireplace surround.  The brickwork around the fireplace doesn't look so bad in pictures but TRUST ME, it was not a pretty sight.

Creating a blank space and opening up the right wall to access the kitchen/diner
(above and below) 

Now with all the walls that came down there was A LOT of rubble and stone that was taken out and just sitting outside, so we thought we could use some of it to create a bit of a feature!  At first we thought maybe we would stone the whole fireplace/mantle but then thought it would be a bit too imposing.  The room is open but it's not huge so we thought a touch of the stone on either side of the fireplace would be a better option.

And we really love that all the stone came from the original house!

A new pedestal was created for our little black stove (it looks really little here doesn't it!).  And as you can see the floors are poured and we're waiting on them drying out.  Walls are painted a base white but they'll soon be ready for their final coat of 'French White'.

An off-white on the walls will warm up the space a bit and flooring is to go down next Tuesday, so I think that will help remove the current 'clinical' look of the place.  The fireplace is a bit sparse at the moment but I think we're going finish it off with a simple wood beam or shelf just to dress it up a bit.

It sounds crazy to think that we're aiming to be moved in in 2-3 weeks time!  Now baby ... where are you???

A Taste of Progress II

Following on from yesterday's post, here's the kitchen again.

In the corner, the previous owners located the water heater/boiler.  We toyed with the idea of moving it, or atleast changing the access to it from the other direction (from the living room instead of the kitchen) but that would have involved moving a lot of plumbing.  A LOT OF PLUMBING.  Which was far more trouble than it was worth.  So leaving it as is, it initially created a bit of an obstacle in the kitchen design but in the end, it actually doesn't really impact on the kitchen too much.  We hope that once the door goes on it, it'll just look like another cupboard or pantry type door.

As you can see in the original picture, there's another chimney breast to be knocked out behind that wall.  And the sofa is just odd.  We couldn't move it out of the kitchen until the walls/door were knocked out to make enough room for it to fit through.  How they got it in there to begin with is beyond me!  Speculation is that it came in through the windows when they got replaced ... but why into the kitchen????

Central opening knocked through and steel joist and concrete in place for support

Wall knocked and chimney out.  See all the plumbing off the boiler.  That was going nowhere!

A bit of stonework going up on one side of the central opening.  All the stone
came from the thick walls that were knocked down!

And again ... TA DA!

A Taste of Progress

As I mentioned yesterday, there has been so much going on at the house while I've been 'away' from the blogging.  Just like when you haven't met up w/ a friend in ages ... where do you begin?  Essentially here's what's been happening:

• walls have been knocked
• we've re-lined the walls to improve insulation (and you know when I say 'we', it wasn't really 'ME' doing it)
• walls are plastered
• 'we've' done stonework on either side of the fireplace and a bit on the part of the central opening
• some of the floors needed to be dug up and relaid to get in a waterproof & insulation layer
• and radiators installed

But that's so BORING.  I know you want pictures!  So again, where to begin .... ahhhh, remember my dining room/play room door dilemma  ... YES, let's start there.

So in the beginning, here's the kitchen/bathroom.  And the central wall is still intact (yellow/peach wall on left)

Central wall knocked out and supported. Tiles gone. Decision made to NOT knock through that blue wall centrally to view into the playroom

Central opening and walls plastered.  Lateral door knocked wider to make way for my 'barn door' 

As you can see it's shaping up!  Now, we just got word a quote for my barn door track came in at over £600 for just the metal track system from a company in the North.  WHAT???!!!!  So I think that plan will be on hold for the moment (because even I recognize that's nuts!) and we'll just 'live in the space for a bit' and see what happens in the future.  Sad? Maybe ... but I got over not having pocket doors pretty quickly so I'm pretty sure I'll be ok with this too.

And from the other direction, I've gotten even newer pics so you can really see that we're ready for floors, painting, and kitchen installation soon soon soon!

Remember the old kitchen ... and those great curtains

Walls gone and kitchen units out

Plastered and pipes in for the radiators.  Thankfully, these floors didn't need to be dug up!

And voila!  Ready for the fun stuff!

Who Needs Walls II

So I was finally able to get back to the house for some updated pictures!

I'm not sure if I've said before, but there is a main structural wall that goes down the centre of the old house.  We didn't think it was possible to do anything with it, so when we first saw the house and plans, we thought we could take down the other non-structural walls to create larger living spaces instead of 5-6 small pokey rooms. Stephen has a cousin who's an architect and we thought we'd ask her to give the house a look over just to get a professional opinion.  Well folks, professionals are there for a reason and if you are ever doing anything major to your house, I'd highly recommend consulting one!

Sinead looked around and though I'm paraphrasing, essentially said, "Get rid of that central wall.  It hits you in the face as soon as you walk in."

So that is what we set about doing.

Well, we just made the decision, Stevie (our contractor) is making it reality.  It apparently is as simple as putting a steel supporting beam in place, but hey, I know nothing about structural integrity so  I think this is a pretty massive undertaking.  We aren't knocking out the whole central wall but just about a 6 foot section to join the kitchen/dining room and living space.  The wall has been knocked out for awhile but this week the supporting beam and lateral concrete pillars are in place. 

The most obvious change can be seen in this before and after pic taken from the kitchen.

So here we are now with the kitchen wall taken down (the right wall) and the open central wall space.  The difference in space and light is just crazy! 

Again, looking from the kitchen, this is the before and after:

From the other direction, looking into the house from the old exterior door:

And here's a different perspective I've not introduced yet.  This door connects the old house (where we're renovating) to the bedroom extension (which was completed before we bought).  It used to be an external door but just hasn't been changed yet.  In this pic, we're standing in the entrance hall looking into the hallway going into the old house.  

Directly ahead is the central wall which you can see does 'hit you in the face' when you walk in.

And now with the hallway walls gone and the central opening.  And thankfully the doors aren't directly opposite each other.  Gotta think about that feng shui!