New Kitchen

 

When we bought the house, 5 years ago now, the kitchen was a huge selling point for me.  Very spacious, with lots of work surface and still room for a table and a range cooker. 

I loved it.  My only ambitions for it was to add a decorative door to the freezer and kick boards to the cupboards. But to do that ‘im outdoors would need some space to work so we had to build a workshop first. 

 

However as we lived with it we realised there were some other shortcomings. It was very cold in winter, and there wasn’t a proper extractor fan over the cooker. The floor was getting very sponge, the kitchen door had gaps round it and we kept finding slug tails on the worksurface!

 

I can’t remember now which of us suggested bifold doors across the end wall, but once it was said it couldn’t be unsaid and I started thinking about how the layout would have to change to make it work, that wall currently having the oven and sink against it.

 

This was around the same time that I was sitting on the sofa with a fire going, thinking about running a marathon in Scotland as I watched the snow come down outside. 

Once I’d cracked the layout issue it was a case of working out if it was worth it. But we were going to have to do something in there, even if just to sort the floor out, so we decided we might as well do it properly.

This was a much bigger project than the others we’ve tackled so far and involved more trades too, meaning we’ve had to schedule work in rather than doing it all ourselves. However it’s been lovely to support our local community following on from lockdown when so many people couldn’t work, including ‘im outdoors, as much from lack of supplies as anything.  

So after 2 years of planning and then thinking it wouldn’t be going ahead due to Covid it was pretty exciting to start the project last June by having the roof replaced and 3 skylights fitted.  This all happened without taking the internal ceiling down so we could continue to use the kitchen.

At this point we could have stopped if needed, but everyone assured us that there wouldn’t be any issues, even with Covid, so at the end of July we empted the kitchen (turning the living room into a ‘kitchen’ with the utility room for water/washing up) and knocked the end wall out!

Things like putting in the underfloor heating and some of the electrics happened and then we had to wait for the windows and the massive doors.

They were due mid September but due to issues with supplies it was the beginning of November before they arrived and were fitted!  After all this waiting when we couldn’t do anything as it wasn’t water tight we swung into action, insulating, plasterboarding, finishing the electrics and getting everything ready so the plasterers could do their thing at the beginning of December.

Suddenly we had something that actually resembled a room again!  A lick of paint and before Christmas the kitchen units and appliances were delivered.  Best Christmas present ever!

We've tried to keep and re-use as much of the old kitchen as possible, so now ‘im outdoors had the fun job of fitting it all together like a massive puzzle.  

 

If that wasn’t enough we’d also decided to make our own worktops from concrete!  We had black stone worktops in the old kitchen, which I loved but wouldn’t fit in the new space.  Concrete would give us that solid feel and hopefully a nice finish.

They took a little more work than a normal worktop and had to be made one at a time in sections, but I really love them. 'im outdoors got such a good finish on them, they reflect the tiles!  But man they were heavy and I’m glad we only had to lift them a few inches to get them in place.

With the worktops in place we could tile the walls and do the last little bits and bobs.

 

Suddenly we had a kitchen and I could fill it up with all our stuff and a selection of plants and finally allow the living room to be a living room again.

The whole thing took over 6 months to complete and has been a little trying at times.  But we are incredibly lucky that we’ve had the space to allow us to function in a relatively civilised way and that ‘im outdoors has been able to do so much of it himself.  

I’d like some time to enjoy the house being back to normal, but rewiring starts next week - we decided it was best just to get it done.  Then we can start to think about the garden!

A Brand New Bathroom

The old bathroom

When we moved in to our new house last year, I knew the bathroom would need some serious work to become a room I could love.  But the utility room and garage were far more pressing and so I had to live with a bathroom that made me cringe every time I used it.

It wasn't just the fact the toilet was squashed in a corner against the heated towel rail so you'd burn your knee every time you used it, or all the little nooks and crannies that made it difficult to clean but also the fact it had no real storage space so everything was on display the whole time.

So with Christmas all done and stuck inside due to the snow, we decided the bathroom was our next project and started drawing out some plans.

First thing to do - swap the window out to one with frosted glass and proper double glazing to give us privacy and keep us warm.  'im outdoors did this one damp cold day in February.

The new window

 A great start and we carried on, ripping out everything except the shower - something we couldn't live without, while the downstairs loo made it possible to take everything else out.

But while we thought it wouldn't take too long to complete it's actually taken about 6 months.  The main problem here was the fact we still had to use the space so couldn't really do much in the evenings before the space would need a tidy before being used again. 

A new shower

We made massive improvements over the long Easter weekend when we ripped out the shower cubicle and replaced it with a bath and wall shower.  Getting the tiles up took 2 days all by themselves, even with the 2 of us working on it, never mind fitting the bath and plumbing in the shower.

Finished!

While 'im outdoors has done most of the hard slog, I've tried to help out, making tea and cookies when needed and doing most of the painting along with sticking all those tiles.
It might have taken way longer than we'd hoped but its finished now and a huge improvement on what we started with!  It's now a joy to use, thanks Hubby.

Frida's Flower Blanket Hung

Last year I spent ages crocheting Frida's Flower Blanket. I was really pleased with the end result, but as we were looking for a new house it got packed away safe and I didn't really think about it again until we moved into the new house and I found it as I was unpacking. 

But what to do with it now? As I was showing my Dad, he suggested it would look good mounted over the fireplace. We really liked that idea, but with much work to do on the house before that would be a safe option, it went back in the bag for later.

Finally this week 'im outdoors has had time to make me a frame to tie it to and put up some hooks for me. It looks great against the brickwork. It still needs some tweaking to get it to hang right, but it really works well in the space. Our house is really starting to feel like home.

Chicken Cushion

Last March I attended the Knitting and Stitching Show again.  Years ago I used to do cross stitch projects and so I was on the look out for a cross stitch cushion for the new house.  I didn't find one, but I did find this chicken tapestry from the Historical Sampler Company instead.  It is very similar to cross stitch, except you only do half of the cross.

I didn't start it as soon as I got home and I haven't been working on it exclusively, so its not taken a full 6 months to do, but it's felt like it at times! 

Once it was complete I got 'im outdoors to help me pin it to a sheet of MDF so I could steam it back into shape (my sweating hands and rolling it up to work on had made it more diamond than square).

Then using a fat quarter from our local sewing shop I made a really simple envelope-style back to the cushion.  It took me about 10 minutes, which felt a bit easy considering how long the front took to make.  But I am so chuffed with how its come out.  It looks stunning in our new armchair.  (Yes this is the one I found to go with the chest of drawers.  It was a lot closer than the drawers were and I didn't feel bad sending 'im outdoors to fetch it.  We both love it!)

A chest of drawers

My beautiful new chest of drawers

Months ago, when we were just moving into the new house, and I was just starting out on my adventures with Gumtree, a friend sent me the link to a blog post about a lady buying an antique mirror on craigslist.  This post really is worth the read if you have time.
At the time I laughed hard and then forgot about it.
But this week I had cause to remember that post and wonder if I am starting down a similar path.  Surely not?

As we work though the house renovating and decorating I am then trying to find things that fit with the house.  This includes new lamp shades, a belfast sink and this week a chest of drawers.
In the new house we have a little more room than in the flat, and within this extra living room space, I want to make a little area with a nice arm chair and chest of drawers were I could read a book out of 'im outdoors way when he's playing Xbox.
The chest of drawers would be useful for storing all my running lights and the dog paraphernalia while also being a good place for placing a cup of tea.

Next to a dining room chair to show just how small it is

 So I've been keeping an eye on Gumtree to see if anything comes up.  You would not believe how many chests of drawers get posted everyday!  Some are pretty nice, others not so much.  But it was after thinking that a 2 hour drive to get a used chest of drawers was not a big deal that I suddenly remembered that blog post.
Arriving and finding that the chest was a bit smaller than I had thought, but still beautiful and perfect, I kinda felt bad for making 'im outdoors drive 2 hours in his truck with me and the dog, to pick up a chest of drawers that would have fitted in my mini, but at the same time I can't help but feel very chuffed at my find and how perfect it is.
Now I just have to find an arm chair to match it...