Tuesday 19 January 2016

Renovate


I can't believe how quickly 2016 is whizzing by. I'm finding that being pregnant has made me much calmer and more determined to reduce the unnecessary stresses that I usually allow to fester and niggle. We're in full renovation mode over here with a very defined end date in mind. So much needs to be done by mid May before the little one arrives. I have moments when I look around me and can't believe that we've been in the cottage for 3 years and have only managed to officially finish one room, but then I remember just how big the works have been each year - removing a chimney from top to bottom, the kitchen extension and driveway, landscaping a garden, new ceilings in the sitting room, restoring the windows and adding secondary glazing to preserve them, removing that horrid fireplace and replacing it with the most delightful Chesneys wood burner which we've pretty much had on every night since it arrived irrespective of temperature. We've squeezed in some wonderful jaunts - to Devon, Florence and I'm still raving about The Pig in Brockenhurst (which is where we first spied the wood burner in our room). Our cooking habits have changed - we're eating far healthier and thriftier, the latter more through planning and making the weekly roast last for three days, than we have ever done before - in part due to the pregnancy but also because I decided last year to ditch processed sugar and alcohol. The sugar has crept back in as it was the only thing that got me through the morning sickness (really should be renamed to all day sickness), but now that's out of the way and almost all of the Christmas treats have been inhaled it's time to cut down again although I might keep my cheeky hot chocolate on the list. 
So, with the next 15 weekends on DIY lockdown we've got quite a list. 
  1. Sitting room - almost there. All that's left to be done is the woodwork to prime, walls to line and paint, final coat on the ceiling, gloss woodwork and radiators, new carpet and furniture.
  2. Spare room and office - hmmm, these haven't been started...empty (both have been prime storage units since we moved in), rip out the awful fitted wardrobes, strip wallpaper, soundproof wall, replaster ceilings, sort electrics, reroute cables, fill cracks, paint linen cupboard interior, rescue fireplace surround, prime woodwork, line walls, paint ceiling and walls, gloss, carpet and furniture. Mr M will lose his office and have to take up residency in the spare room tucked into a corner without the luxury of double desks, but then he'll be working from home less so that won't be too much of an issue.
  3. Master bedroom - new carpet and gloss doors
  4. Hallway and landing - if we have time...strip wallpaper, replaster ceiling, line and paint walls, prime and gloss woodwork, new carpet…
  5. And breathe...
My mission is to banish the moth infested carpet once and for all. The 1960s carpet in the sitting room will be the first to leave the building. We removed the flannel sized carpet from the hallway at the weekend. I'd always assumed it was probably laid in the 1990s, but apparently it was laid in 1977 as the very handy Telegraph lining the floorboards informed us.

Nothing like a new year challenge. I'll be making regular updates here and on Instagram. 

A belated happy new year to you all!

5 comments:

  1. Happy New Year to you, too, and huge congratulations! Good luck working through your list. I'm sure you'll make much more progress than we have here (I've been writing the same list for at least the last five years).

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  2. Thank you - we're delighted! And yes, we need luck and lots of it to get through those lists!! xx

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  3. Well, is it me or did you keep that quiet?! Congratulations on the impending baby!

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    1. Oh - thank you - yes, it sort of explains why it's been a little bit quiet on the blog. Whispered it on instagram on New Year's Day, but it was a blink and you'd miss it moment. :)

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  4. What an exciting time for you! We recently redisigndd our bedroom (sadly not the entire house, but I would love too) and created bespoke fitted wardrobes. Our local wardrobe design company helped us to design our dream warribes, made them and fitted them for us. They've completely transformed the room. Good luck in your exciting new venture.

    Angella Frasier @ 4-Wardrobe

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