So what's next?

Just over 2 years since we moved in and the 'to-do' list now looks like this:

• 2 x internal doors to paint
• 1 x architrave set to paint and install
• <1m of skirting to fix
• loft hatch to install
• tidy up some radiator pipework

and, err, think that's it!  Must be deserving of a beer or three!

Oh, hang on.  Got a new garage door coming next month then I'm painting the outside according to Senior Management!  Then the garden needs sorting out, then the driveway, then she'll probably want to start decorating again...

Last room in the house (woo-hoo)...

March saw us on the final stretch by starting on the spare room.  The trusty wallpaper steamer got its last outing as we stripped the room of everything ready for Mack to come and skim the walls and ceiling, and fit new coving.

Yet again it was down to me to get the paint roller out!  We decided to have a bit of fun with colours in this room.

The LED light is from a superb lighting showroom not far from work, the Oxford Lighting Company.  Paul the plumber came back to fit the new radiator, the carpet guys did their stuff, IKEA supplied the day bed and we were done.

And the finished article.  Still need to get some pictures on the wall and tidy up the radiator pipes but we're more or less there.

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Long overdue update

Apologies for the long silence, been busy with one thing and another.  So, where were we?  The hallway had just been plastered at the end of November and it was down to me to paint the walls and ceiling, fit some cupboards, sort out skirting and architrave, and get some flooring down.

I've got no pictures of the painting cos, well, they'd be boring.  Just like watching paint dry in fact.  Suffice to say we wanted a blank canvas for reasons you'll see later so the walls and ceiling were painted a brilliant white, 8 coats in all!

For flooring we went with some large white tiles with a grey grout:

A new radiator was also installed as you can see.  We wanted some cupboards along the wall to hide the gas and leccy stuff which would mean some butchering of whatever we bought so IKEA was the first choice to go and see what we could find.  The Besta range fitted the bill and after some jiggery-pokery with a saw and lots of swearing trying to line the doors up we ended up with this:

Remember we wanted a blank canvas?  We had this idea of some large pieces of artwork to hang.  Senior Management got on the case and found Alce Harfield.  Fate intervened and she happened to be exhibiting at an art show in Reading so the credit card took a battering and hey presto, 2 original pieces:

So, apart from one set of architrave to fit and a couple of bits of skirting, and the abomination of a loft hatch, the hallway is complete.  The new loft hatch is planned, it's just up to me to sort it out!

Another hallway update and some spangly lights

So, Andy came on Thursday to do the coving for us in the hallway.  These craftsmen make it look so easy.  The plaster is drying out nicely so the day of the dreaded paint roller looms closer!

Paul from APL Electrical returned yesterday to fit the LED outside lights.  These are supplied by ecoLED who also supplied all the LED downlighters in the house.  I wanted the outside lights on a dawn-to-dusk sensor which Paul has fitted on the south side of the house.  They give a nice light and are just what we wanted.

I just need to paint the wall now to cover up the patch left by the old light, another job to add to the list!

Hallway plastering all done

3 days and Adam from Macks Plastering has finished.  Yet again he's achieved a superb result given the challenges we gave him.  The walls are almost impossibly smooth to the touch.  His mate is coming tomorrow to do the coving for us.  Some before and after shots for you...

Hallway Phase 2

Paul from APL electrical came and moved our fuseboard, removed the old doorbell and did a few other bits n pieces.

Paul's mate, another Paul, then came and removed the radiators for us and we spent a couple of days stripping all the old wallpaper off.  Some interesting paint colours appeared - at one point the hallway was red!

Adam from Macks Plastering arrived on site yesterday and spent a day prepping.  Some challenges faced him but nothing he couldn't overcome.  Here's the latest pictures after Adam's prep work.

Hallway phase 1

In preparation for the electrician and plasterer, my job this weekend was to remove all the skirting boards and coving, as well as the previous occupant's nasty homemade cupboard that housed the various leccy and gas meters.  A few hours with a mallet and crowbar saw the job done, along the way uncovering some very nasty shades of paint.

Feast your eyes on these and let me know how many man-points I've earnt!

The existing loft hatch is a real work of art!

Lovely job on the architrave, note how it sits on top of the skirting.

Look at this bend in the wall!  Formed by the previous occupant blocking up a doorway.

Lovely straight wall here!  The new door frame is plumb, the wall is over an inch out at the top of the frame.  I feel Mack the plasterer will have his work cut out here.

 Now you see it....  cupboard gone.

Just look at that lovely shade of paint at the top of the wall.  Whatever possessed them to choose that colour?

Oh, and Senior Management has already vetoed the fibre optic motion activated lighting that I had planned to go in the new skirting boards. "It'll look like a runway" - apparently...