25 Jul 2021
Home | The Utility Room Renovation
Technically, this started back in February 2020 when we had our kitchen done. When they were ripping out the old kitchen, we asked them to rip out the units in the utility room as well, and lay the same flooring we were having laid throughout the rest of the ground floor. It then sat – looking a complete mess – for the best part of a year. We quietly closed the door on it in those brief moments when we’ve been allowed guests round and resolved to get to it at a later date. Hitting the point felt like a bit of a milestone because it was always low on the list of priorities; we’ve made it that far down the list!
The image in my head was white and bright with splashes of gold & green whilst not losing any practical elements and keeping it all as cheap as possible. By chance, we had an almost perfect amount of white worktop left over from our kitchen renovation so that was our starting point. We hunted out cheap-but-nice kitchen units (including one for an integrated washing machine) which Gary eventually found in B&Q (one of their cheapest options but I don’t think you’d know) and I went on the hunt for gold door handles and pastel green tiles. I had images of a counter sink which, again, we managed to find pretty cheap and we spent far too long trying to hunt out a decent gold tap, eventually settling on one with a pull-out hose as we thought it could be handy with future kids/pets (countertop and tiles look pretty but are also easily wipeable).
Gary did all of the installing and I will never not be impressed at the way this man can just start sorting the plumbing and tiling like it’s no big deal. I, meanwhile, focused on the finer details (we both work to our strengths), sourcing out a matching green hand towel, gold towel & toilet roll holders and artwork for the walls (including a round gold Oliver Bonas mirror which I love). We got two command broom grippers to go on the back of the door for our broom & mop and there’s just enough of a gap down the side of the units to squeeze in our small hoover and collapsible washing basket. I sourced a daylight-like bulb and an open ‘lampshade’ (again, gold) to try and bring in as much light as possible whilst Gary painted the room white. It definitely doesn’t feel dingy!
All in all, we love it and I like how it feels like a nice surprise every time I walk in and remember that it’s actually a pleasant place to be in rather than a windowless necessity of a room!
19 Aug 2020
Home | Our Bedroom Renovation
Aside from the kitchen, the biggest piece of work we’ve done on our house is renovating the master bedroom. I can still remember the estate agent showing us around this house and telling us that potential buyers had been put off by the size of the bedrooms which amused me because that didn’t feel like a very good sales pitch. Our bedrooms probably are considered ‘small’ but given we can fit double beds into 3 of them, I never really got what the fuss was about. However, the inbuilt wardrobe in the master bedroom did bother us because it wasn’t actually that big and yet took up so much dead space. Similarly, the cupboard next door housed a water tank we were about to remove, also creating dead space. So we got busy.
And by ‘we’, I do mostly mean Gary and my step-dad, plus the tradesmen. I have no qualms admitting that I mostly watched and then nipped in right at the end to add furniture and lamps. We all gotta stick to our strengths.
Removing the water tank
The first step, in August 2019, was to remove the cupboard door on the landing and have the water tank inside removed by a plumber (it then sat in the bedroom for a few days looking like a forlorn dalek). We had a combi boiler installed upstairs and the necessary piping was put in the original cupboard door frame. Which meant for several weeks, we just had a doorway to an empty cupboard blocked by pipework which sort of looked like a weird attempt at modern art.
Knocking down a wall
Towards the end of September 2019, Gary and my step-dad took on the task of knocking down the wall that the bedroom and cupboard shared, taking the wardrobe out with it. Not only did this give us roughly 1.5 square metres extra floor space, it gave us a square room as opposed to having half the wall jutting out. All I can say is; it is incredibly handy knowing people who are good at DIY. Gary and Andrew took the wall down, removed any redundant piping, moved some of the electrics and filled in the old cupboard doorway (incorporating the piping) using the plasterboard they had just ripped out. Like I said, handy.
We then had to wait a few weeks for a plasterer to come round and plaster the freshly exposed bedroom wall, and the newly filled-in cupboard doorway on the landing. And for a long time after that, everything was left whilst we ummed and ahhed about how exactly we were going to have things.
Building a wardrobe
I know it probably seems ironic that we removed a wardrobe and then immediately started talking about building another one but this project was never about making the room bigger, it was about using the space effectively. We now had the space for a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling fitted wardrobe and were keen. We took a couple of quotes but eventually, Gary came to the conclusion that he wanted to build it himself. See what I mean about handy?! I loosely sketched out the idea I had for the amount of hanging, drawer and shelf space we wanted and then Gary spent a while drawing up designs. He started building in November 2019 and it took him about 3-4 weekends in total and every time I look at it, I’m still taken aback that he built it and we didn’t have to pay anyone to do it for us.
Flooring, skirting, painting
To save money, we took the left-over flooring my rents had from when they re-floored their house (we just had to top up with a few extra pieces). Then, in one final blitz days before Christmas 2019, Gary pulled up the remaining carpet, painted the walls, lay the flooring and fitted the skirting boards.
We then spent the few days after Christmas putting the room together. In a mad moment, we ended up in Ikea on Boxing day to buy the bedside tables, rug, bedding, lampshade and mirror. The bedframe we’d bought from John Lewis months previously just before we first moved in and we bought the king size Emma mattress in the Black Friday sales.
Final touches
Adding the finishing touches has been a gradual process over the last few months and this is definitely where Gary passed over the reins to me. The basics in the room were all white so I wanted everything else to have bold colours and patterns. The white waffle duvet cover & pillow cases were from M&S, complimented with the pink pillowcases from La Redoute and the yellow geometric cushions from Made. The sunshine yellow, patterned blind is from John Lewis and the rose gold touch lamps just from Argos!
For the artwork – the bike prints are from Desenio, the wall hanging from Oliver Bonas and the autumnal print from this Etsy shop. I have a bit of a gripe about blank walls so wasn’t happy with the blank space between the mirror and window. I decided just to go a bit random and fill it with a mini gallery wall. The four colourful A4 ones are from Eleanor Bowmer who has the best prints. The heart ‘where it all began’ print was a wedding gift from my friend Susie and the petals are from my wedding bouquet, pressed and framed.
And to finish off, the colourful dried flowers on the windowsill are baked blossoms from The Happy Blossoms!
10 Jul 2020
Home | Take A Look At My New Office
17 Jun 2020
Home | Piecing Together A Living Room
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| Before & After |
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