Time to add some photos.

I've been waiting for the OH to find the photos he took the day we moved in. He's not a great photographer so they aren't great but they give the general idea.





 Those are the before shots and these are now.

In this bedroom we had the windows changed, the sink removed, the walls and ceiling plastered, painting all all and a new carpet. It is hard to appreciate from the pics how dated and tired the room was beore. The carpet didn't go to the edge of the room anymore because it had frayed so much. The backing on the curtains was torn and mouldy. The windows were rotten and the wallpapaer peeling. You can'treally see from the pictures but the fireplace is a deep red. It is in good condition  and an original feature so we wanted to keep it. Being in the corner of the room it doesn't impact the layout too much. I'm really pleased with how this room turned out.

Nearly done!

The hall has now been painted in emulsion and some woodwork has even been undercoated and glossed. There is so much more to do and it has not gone smoothly. The OH screwed a loose floorboard down and screwed it through a gas pipe. Fortunately we have a  really good plumber who came out and capped the pipe as it was redundant anyway.  I wonder how long the glossing will take?

Small steps

Well the mist coat is going on the walls that are newly plastered in the hall. At this rate it won't be done until Christmas!

Starting another job

The Other Half was sanding the woodwork in the hall today. We got to thinking about the order in which jobs should be done. We decided the sanding of the parquet floor would need doing before the hall is decorated.The hall floor is only small so we decided that if we're going to get the professionals in then we ought to get the family room done at the same time.

This led to us pulling up the carpet and underlay in the family room. Well we needed to check the floor is salvageable. It has lots of paint on it and even some patches of filler but we've decided to go ahead in getting it done. I spent most of the afternoon trying to get most of the paint off so the floor doesn't look too bad in the interim. I used Easy Sand which worked well on all but the thick splodges. I still have a way to go but have sore fingers from all the rubbing.

Pricing up on the 'net it looks as if it will cost about £600 to get the family room floor sanded and sealed. The question is do we have to decorate in there first. Common sense says yes but I really don't want to have to wait that long. Then you get into the other things that need doing in the room like having French doors put in and getting the fire changed.

The refurbishment to date

When we moved into our house it had been occupied by the previous owner for 30 years. In that time in had become very dated and tired. In the last 9 months we have (or more to the point in the main our builders have);

• Replaced most of the windows with white wooden windows. The windows have iron monkey tail handles and stays but are double glazed.

• The front of the house has been re-rendered and also one of the chimney stacks which extends down the side of the house.

• Had a new boiler installed.

• Had the electrics updated.

• Had an ensuite installed including building a stud wall to accomodate it.

• Combined the toilet, bathroom and some landing space to make a large family bathroom.

• Taken sinks out of the bedrooms and replastered most of the bedroom walls. New carpets and wallpaper or paint in these rooms.

• The hall stairs and landing have been stripped of paper . The ceiling and some walls have been replastered. It is all awaiting painting with maybe a feature wall of paper.

It doesn't sound much when you say it quickly but it has been very dusty and we are glad that for the moment the builders have gone. We are busy doing the decorating and I have bought some furniture that is more in keeping with the house. Most of the "new" furniture is from Ebay so has cost very little and I have been busy painting it. Admittedly I've been mainly buying rather than painting but we'll get there.