Shiny New Floor ........

When we moved into this house it had cream carpets throughout. As you may agree cream carpets with four in door cats & two little men are not a good mix ! Over the last six years it as gradually turned from cream to grey with the ocassional stain here & there. I hated it but when you are doing up a place there is no point changing carpets until the messy work had been done.

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Now that the work is nearly done, it was time to start ripping up & changing that offending carpet. I have started in the hall as it was really disgusting & the first thing that people saw when they walked in.

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I am over the moon with the new laminate flooring, sooo shiny & oh sooo easy to keep clean. I was going to have new carpet in the sitting/ dining room but now after seeing the end result in the hall have decided to have laminate instead.

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I can't wait to show off my new kitchen once it is complete, only the flooring & tiles to be done now. I can't speak highly enough of the chap who has done all the work, what a professional & tidies as he goes which is almost unheard of. Thanks Ian your doing a marvelous job !
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New Year, New Beginnings & A New Look Sitting Room .......

Well here we are in 2010. I'm hoping it's an improvement on 2009, not a good year for me.

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Three weeks before Christmas the decorator arrived to decorate the landing & sitting room ceilings & to wallpaper here & there. It wasn't the best timing just before the festive holiday but I'm so happy with the end results that it was all worth while. After he'd finished I painted the sitting room a lovely creamy almond colour to go with the new wallpaper on the chimney breast.

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After ::

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After ::

The room isn't finished yet, I still need to do the gloss work & the carpet needs replacing, but it's a vast improvement don't you think.

The next big project is the kitchen, not sure whether to start that now or in the spring. I have lots of smaller projects I want to do & now that the little men are back at school I have 6 hours a day to get stuck in. Here are a few things I want to achieve this month :

My To Do List for January

1. Repaint the little men's room
2. Repaint my room
3. Sort & clear out Attic (so that I can put more junk up there)
4. Sort out my yarn stash
5. Sort & clear the garage
6. Sort & clear the study
7. Repaint the study
8. Gloss all the doors & paint work (not my favorite job !!!)
9. Sort out old toys
10. Paint the porch

Tomorrow I am hoping to tackle the mountain of ironing that has been growing & growing over the last two weeks, wish me luck !!

Bathroom Makeover .......

We gutted the bathroom about 4 years ago, changing the layout to make more room & put in a new white bathroom suite, new floor & wall tiles & even a new ceiling & down lighters. I mixed two paint colours together to match the glass border tiles, which looks lovely but I always thought the room needed a little more colour/ pattern.

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Last week while I was in B&Q I spotted this gorgeous wallpaper & decided to wallpaper one of the walls. Yesterday my decorator put it up for me ( saved me a job !!! ) & I am over the moon with the end result. I think you will agree that it makes the room look much warmer & cozy.

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Last night I had a wonderful long, hot, bubble bath & laid back admiring my new improved pretty wall !!!!

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Finished Ripple # 2 & A Little Birdie .......

It's been a week of illness in our house. Little man # 1 developed a hacking cough which turned into an upset tummy, poor little thing. I was planning to paint the study, porch & conservatory, but sick little people & decorating don't go well together.

Instead I worked on some crochet christmas pressies & a couple of scarves in between being on nurse call.

I also finished my second Ripple blanket a few days ago. I used Cascade 220 wool & it's perfect for my small sofa, I think the cats like it too !!!

I found the above wool blanket on ebay & it's just the right size for the armchair. The sitting room is coming together nicely & is beginning to look really homely & cozy.

I even managed to make an Attic24 Birdie to hang on the new oak dresser using some oddments of Peaches & Creme cotton.

Eventful Week .......

What an eventful week this has been. Firstly & most importantly, after 18 months of emotional turmoil, the house is now mine!! My ex partner at long last agreed on a settlement figure & everything was finalised on Tuesday. The sense of relief is hard to explain but there is also the sadness & heartache that comes from a break up. I have tried to stay strong for the little men but at times it has been very hard.

Now I am looking to the future & have lots of plans & ideas for the house. I have been busy clearing & getting rid of old furniture, toys, clothes & odds & ends that we no longer want, need or have grown out of. I have kept a few favorite old toys that I will put up in the Attic for the little men.

On Friday my new oak sideboard & oak dresser were delivered & I'm over the moon with them. After months of living in limbo it's great to start making the house into a home. The next big project will be ripping out & replacing the kitchen after Christmas, which I'm really looking forward to. It will be the first new kitchen I've had as I have always made do with what was there.

In the middle of all this bustling activity I have snatched some hooking time here & there & I managed to finish my Ripple Blanket #2, I will post some photos soon.

Well I have housework & ironing to get on with so back to grind stone !!!

Ok, I Give Up ......


This is my punishment for having an extra half an hour in bed this morning!!

I give up trying to keep the house tidy while the little men are on holiday, you win boys !!!