Archives

Days 9&10 – Lights!

Jan30

So much to do before Friday! I think once we get the carpet in the whole flat will suddenly come together and start to feel homely. Maybe then I can finally move in without walking dust around constantly.

My lovely little spider lights from B&Q have been put up and I think they look pretty good. Managed to get the one in the living room to be dimmable even if I did make the mistake of buying awful light bulbs from the Range. Can be replaced later though so won’t worry too much now.

I googled the Karli lights just out of curiosity to see if they did any other similar lights or accessories. Out of some stroke of luck I stumbled across these lovely little bedside lamps! I was going to go for purple lamps but when I saw these it just had to be done. I think this has pleased my parents as I was going to take the lamps from my old room at their house as they were the perfect lamps and exactly what I had in mind. However they now get to keep those and I will not be branded a lamp thief!

The room is so much lighter now than it was when I moved in. This could have something to do with the fact I now have 22 light bulbs in the room instead of just 2! Could you call that a little bit excessive? At least no one can say my room is too dark and I don’t need to use all 22 at the same time I suppose! Very thankful for my IKEA bulbs! On the subject of IKEA I went to put up my light for the hallway today.

I was very naively expecting to unpack a nice spherical light out of that box but looking at the size of the box in relation to the size of the light I really should have known better. IKEA hanging pendant light is currently in about 8493625 different pieces. I decided that the light could go back into the box and be tackled another day. When that day will be I am not too sure.

Today was mainly about odd jobs. I helped build the furniture for the downstairs bedroom. We got this furniture online as a lot consisting of 2 bedside tables, a dressing table, chest of drawers and a wardrobe and its really good stuff! Sadly couldn’t get any pics of the rest as most of the furniture for the flat has been moved into this room ready for the carpet to be laid and I can barely move in there at the moment but the dressing table is stunning! I just need to get a chair for the dressing table and we are all done in here. Such a contrast from the kids room it was just over a week ago.

img_3765

The shelves also got put up today and now the living room is starting to really come together. I’m looking at a few coffee tables at the moment but am leaning towards a nest of tables instead for space saving purposes. I have a coffee table in my rented flat at the moment which made me think that I needed one, but my parents have a nest of tables which gets used a hell of a lot more than the coffee table does and they are pretty cute! I dragged the dining room table to the flat tonight just to try and figure out where everything will go and I think I have a plan in my head now so hurry up carpet so I can have a functional living room!

As we are getting the internet and TV installed tomorrow I had to decide really quickly where everything was going as I don’t want to be moving cables around once they are installed at one end of the room. Fingers crossed it was the right choice! I have accidentally managed to order myself two lots of internet and TV though so I really hope they only turn up with one! Most importantly only charge me for one!

Day 7 – Reconstructing the Kitchen

Jan28

Day 7 is being posted on Day 8 due to a very important charity event which required an early night last night! Post on this to follow!

After previously being banned from the flat I was finally allowed back in as all the glossing and painting is done. The only room which does not require much more work doing to it is the kitchen. As I do not have much time left off work I decided to use this day to clean my kitchen and move everything into it. I had no idea quite how therapeutic and actually quite enjoyable this would be.

Here is what the kitchen looked like before.

img_3718

I wanted to keep the kitchen itself very neutral and put colour into it by accessorising. I am aware that I have bought a lot of little things that I like but I am not actually sure how it is all going to look like together. It took me about 2 hours to deep clean the kitchen but it was so worth it to be able to move my stuff in

Not much of an update today but I’m glad I managed to move some stuff in as it is starting to feel more like home already. Turns out I have a lot of storage! It is nice not to have to be cramming things into cupboards to store them and to have everything neatly put where I want it to be. Everyone told me I had maybe bought too many glasses, however considering how lovely they fit in the cupboard I disagree! I was one of those naive glass people when I went glass shopping, I did not even know that there were different glasses for red wine and white, but now I do! I got all my glasses from Morrisons and I love them :). I always said that when I moved I would get square plates and bowls and I was lucky enough to get this lovely little set from Santa this year! I still need to get a cover for the end of the worktop but apart from that things are looking pretty good in the kitchen.

In other exciting news I got my first “New Home” card today from my Nan along with this lovely little wine holder (and the bottle in it!) which has pride of place by the kitchen window. The only quandary I have now is which wine glass to use!

Today’s Trip to IKEA

Jan26

Over the past couple of months I have collected 99% of the furniture I need so my trip to IKEA today was mainly to get a couple of lights and a few little bits to make the flat more personal and homely. This was only the second time I have ever been to IKEA and I found myself spending 3 and a half hours there. I originally had one of those yellow shopping bags as I was not expecting to get that much but once I had got to the kitchen section I had to swap this for a trolley. I loved looking round all of the rooms for ideas and inspiration. It demonstrates so well that you do not need a big space in order to make it look amazing.

hallway-lamp

I got this hanging pendant light for the hallway. You can pull the string to open or close the light in order to brighten or dim the room. Not my normal style but I do love it. I got the one pictured which is white with silver inside but there is also a gold one. There are others which are not metal and these are either green or orange inside.

boja

Also got this lovely little Boja table lamp for the living room. It looks so beautiful when lit up and each one is slightly different due to the bamboo. The best thing about buying a light from IKEA is how they have them all displayed so you can see what they look like when switched on. They also have the recommended bulbs (All LED, great for the environment and your electric bill!) next to the lamps so you can buy both together and make sure you have the correct bulb for that light.

Continue reading →

Day 6 – Banned

Jan26

The flat is being glossed today so I was not allowed in through fear of sticking to a newly glossed door or smudging a painted skirting board. The decorators banned me which is pretty much fair game as I am incredibly prone to falling over my own feet and genuinely cannot be trusted. That’s ok though because I had a very successful trip to IKEA and the Range in Reading instead. I demonstrated the exact reason why I was banned when we went to IKEA and mother trod on the back of my shoe and I stacked it going up the escalator. It is a good thing I am used to these moments.

I did pop back to the flat afterwards though as I bought a doormat. So under the pretence of “dropping off the new doormat” I snuck to the flat. Anyone who knows me personally will know that I am a bit of a hedgehog. Prickly on the outside (in personality, not physical appearance thank you very much), prone to frequent hibernation and runs away to curl up into a small spiky ball when scared. However once you get past that grumpy spiky appearance (or I have had a cup of coffee / it is past 8am in the morning) I am the craziest but friendliest person you will ever meet.

img_3713

Got this little creation from the Range. So if you ever come to visit me you’ll know I’m the flat with the bonkers doormat. Dad hates it though so I have been warned there is a very high chance of a little bit of paint falling its way onto it. He wouldn’t dare I’m sure…

Continue reading →

Day 5 -A Hole in the Ceiling

Jan25

Rather mixed day today. The painting is done and looks fabulous. Turns out I underestimated the amount of paint needed by about 10 litres resulting in a dash to B&Q early this morning. I’m really happy with my plum feature wall and now I can see the living room nearly done I’m definitely happy with yesterday’s choice of carpet. However there is a small issue of a hole in the ceiling. There was what looked like an old water stain on the ceiling in the bedroom upstairs and when we rolled the new paint on it has dampened and weakened a rather awful attempt of a repair. Luckily we have tested it for damp and there was no moisture reading so the ceiling is completely dry and obviously just old which is good, just a shame that I now have a hole in my newly painted ceiling! Seems like we will be sending dad up into the rafters later on this week strengthen and replace the shoddy work previously done. I’m contemplating sending him up with a load of loft insulation while he’s up there and he can distribute it out like a little rodent. Anything to reduce the electric bill right?

However in better news the plum wall is done and I love it!

Tomorrow is glossing day so I am sadly banned from the flat until at least 5pm in order to let it all dry. I don’t appear to be trusted not to stick to a door or smudge a skirting board. Even the painters know my clumsiness well it seems!

Day 4 – More Paint & A Carpet

Jan24

I made a decision! Finally I am an indecisive human no more! I took my samples of carpet round the flat today and put them with the paint to get a better idea of how the carpet would look in the finished room. Once we put the carpet with the wall it was obvious that a grey tone was definitely the right way to go. I had already decided I was going to with a Victoria Carpets Freedom carpet as it is bleach cleanable, fade resistant and most importantly looks and feels lovely! I found myself stuck between two very similar shades of grey. I checked the names of the two grey carpets and found that one of them was called Dawn Mist and that made my decision for me as my walls are painted in White Mist. I do love it when fate takes the decisions out of my hands by making them so blindingly obvious for me!

Ta-Dah!

img_3644

Dawn Mist and Grape which is going to go up the stairs. I fell for the lure of a different carpet to go up the stairs. Nice little bit of purple in there and the grey from the Dawn Mist too, definitely not a wasted trip. Hopefully the carpet will be laid next week so I now have a very tight schedule to get everything in and ready.

And here’s my second purchase of the day from B&Q, Karli 8 Spiral Chrome Ceiling Light. The flat at the moment is a little bit dark so hopefully this will light up the living room. I bought three of these as I found it quite difficult to find a unique and nice looking light for my bedroom as the ceilings are quite low. A lot of them I would find myself smacking my head on but these are perfect! Only down side is that I have now realised that I have to buy 24 light bulbs! Also got my eye on a lovely little hanging star light for the hallway but it seems to always be out of stock 😦

img_3646

So here are the pics of Day 4! The bedrooms are now painted which is fabulous as I am not changing the flooring in these so should be able to start moving stuff into these soon while the living room and hallway are finished. There is no sign at all of the kids wallpaper that covered the second bedroom when I moved in, I think Chris and Victor have done a really good job here. Should all be done by Thursday they tell me, which means they have filled, rubbed down, painted and glossed an entire flat in 6 days which is pretty good going!

Day 3 – Paint

Jan24

We have paint on walls! Not finished yet but it is definitely a start. Base coats are more or less on and some rooms are looking nearly finished! However I’m assured we are no where near finished but to me it’s looking pretty good already. The kids wallpaper is definitely gone in the second bedroom and where the feature wall was in the living room has been filled and is now looking a lot better.

Currently having the big debate which colour carpet to have. I know I want a fairly neutral tone so that I can choose to redecorate in the future without having to turf my carpet up! I know I am an indecisive human being but this is taking the biscuit.

img_3630

The White Mist I chose for the walls has a grey tone to it rather than a peachy or beige tone so I am leaning more to the grey end of the spectrum to compliment it. I have never had to choose a carpet before so I have no idea what angle to tackle this from but I am rather tempted by stripey carpet up the stairs!

Day 2 – More Destruction

Jan23

Due to a lack of internet Day 2 is actually being posted on day three. Day number 2 and my lovely little flat is even more destroyed! However I am sure the end result will be 100% worth it! Thanks to the lovely Chris and Victor the ceilings are now nearly all painted. My lovely brother visited today and chipped in by removing the carpet from the stairs so now all the carpet is gone. I spent the day helping remove laminate flooring which we had finished turfing up and scraping an underlay off the floor so I guess you could say I was helping! We decided to put my car into the garage (I have a garage!) to make some more space to park the van. Turns out I have a garage which is too small to fit my car in! My car is a tiny little Vauxhall Adam so I didn’t think I’d have a problem, I just assumed the garage would be big enough. When I went to view the flat I never thought of asking to test the garage to see if the car would fit! Lesson’s learnt I guess. However on the flip side we have discovered that there is a pizza place a 3 minute walk away which makes amazing pizza! You win some and you loose some!

So still not much change apart from the fact we have even less flooring and slightly more painted ceilings! The walls have all been filled and rubbed down so when the paint goes on it should look pretty perfect! Only a few more days until we should start seeing results 🙂

Day 1 – Destruction

Jan21

I have had the keys for 24 hours now and the first full day of work is done! We have had a very productive day of filling, destroying a laminate floor and removing a carpet!

Click here to see what it looked like only 24 hours ago!

Little bit of destruction happening here huh?

All will be worth it in the long run! We were a little bit confused as to why the laminate floor in the lounge felt a bit squishy and it turns out there was a whole layer of carpet under there! I quite enjoyed turfing up the laminate floor and scraping the underlay off of the floor, I may be banned from actually constructing or painting anything but I can destroy well!

Shall see what day 2 brings tomorrow! However as it is a Sunday I think it will be quite a quiet one, don’t want to irritate the neighbors too much after the noise and chaos we have created today!

Emergency Little Kettle

Jan21

Being English we are a stereotypical family of tea drinkers. Love the stuff. Yorkshire Tea especially along with Twinings Fruit Infusions, Chamomile and Earl Grey.

We are currently at the new flat. There’s lots of work being done by my dad and the decorator who is called Chris. Dad warned Chris not to let me near a paint pot or any filler so I have been relegated to the very important role of “Tea Maker”. I do make a good cup of tea! Before my first visit to the flat yesterday I bought tea, coffee, hot chocolate and milk. I offered my dad a cup of tea before realising I hadn’t moved any mugs in yet! So there was no tea for dad that night.

However this morning I was prepared for my job as Tea Maker. To avoid going through all of my stuff to find some mugs I borrowed some from the parents and took them to the flat. I offered Dad and Chris a cup of coffee and went to the kitchen to make it. I got the mugs out and went to boil the kettle. It then dawned on me that there was no kettle. Having failed at my job for the second time in two days I snuck over to the petrol station across the road and got two lattes. A small thing like a lack of kettle will not stop me from fulfilling my job as Tea Maker. However as I was not actually making tea I should probably rename my job to “Beverage Maker”. Actually I did not make the coffee either due to lack of kettle so I think in fact it should be “Beverage Provider”.

Anyway, I knew in order to fulfill my job I needed to acquire a kettle. I have a lovely little purple kettle waiting to be moved in but this is all packed and I am rather reluctant to unpack anything due to the amount of dust that is currently being generated by the knocking down of a piece of wall and lots of filling of the walls. So I went on a little trip to the shops to locate a cheap kettle. I went into Argos, filtered their Kettles by price and this little beauty popped up:

“Simple value cordless white kettle” which cost me the pricey sum of £5.49. I was a little bit concerned that there was no plug on the kettle so resorted to unpacking it in the middle of the town centre just to check. Turns out that when they say “cordless” they mean the actual kettle, not the electric bit it sits on and there is infact a plug! Who knew?! 

It looks and feels exactly like what you would find in a budget hotel room and is absolutely perfect for an emergency little kettle. Tea making can commence!! As long as you don’t mind waiting 10 mins for the little kettle to boil I’ll make you a lovely cuppa in exchange for you dragging all the laminate flooring we’ve turfed up down the stairs!

Nearly forgot, look at the instruction manual!


Made that very clear didn’t they! Good old Argos….