The Kitchen

I didn't think there was too much to do in the Kitchen but Son disagreed. I'm glad she did as a a refresh was actually much needed and not too difficult to achieve.

Step 1, pick some paint. The Kitchen was all over white bar the floor and the worktop. White cupboards, white walls and white appliances so it felt like a hospital ward. Except for the tobacco stains on the walls and ceiling, of course.

To the right, 1 coat of white paint. To the left, yuck.

We chose a grey-ish, dusky pink colour called "Lauren" from B&Q's own range with a view to "warming" the kitchen up a bit.  

2 coats of "Lauren". Looks good next to the tobacco/grease stains.

Our original plan was to change the cupboard doors but as a quick fix we decided to just change the door knobs for now. We had a lucky break here, managing to find a big box of kitchen bits in a car boot sale for a fiver. This included the 28 door knobs we needed. These are usually four or five pounds each. They're not what we would have chosen but look great which just goes to show that sometimes you need to step our of your immediate comfort zone with styling options.

As can clearly be seen in this photo, the gold
door knobs were in need of an update.

We went back to ebay for new lino. £65 delivered and we got a perfect match for the new wall colour. It's lightened the kitchen too which makes up for the slightly darker walls.

It's the last time you have to clean it baby.

Posing with a 7-month bump.

This being the second piece of lino I've ever fitted I of course considered myself an expert. Nothing's easy though and, again there was a lot of swearing. Choosing to fit lino in a kitchen at 6:00 in the evening on a Saturday probably wasn't the best idea. Especially when we were out in London the following morning and when we'd spent most of the day at our Ante-natal class. We got it done by 10:30 in the end. I did have to send Sonia out for chips at about 8:00 though.

My lessons on lino:
1) I sometimes found myself sitting on the floor, lino perched on my head, trying to cut an irregular rectangle out with scissors. This awkwardness could have been avoided if I cut the whole sheet roughly to size first.
2) Square patterns make things much easier as you can simply use the grid to trim roughly rather than a measuring tape.
3) Vinyl tears. That is all.
4) Lastly, and most importantly; cut less off than you think you need to every time. This means you have to cut everything at least twice but you can't glue bits back on once you've cut them.

It's all smiles at the moment but I've only just started.
Check out the lovely new door handles too.

Fair's fair.

Sonia is over-crtical...

...but likes her newly-refreshed kitchen.

All that's left to do is put the kickboards back on, re-install the washing machine and dishwasher and sort out the lights. But that's a post for another day.

The bathroom floor

So, with the Garden now approaching a state which can be at least described as "tidy" and with the end of Summer fast approaching it is time to turn our attention to a couple of the highest priority jobs in the house. Starting with the bathroom floor. It has, up until now been bare floorboards over a brand new plaster ceiling in the dining room (!). It has to be covered.

So the first job is to lay a sheet of MDF over the floor boards to even them out a bit. This will prevent the floorboards eventually showing through the vinyl flooring.

Where the toilet goes. Very funny Sonia.

A message to future generations. We was indeed here.

Gemma is a messy showerer at the best of times. No, this isn't a fish eye lens, BTW.

So, though I thought the MDF and gaffer tape looked great Sonia insisted on a vinyl floor covering. I guess  that it also means that we can ditch the elaborate system of moving towels around the floor to prevent the plaster on the ceiling underneath falling off. Shame. Ebay was definitely our friend here. Buying the vinyl online rather than from a shop saved us well over £100.

First though, before starting any job around the house one must consult "the good book". By which I mean the B&Q manual of DIY. http://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Can-Step---Step-Improvement/dp/0500515514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315320229&sr=8-1

Lo she comes with floor descending,
For once on floorboards pee did rain,