Latest update - May 2011

Just a quick update. Some rooms have changed more than others. Have a look for yourself....

Old dining room

New dining room

Old hallway

better late than never

It's weird. When you get the keys to the house you think "aagh, a few weeks it will look totally different". I suppose we are about 9 weeks into it and it doesn't look massively different.

But this is the long slog, as all of the basic work such as plumbing and electrics all have to be done before we even consider the decoration side!!!

The Roland Rat family have finally vacated the premises...and probably died along the way as well. But funnily enough some rats have appeared near my parents home up the road recently...ooops!!!

Will get some piccies up online tomorrow to see how it's changed.

Got a busy weekend ahead with digging the outside drain tomorrow and installing new pipes, and a car boot sale on Sunday morning - try and get rid of some of the junk here!!

Day 7 in the Big brother house......

We've now had the keys to the house for 7 whole days - gosh time has flown! Loads has happened as both me and Luke were off work for the week, as well as my parents whom have been a massive help in the house everyday guiding us on what to do next! Both me and Luke would be zombies without them!

So, what exactly has happened since we received the keys?
- Painted front room and changed curtains.
- Painted middle room, undercoat and gloss on all skirting boards.

- Kitchen: Pulled down existing wall units, cleared cupboards, discarded old manky curtains, painted walls a fresh blue as well as undercoated all wood trimmings for blinds, door etc.

Downstairs toilet: Pulled down manky curtains, 2 coats of paint on walls, gloss on skirtings and woodwork as well as mum's nifty tile paint work on the current yellow tiles.

- Cellar: Cleared half of the space to allow for Chest freezer, washing machine and tumble which will be moved tomorrow.
- Garden: Good old chop of overgrown bush (now now!!) which covered the footpath.

- Hallway: Ripped up old technicolour carpet but left underlay down as it was still in very good condition and quality.

Back bedroom: Cleared all existing furniture allowing empty space to move all our own furniture in tomorrow.
Front bedroom: Painted all the walls white to give a fresh look and smell, undercoat and gloss to all skirtings and woodwork. Mum kindly borrowed georgeous curtains to hang in the room until we decide on colourschemes etc.
Small Bedroom: Pulled carpet up so Dad could assess current electrics and allow space to feed through electric cable to new electric shower in the room above. All existing furniture has been removed and is now empty.
Attic: No work yet as it is used as dumping ground for the work in the bathroom.
Bathroom: Created shower area, scraped existing wallpaper, and Dad did a super job of tiling to allow shower area - even with wonky walls :)

Below you can see some quick comparisons of before and after after 6 days. Gosh looking back makes us feel very proud!!

Front room before and after.

Mum's pet project! Showing some nifty work with the tile paint, and removing old tired looking plastic accessory.

Kitchen getting a lick of paint - only a temporary measure as there are other priorities such as electrics and plumbing before new kitchen.

And that's it for now, time for bed. We're hoping to move everything in tomorrow and stay our first night!! WOOWAWIWA - excited.com!!!!!!

p.s. might not have internet access for a couple of days until our broadband service is transferred. Cross fingers it won't take too long.

First past the post!!

Below are some before photos of the house. As you can see, it has a bit of decorating and some quite big plumbing and electrical work - but as everyone keeps telling us...it has LOADS of potential :)

The Bathroom (on the third floor)

The Lounge (with daddy dearest surveying all of the work!!)

The Kitchen.

The hallway.

The back garden.