A new shower and new flowers

Progress continues in the basement flat.

The flagstones have been relaid in the hall area and in the shower room.

And the radiator has been installed in the bedroom. It’s under the window but low enough so you can step over and access the garden (as is being demonstrated here).

Thanks Heidi. Very helpful.

In the bathroom the tiles we bought from B&Q which I think are from their basics range have gone in. We chose a dark grout, it’s very forgiving if you’re a bit slapdash with the cleaning plus I actually prefer this look. I think it feels more contemporary.

Originally we were going to go for metro tiles and these are like over-sized versions.

The wooden frame is where the shower will be fitted.

The towel rail is also a B&Q special.

The other project that has moved forward is the garden. Originally this was all lawn and a massive patio. We’ve made a start at changing this roughly in line with the original plan that you can see in an earlier post here.

Some of the paving has been lifted to make flowerbeds and some others beds  have been marked out at the sides and towards the back of the garden.

Spot the space hopper.

The area at the back by my studio was going to be a vegetable patch, but for now we are going to have wild flowers. A path has been mowed in to the studio.

Filling this with plants is a bit epic as we need so many. And I’d kind of like the planting to look like this, a photo taken in my local park (but without the bandstand of course).

Most of the plants bought so far are from East Street Market in Walworth. On Sundays there is a small plant market in a side road. It does seem to focus on the kind of plants you see on roundabouts but those are the kind of hardy specimens we need.

Here’s a local trader who presumably is taking a well earned rest after selling out of his Burberry stock.

Transporting our purchases home.

Planning things out.

And the other matching border.

We’ve tested things out with a game of croquet = lawn just about big enough.

But there’s still an incredibly long way to go and a lot more plants even if they are spaced out with room to grow.

Still it’s lovely to have the garden, particularly in London. Here’s me enjoying a bit of sun with a blanket I knitted and a cushion made from some fabric I bought in Ikea.

Nice.