Slowly but surely

The flat continues to become more a flat and less a few damp rooms at the bottom of the house.

The bedroom and bathroom are the most complete.

The bathroom now has a proper mirror, which is a pivot mirror so adjustable for tall and short alike. It comes from Next, which is the first thing I have bought from them.

I still really like this view from the bathroom back into the bedroom.

I have finished painting all the things green that are going to be green, including the double doors on the bedroom side. They just need some handles now.

And some storage has been added to this room. Clothes are hanging in a space which will ultimately be an enclosed wardrobe.

Shoes hidden in a shoe cabinet from Ikea along with some shelves and white boxes for er, more shoes.

I also picked up a little bin for this room from Jane Newbery in Dulwich. Pretty.

One last small addition is a hook on the back of the door. I bought this well over a year ago from Graham and Green in their sale, so pleased to finally have a home for it.

The connecting space between the bedroom and the sitting room will also be the connecting space between the flat and main house. This separation has started. Which also means a space has been created which will hold another loo for the use of the main house.

The green steps are currently standing in for the loo so we can check there is enough space, which there is, just.

And this is the big hole that has had to be dug by the back door to connect all the plumbing.

In the front room which will be a lounge and kitchen space the kitchen has been delivered and partly installed. It’s actually has white gloss cabinets, but the protective cover is still on.

This room us usable now and some furniture has been added. Including this rocking chair which I treated myself too, also from Graham and Green, also in their sale.

By day…

And by night…

Somewhere for me to sit and rock back and forth like a little old lady working on my sewing. Probably muttering.

But the rest of the room is still a bit ramshackle.

The front door for the flat is the next major piece of work.

This kind of lobby area has access to the old coal storage hole. This now has a new floor fitted and is being used for some basic storage. One day maybe a wine cellar.

The roof in the entrance area needs attention and we’ve had to have a new door made as it’s not a standard size.

View out from the front door.

Back the other way. These flagstones have already been lifted and replaced and I think in the finished space will look great.

This internal door from the lobby space into the sitting room will stay but needs some serious attention.

Some temporary measures to keep things waterproof.

The new door is due to be delivered in the next week or so, so this area should be very different in a few weeks. After that it’s work on the extra loo, then the last big project which is the main kitchen.

In the pink

Progress in the basement flat continues at pace as now it’s all about adding things that make it look better as opposed to stripping off plaster and generally wrecking the place as part of the “battle of the damp”.

Here’s a before shot.

And here’s the best of the interim ones.

The floor has been painted strong white like the rest of the house and the walls are setting plaster also from Farrow and Ball. I really like it, but it’s a slightly depressing colour to use when you pay someone to plaster the walls, then carefully prime them only to paint them basically the same colour as they were before. Again the ceiling is also the same colour and the skirting will be too.

And one of the many deliveries that helped get us there.

The boiler will be boxed in as part of a cupboard.

From this angle you can see the unpainted end of the room which will be a kitchen area. The lighting is already in for that work area.

They are from B&Q.

Still some work to be done on the door and obviously the stairs beyond but you can see the flagstones are back down and looking good.

The view into the bedroom.

And here’s the fireplace with the beautiful tiles that were uncovered when the heater was removed. Unfortunately there’s some pretty extensive damage, although ultimately the plan is for a wood burning stove in here so that might cover the gap and work. We shall see.

Here’s a close up of the lights which are from John Lewis (like the ones in the bedroom). The plan is that a sofa will sit under these.

Off the entrance to the flat is a kind of cellar which sits under the front steps. It was a horrible hole full of coal dust and a bit scary. It’s now had a new floor put in and is ready to act as some handy storage.

The plan is to put another toilet in the space under the hall stairs and because of that some serious digging has been required to put new plumbing in. Which also means going out the back door and particularly using the outside tap is a bit tricky.

And lastly, also outside some of the holes in the patio filled from our large supply of random bricks.

Bedroom almost complete

The bedroom in the basement flat is finally ready (well nearly).

Here’s a before.

And here’s an after.

I am pretty sure this room has not been used since the sixties (judging by the decor) so this feels quite big as it’s now ready to be lived in.

I have a new bed, bought at low expense from ebay.

It’ a little over the top maybe, but I like it.

Colourwise this paint is Fired Earth Verd Antique. The door and ceiling are all painted the same colour. Painting the door the same colour is just me copying from various nice restaurants I have been in and liked and painting the ceiling I think makes the room feel bigger as there is no strong colour dividing line.

The decision now is whether to also paint the bathroom doors and windows the same. I think yes.

The bathroom is all done as well, boiler installed and working (in the front room) so it’s all go. The doors from this side will be simple white.

All the bathroom and bedroom windows are partly painted with an undercoat. The plan is to use Farrow and Ball Downpipe on the exterior to match with the front windows.

The bathroom doors need some doorknobs, fortunately I have a collection to choose from. These are my finalists.

Other new items include this chest of drawers picked up a local second-hand / junk shop.

And some lights from John Lewis. They are wall lights because the ceilings are quite low.

There’s nowhere to hang any clothes just yet, but there will be in here.

So nearly there.

Water and beds

The shower in the basement flat is almost there. Tiles on, sink in, loo in and shower working. All that’s needed now is for the boiler to be linked up and it’s all sorted.

Everything is from somewhere different. I actually can’t remember where the loo is from – just somewhere online. The shower is from bathstore.

There will be folding doors to separate this room from the bedroom.

The sink is from Ikea, that I do remember since it was a late night purchase in Croydon – ah the glamour! It took a while to find one that didn’t come out too far from the wall as the room is thin and therefore every centimeter counts.

These windows still need some thought to privacy (for the shy).

The bedroom itself is now basically ready to be decorated. The walls have all had extensive treatment for damp which was pretty bad in this and the front room (being a basement and an unused one for some time). Although there is still some damp on the chimney breast. The thinking is some water still needs to dry out, or that water is coming in down the chimney. To stop this we’ve capped the chimneys temporarily – photos to follow.

Hopefully that will fix it.

I’ve even bought a new bed, from Ebay. Doesn’t look much here but I am hoping it will look good in this room. It’s a bit elaborate so its meant a change of plan in terms of decoration, much simpler than I had previously imagined or it will all be too much.

The garden is also starting to come together. More and more plants are slowly added and on a sunny day there are some patches that I am starting to really like.

I have even planted some herbs in an old sink and a terracotta trough, I think they’ll look nice on the steps coming up from the flat bedroom.

Follow the leader

I’ve been doing a bit more sewing.

It started last year with these super twee coasters.

This time I decided to work on images of the last eight Prime Ministers. I can’t really remember why, just seemed like a good idea.

I found pictures of them all.

Then made sketches.

Then I traced these onto fabric by holding them up against a window. Next I just embroidered the pencil marks.

The first two are the most simple. I had no idea what I was doing and the thread I had was really thick making detail tricky.

Then they got a bit more detailed. These are roughly in order of how I worked on them, not time in office.

My original plan was for these to be a set of placemats and napkins and that is what they’re all sewn on. But I’m not sure they work that well, particularly as napkins. You can see how messy they are on the back.

So maybe I’ll frame them or something. Or more likely just hang onto them and procrastinate.

And the one I have just finished.

Now I need a new pointless craft project. Perhaps a set of dictator themed cushions.

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.

Basement gets water and light (well nearly)

Work continues on the basement. It’s all pipes down there.

This is the hall area where the flat joins with the main part of the house. It’s so luxurious it even has a radiator.  Ooh.

This is the view into the bathroom.

The barrier at the top of these steps is to stop the dog going down, jumping the last step and then getting trapped down there. She doesn’t seem to be learning from this mistake. We are still missing a bottom step hence the problem.

This radiator is to go in the bedroom under the french doors / long window. It’s only from B&Q and seems to be the perfect size.

The front room / open plan kitchen still needs some work. Although we do have a boiler now.

Is it more depressing to have a wheelbarrow in your lounge…

…or a cement mixer in your bedroom?

What does look great is the office, set up as a music studio for Klaus. The half-door I think is a great idea of his.

The pigeon holes/ shelves in here are from Graham and Green.

The next steps are to tile the bathroom and put in the toilet etc which we have already bought. Hopefully this next stage should see some swift improvements.

Downstairs on the up

The basement is starting to take shape at last. The idea is that this will be a flat, that you can either access from the main house or separately via its own front door. That way the house is flexible and the flat could be rented out or vice versa.

There are two main rooms, the one you enter via the front door which is the largest and will be a kitchen/diner and a second at the back which will be a bedroom.

The basement had some pretty bad damp and so we’ve had a comprehensive bit of damp proofing done.

This had also affected the stairs down from the main house, and the bottom ones were rotten and collapsed.

We are going to put a loo in the space under these stairs that can be accessed from the main house.

So here’s how the front room is looking now.

These tiles were uncovered in the fireplace which we will try to keep. We’re planning on putting in a wood burning stove here.

This room has quite a nice window which looks out onto the steps you reach the front door by. It’s got horrible bars on at the moment, but it will ultimately look great.

The panels under the window are a stable style door that is going on the new office, which was an outside loo. That’s just all been replastered too. It’s a very small room just enough room for a desk and a computer but here’s a glimpse, we added that little window. The office opens onto the patio area so a half-door seemed like a nice idea particularly for the summer.

The back room which will be a bedroom has fresh plaster and a damp course too.

This room also has a lovely big window which we had replaced, it’s large enough to step out of into the garden. This one, the two in the bathroom I am about to come on to and the funny shaped one in the office we had to have specially made as they are such unusual sizes.  They look great, but it’s expensive getting this kind of bespoke work done.

The bathroom for the flat (well shower room, it will be too small for a bath) is off this room and was actually a bathroom before but was unused and in a terrible state. You can see it on the outside in the photo above.

Here it is now.

There’s clearly still a lot to do, but we’ve got the next stage lined up and have bought the shower loo and sink for this room. So it should be liveable relatively soon.

Studio now up and running

The garden studio, a recreation of the one I had in the last house, is basically finished. Still the odd bit of painting (of the painting and decioating kind) to be done but the electric is working and I have moved in and started work.

It’s great.

Adding more colour

The last couple of weeks have seen the introduction of lots more colour in the house. I’m no fan of neutral paints when they are used everywhere and there was some colour in the last house but there could have been more. I’m keen to be a bit more adventurous this time.

Therefore we already have the strong pink and green combination in the entrance hall. The Cinder Rose pink was only planned to go up to the first landing, even I can see this would be too much for the whole house. So Calluna was the choice. I had thought it was a pale grey (I got this impression from the tester) but it’s actually a bit more of a pale purple once you have it on the wall, although it varies greatly depending on the light.

You may notice that the steps are white in this shot as well. The stairs up to the top bedrooms have finally had the carpet removed and the first coat of white floor paint.

Here are the dogs on the same spot when we first moved in.

When the carpet came up you could see how in the past there had been a thin carpet running all the way up the stairs. This is something that’s in the plan but it has proved a struggle finding the right width which is also affordable. Harder than you’d think.

A few more coats needed, but you start to get the idea.

And so working up the levels in the house has meant decisions on door colours on the first landing (bathroom and sitting room) and top floor (bedrooms).

First landing is now Cooking Apple Green.

We’ve left all the old key holes in the doors, I think it adds a bit of character. The woodwork surrounds are still to be done as is the skirting. They will be Strong White like the floor.

Landing floorboards still to be painted.

Then top floor another similar colour. This is actually the colour of the front door from the old house. There was some paint left over and so this seemed a good place to use it up. French Grey.

Then inside the bathroom the door to the cupboard hiding the washing machine has also changed colour. Now it’s Lulworth Blue.

The little green door knob is from a selection I bought a while ago from Anthropologie.

That’s all the new colour inside. More colour outside.

The shed has received a beach hut make-over.

Also in the garden, exciting developments on the garden office. A roof has been fitted that isn’t a blue tarp and it’s also received a lick of paint. This time Down Pipe.

This is the view from the kitchen window.

And back towards the house from the office. A bit to do in the garden….

And last thing, while I had the paints out I painted this set of steps from Ikea (they’re to help me reach almost everything in the kitchen).

They match the first floor doors, Cooking Apple again.