A year on...

We have had a special week this week. It feels like finally things have come together. I can't believe it is almost exactly a year since "Day One" when the builders arrived to start knocking down the old kitchen.  Can you believe it?!  52 long weeks later...

For the first time yesterday we got to the point where every new or altered room was functioning.  Ok so its not "finished", there is still wallpaper to go up, skirting to paint, tiling to do... but every room is USABLE. I thought that day would never come!

Mum and Dad Baker kick started this phase with helping wallpaper a wall of our bedroom with the lovely "Summer Palace" wallpaper from Laura Ashley.  They are quite a dream team to behold when they start working together on things!  I absolutely love it and it has completely transformed our bedroom.  Then my lovely husband finally put together our crackle glazed french bed - which I had finally finished painting!!!  We did have a little hiccup when the mattress turned out to be too big but with a little bit of hacking (I couldn't watch!) we managed to squeeze it in.  Now I feel like a princess- the bed is so high I can just fall in and out of it- bliss!  Note the little wicker crib also that our neighbour has donated for Baby Burne... so now both the girls have their beds!

Then on Wed and Thurs of this week we had the most wonderful help from friends to get our lounge painted.  Yesterday was such a whirlwind it seemed like an episode of "60 second makeover"- somehow they got two coats on the walls and all the newspaper and dust sheets cleared away, even bringing up the furniture from the garage!  For the first time the room was functioning and you got a sense of how big and gorgeous it was!  Thank you team for going the extra mile for us!

We had some friends round for dinner last night and actually sat at our dining table and had coffee in the lounge afterwards- what a treat!

At one point I burst into tears and said "Well, for the first time I feel like if the baby arrived tomorrow, it would be alright!"

An all round update

I realise it is pretty tricky from this blog to figure out exactly what stage everything is at right now, so I thought I would do a little virtual tour.  Its 6 weeks till the baby arrives, and not one room is finished. But the builders have now gone and at least it is livable. Baby wont care and I'll have to count my blessings. Hey, some renovation projects take 10 years huh? and its only been 10 months...

This is the "dining room" that I am sitting in now. Ha Ha. It is actually a dumping ground for everything that has come out of the lounge.
We have done a U turn on this room and decided that for the next few years it will be the "play room" or informal day room lounge area.  Basically so miss muffet has somewhere to be while I'm cooking, scrubbing and washing after her in the kitchen.   Skirting needs painting and the doors need touching up. Its livable but a bit uninspiring and obviously all the furniture needs thinking about.

The kitchen! This is functioning well. Still a few handles to put on doors, a missing bit of cornice, windows need painting, shelves need putting up etc....  But it actually looks quite cute in the picture. The idea is to get a butchers block island eventually, but a table is sufficing right now.

The lounge-diner.  This is where we are concentrating our efforts in the next week or so.  I dont really have time to fuss about it or think too much, just want to slap some paint on the walls and buy a big squashy sofa. And wait until the sleepless nights are over and my inner Laurence Llewelyn Bowen returns...  Loving the big fat beam though!

I can't rotate pics in this stupid system, but this is the functioning, but hugely unfinished, downstairs loo.  Just closing the door and forgetting about this Morrocan dream for now...

This is the family bathroom that looks better in the photo somehow than in real life. It doesnt have a bath panel or tiles at the end of the bath. I stupidly started attacking this room a bit unnecessarily as something to do when the  builders hadn't started the lounge yet.  We are not really using it now we have our ensuite.   Sorry guests, you might just have to cope...  at least the bath looks nice and shiny now I have re-enamelled it :)

You probably all have neck ache now! This is our lovely bedroom. We even have curtains up. Mattress is on the floor and we are sleeping in here. The mess in the left corner is an huge mountain of Baby Burne donations and presents.  This room is basically done but would love to get the wallpaper up and of course the bed in the next week or so.

Our ensuite.  I love being in here as it is probable the most finished room in the house in terms of looking like I want it to. Looks weird in the pic cos the sink you see is a reflection in the mirror.  This is really the only room in the house where I occasionally relax without a mental to do list of all the things that need finishing.  Really pleased with how everything looks in here.

The attic room - oh dear.  This is still a dumping ground/ storage room at the minute. When baby moves out from our room to the "nursery" (blue bedroom) we will need to have this functioning as a guest room.  Who says you can't hold a baby and a paint brush at the same time....?