WEEKS 15-28
The difference is like night and day
The house with the old dark brown, plain panel windows. I hated them from day one!
Finally the old windows are going. The house already looks much brighter
The new windows are all in. The house looks so much fresher and brighter, even though this photo was taken at dusk
This week I messed up my timeline by deciding to change all the windows and rip out the final bathroom.
I know I’ve said it before, but I love my builders. Just when they think the project is nearly finished I decide to rip out all the windows and drop a bathroom grenade onto the top floor. Thank you for being so understanding!
I’ve always hated the windows in this house. But I just didn’t have the money to swap them. What changed is that when I got a quote for repainting the originals I realised I only had to find another 15k to have the whole lot replaced. I know that’s a fortune, but in the scheme of this project, and for something as important as the entire look of the house exterior, we decided to borrow the money and go for it.
I bought them through Onyx Doors and Windows in North London. It has taken 4 weeks from measure-up to the final installation. They arrived wrapped in cellophane and spray painted to my RAL code. I’ve gone for RAL 7032 Pebble Grey which is the closest I could get to Farrow and Ball’s French Grey. French Grey blends with Drop Cloth which is my interior woodwork colour, but has much more green in it which I think will work beautifully in our village setting.
Now the windows have all been replaced. I’m so pleased we decided to swap them. The difference is like night and day.
The old upstairs bathroom. Initially we were going to leave it due to budget, but in the end it just had to go! We did the whole room for £3k
The bathroom was stripped out in two days. It took 7 days in total to finish
The mixer for the screed next to a mound of sand. The sand gets shovelled into the scoop. Then its mixed and forced into the house through the thick black tube
The other mini catastrophe I created for my builders this week is in the upstairs bathroom. Originally we were leaving this room alone. But my husband absolutely hates the tiles. He has been nagging me throughout the entire build to include it in the renovation. I wanted to see how the budget was going but actually now the rest of the house is looking so fab this bathroom does stick out like a sore thumb. So I’ve capitulated. I’ve used up tiles left over from the other bathrooms and used chrome finishes because they are much cheaper than the copper ones I’ve got elsewhere. By reusing we’ve finished the room for under £3,000. And probably saved a marital dispute!
The first coat of Farrow & Ball Inchyra Blue goes on to the kitchen island. In the background, Wimbourne white goes on to the ceiling
After the first coat of Pointing on the kitchen walls it looks too yellow. Despite using taster pots to try the colours in each room, it is not until the entire room is coated that you get a proper feel for the colour. I think the yellow is coming from all the green outside. I am going to go Wimbourne White on the walls and the ceiling to tone down the yellow
Farrow & Ball Drop Cloth on the kitchen units looks fab with the copper accents and Inchyra Blue kitchen island. It blends nicely with the French Grey windows. I had to match French Grey with the RAL system because the windows were sprayed offsite. The colour is Pebble Grey RAL 7032
The down side of these last minute changes has been the timeline has slipped. And the biggest impact of that has been on the painters. I use a fabulous team of decorators who come and move into the house for a week and paint it top to bottom. They’re so good though that I had to book them months in advance. I thought I’d left a month long gap for delays, but I’ve now used that gap up so when the team arrive the house just isn’t ready.
The whole team have been so understanding though. They’ve switched their schedules to do a week now for the first coat of everything. Then agreed to come back in a fortnight to finish off when all the builders have finally gone. The decorators just can’t get a decent paint finish with builders dust around. I’m so grateful to them for bearing with me.
Having the first coat of paint on early has had a significant upside. I’ve basically got to look at my colour choices working together throughout the house. And basically when I see such a big expanse of wall done in Pointing I think it’s too yellow for this project. I suspect it’s all the green coming in from outside through the triple glass sliders bringing out those tones. But anyway I’m changing it. I’m going to swap to Wimborne white on ceilings and walls as I love the clean fresh colour of it currently only on the ceilings. The same colour always looks totally different on walls compared to ceilings too so I think I’ll still see changing tones. Phew!
Everything else is staying the same. I’m thrilled with the Inchyra Blue on the kitchen island. I love the Drop Cloth woodwork. Thankfully the French Grey windows are going to blend just fine with the rest of the colours. The windows are actually RAL 7032 Pebble Grey as they were sprayed offsite so I had to choose a RAL colour instead of a Farrow & Ball. The match is pretty good though and works with the rest of the woodwork.
The ovens are finally in! Drop Cloth on the units looks gorgeous. Now I just need my copper handles so I can actually open the fridges
We’ve started painting the bar Zoffany Serpentine. The right hand panel is undercoat, left hand panel has its first coat done. Middle panel is where we started.
The bar now has its Serpentine first coat and I love it! The pyramid units behind are Farrow and Ball Inchyra Blue which match my units either side of the fireplace out of shot. I’m going to trace a copper motif up the front of them when I get time! LED strips are in too on the bar and under the shelves. Nearly cocktail time!
The bar is really taking shape now. It’s the last room to get finished because of the delay with the chevron floor (See last week’s post). The photo shows the first coat of Zoffany Serpentine on the left hand panel and undercoat on the right. Then you can see the finished colour in the next pic. The wooden pyramid units behind are in Inchyra blue. I chose Inchrya as it’s the closest match to my chests of drawer units which will sit either side of the fireplace. I might even channel my artist grandad and trace a copper motif up the front of them when I get a minute. I think they’re crying out for it!
The shelves finish the bar nicely. It took me ages to find them. I eventually got them from Pipedream Furniture near Dudley. They are designed as pub drinks rails to be positioned with the piping along the back. But I’ve flipped them the other way and used the pipe work to stop bottles falling off forwards. I’ve had them sprayed copper and lit with LED strips laid in a groove cut into the shelves. I’m pretty pleased with the results. Now we are waiting for the Quartzite stone for the top. But that will be a couple of weeks. Then cocktails!
It’s now time for the painters’ last visit. In the kitchen the ovens are in. And the bedrooms are almost free of dust. As I type this I’m getting ready to head to the house with my mop and rubber gloves and give it a final dust ready for the decorators return. They’re arriving on Monday. We move 2 weeks today, and I’m beyond excited.
FINAL STAGE