Bi-fold doors

After a few weeks of being let down at the last minute by the window fitter with 'the dog ate my homework' style excuses, finally, on Jon's birthday, he showed up. Now, at long long last, we have Bi-folds!

The pictures don't actually do the room credit, it feels so light and spacious now and hopefully is going to be a really nice kitchen / living space. On the downside, it means we are now staring out onto our dumping ground of a garden. A good incentive to get it sorted sooner maybe...

Over the last few weeks Jon has been working on the bathroom. He has done an amazing job of tiling and grouting and being a bit (understatement) of a perfectionist when it comes to finishes has really paid off. Although he says there are gaps that are too large and a couple of chipped tiles, no-one will ever notice except him.

We both love the herringbone design for the wall tiles, but apparently this took three times as long as it would have to do a horizontal design. Worth thinking about for our next place ;-) So 'all' that's left to do in this room now is to silicone the edges, plumb in the fittings, finish the lighting and build the towel cupboard! Still...some big progress!

While Jon has been busy on the bathroom, I was painting the spare bedroom. Jon always said he didn't care what colour it was, as long it wasn't white. But I come from a household where white is the default. Neutral, inoffensive and zero decision-making required. In fact, when I was younger my Aunt once came to look after my sister and I while our parents were away, and on an impulse decided to paint the entire kitchen (including dishwasher, skirting boards and radiators) dark green! On their return, Dad was so horrified he had to repaint it immediately!

So it took a lot of research and mulling over to eventually find the confidence to branch away from my white heritage...all the way to one of Dulux's most neutral colours - 'Just Walnut'. But even though it is very neutral (with a subtle beige and rose tint), just as I finished painting one wall Jon came in and said he didn't like it! So much for being on the fence.

I actually quite like painting. It's quite therapeutic (apart from ceilings and also I am only 2 rooms in, so might feel differently in a few months). But I naively had no idea about the prep involved. On my first ever wall, excited and ready to go, all set with my paint tray and roller, Jon stopped me in disbelief: "You haven't sanded and wiped the walls". Of course I hadn't. Nothing ever is as easy as it first seems. And now sanding prior to painting is my new least favourite job. For some reason just the sound and feel of it make me feel sick, like running fingernails down a blackboard. Jon thinks I am ridiculous!

In other news, when not working or at the house, our fast-growing kitten Maisie has been keeping us thoroughly entertained with her funny little antics.