Positivity and Restoration..

....Hello

I promised last time to write a more positive blog and well - here it is!!

We've had a breakthrough and have some excellent news - For a while we have been really concerned we would not be able to finish the house due to finances - we were caught between the building society wanting us to finish it before giving us any more money and us not being able to finish it because we'd run out of money!! 

The joys of the self build mortgage :-/

So after spending a month wondering and worrying what to do, we decided to write to the building society and ask for an advance: (One of my mother's proverbs is "if you don't ask you don't get") - So we asked and after much debate by the powers that do - they agreed!!!!???!!@£$%^*****

So armed with hopefully enough money now to get us to sign off, we have to decided very carefully where to spend it. 

It's still just Richard and I working on finishing the house and boy there's still a lot to do! It's also quite difficult watching Richard who is incredibly skilled and able but only has weekends and evenings - there are just simply not enough hours! 

I really appreciate him being able to do these jobs; frankly where would we be without it? 

And so we are making progress in the utility room - it is nearly finished; the cabinets are in with worktop and we are really close to having hot water as the thermal store is finally installed.

I am still building kitchen units and the massive Ikea box pile does not seem to be diminishing - there is certainly a lot of kitchen!


Last bank holiday weekend I restored a table - long story but I acquired the table some years ago left it in the garden for a few years, finally brought it into our barn with glass roof where the sun then proceeded to bake it for a few more years!  then it was in my sister-in-law's garage now for 18 months:I don't know why but we decided to bring it with us


I decided to have a go at restoring it as we can't afford a new table - quite honestly I'm thrilled with how it's turned out!
It might only be a pine table but it does look a lot a lot like some of the tables I'm seeing in very nice interiors magazines!
It will do for us for a while and is certainly the right size for the living space, we have a mismatch of chairs but I think it'll look ok?

I used Annie Sloan clear wax to seal it after sanding - I liked the 'greyed' look as it was being sanded back and certainly didn't want a yellow pine, the wax is really nice as it seals it and leaves a gorgeous satin finish.

I also used the Annie Sloan chalk paint and dark wax on a mirror. I hated the mirror and was about to put it out for the charity shop when I thought I'd have go at this effect: as you can see from the before and after photographs it is a nice process and has certainly felt good to be doing some of the finishing touches!

And so the next few days and coming week are very exciting - This weekend we have some very kind volunteers (you know who you are and we LOVE you!!!) who are going to come over and help us push towards our finish - this will involve more kitchen building, (there are a lot of drawers!) a lot of painting: skirting, architrave and doors, as well as the wall behind our bed: we have chosen 'Down Pipe' by Farrow & Ball - I must say it's getting a mixed reaction but i'm hoping the finished result will be worth the risk? here's the 'sample' I've painted on the wall...
 


There are shower doors to fit, and the front door is hopefully going to go in too.. The electricians are coming tomorrow and are doing the 2nd fix so hopefully we'll be able to have hot water...that lovely bath is calling me ;-)

Appliances have been ordered and are being delivered next week from Porcelanosa in Solihull a lovely shop which most people will think of as a tile shop - it's a very inspirational place; their kitchens and bathrooms are amazing and they are very competitive with their prices and will price match - so it was a no-brainer to go there. The service is excellent!
We are having Neff and Siemens appliances and I must say I'm really excited about this delivery!!

We have also got Granite Planet coming next week to template for worktops and they are coming back to fit them the following week! We are having Quartz : this is one of the most eco-friendly worktops you can have and it looks very similar to Granite - we are going to have 12 mm thick worktop in a grey ish stone colour - EXCITING!


And so finally the best news I have is that we plan to actually MOVE IN next weekend!!! - its my Dad's 70th birthday & we do have a party to organise, cook for and attend but thats just a minor detail!!.. 

....Fingers crossed it all goes well this weekend?!!

I'll be back soon to let you know

Wendi x