I was hoping that by now (almost the end of March – how the hell did that happen?!) that I would have a whole completed kitchen, or at least my updated utility, to share with you.

Always the way with these home renovations isn’t it – they always take longer than planned. Instead I’m going to give you a general update on what we’ve been up to so far and I’ll hopefully have some more progress to feature next month.

Our upstairs landing is generous, it’s one of my favourite features of the house and there is so much light with windows on both the front and back of the house. If you follow my personal instagram you are probably already bored of images of my bargain sofa. I found it in Homesense – yet it looks even lovelier than a similar version I was lusting after that was four times the price. I am fairly smug about the whole thing, especially as it fits so perfectly in the designated space. This is probably the only piece of furniture of any significance I’ve purchased since we moved in.

Even though it’s not quite finished the kitchen is almost there, we just need to figure out lighting and complete the tiling. Due to the various shades of grey (the top units have been painted in Farrow & Ball “Manor House Grey” and the bottom cupboards in “Downpipe”) what style and hue of tiles we should choose has been a challenge. I figured we needed something complimentary but in a stone/concrete look finish. The Fired Earth “Temple Opet” are perfect and really good value too. For the area we are covering they have cost us £90 – we’ve also bought a pale grey grout for £15.

We have had to invest in more plumbing work than we anticipated but it has been worth it for new column radiators throughout – they have transformed the look and feel of the place. We bought new rather than reclaimed, unfortunately I can’t recommend our supplier as they were about as useful as a chocolate teapot, with radiators going missing AND turning up damaged. In our last home we implemented various “Acova” columns from Screwfix and they were amazing.

Aside from painting walls throughout (various shades of white…and white) the other big job was carpeting the upstairs. If I could have my way from an aesthetic perspective I’d have reclaimed wooden floors or utilise the existing floorboards where possible. Alas we have a toddler, and my husband was insistent that we need to make sure our home is as warm and as insulated as possible.

I find it difficult to choose something I’m not even that keen on but I’ve got to say, the John Lewis Kingston Loop in “Stone” looks very “clean” and neutral with a hint of yes you guessed it….grey. I couldn’t find it on the website so have linked to similar – the Rustic Rope in Pewter. We negotiated and managed to buy it at £19 per metre plus fitting.

We have also had wardrobes built into the master bedroom with bespoke doors made by a carpenter – pretty much exactly the same as in our previous abode because the fact is, I LOVED them. And if it ain’t broke……

We’ve had the same doors made to replace some old MDF monstrosities that hide the hot water tank on the landing. All have been painted in Farrow & Ball “Plummet”. You should be able to see all of our bits and bobs in the slider above.

One of the biggest surprises has been that as soon as you have something lovely and new and “you” the untouched decor in comparison never fails to appear even more tired and drab. So I can completely appreciate that decorating is a never ending task. Not to mention a drain on your finances, the odd bargain thrown in or not.

Also, to amuse you on a Monday, here are some comments from someone on my instagram update of the kitchen progress image as featured above:

Instagram Person: What is going on with the ceiling?

Me: What is going on with the ceiling? What do you mean?

Instagram person: It looks very low?

Me: They are floor joists, it is a cottage dating back to 1700.

Instagram Person: Oh. It doesn’t look old.

?!

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