Still so much to do

Just in case you were under the impression that our house must be nearly perfect by now I thought I would share some photos that show you how much more there is to do. It's not just the windows!

One of the biggest things we're ignoring is the cupboard under the stairs. With this lovely peeling checked vinyl wallpaper. The fact that the fridge is there makes doing things difficult. Also we're worried that if we start taking off the sagging wallpaper, half the plaster may come away too.

To legitimate our worry, here is a close up to show that a previous owner decided that tin foil was a suitable plastering/polyfilla material.....

...so much so that they used it around the kitchen cupboards too...

...and around this pipe in the outhouse

We realised the other day that we haven't actually done much in the bathroom, apart from make my Mum clean it and put some nice plants and pictures in there. (Having just checked though we did put on a new door knob and make some curtains AND spend hundreds on our boiler!!!)

And this broken extractor pipe has always annoyed me too. Broken, why? Because someone cut it to feed an electricity cable through.

Jon won't be happy, but for all his and his Dad's painting, they've never done the final coat on the hallway.

And this large unfinished polyfilla lump has been in the sitting room since we took out the carriage lights in September! 

The woodwork needs painting around the door. Maybe we should paint the door too, what do you think?

Again, Jon and Stephen need to finish the painting of the stairs.

Also, we have 2 fire hearths upstairs in the bedroom and music room that we covered in black bin bags and rugs as soon as we moved in because we thought they might be made of asbestos. We should think about what to do with those. (14 Agnes Road was where we used to live by the way)

This is the hatch to the loft. It is very dirty. We should do something about that.

Bits of the floor in the kitchen are coming up. But I know that Maudie's boyfriend Luke laid some the same in their house so maybe we could get him to do ours too.

There's also the small issue of the strange half blocked fireplace but more on that soon!

Stairwell to Heaven

I think every wall, apart from the stairwell walls, had had at least one coat of paint. Painting is annoying. I hate it. Lots.

So I get my dad to come and do it. He doesn't seem to mind so much. The stairwell involved high up ladder painting! He likes to do the more dangerous things because he says he's old and doesn't have as much to live for! DAD!

We covered up the banister because we're pros like that.

He still wants to strip the paint on the stairs but I like it. It looks like we meant it to look shabby chic, but we didn't, so that's, like, actually cool, rather than, like, fake, right?

Oh, and I changed the lampshade (check back to first photo) to one of those spherical paper ones. They're about the only lampshades we can agree on. And they cost £1 at Wilko's.

VIEW THE EPIC JOURNEY OF THE STAIRCASE HERE!

The wooden hills

Since when we moved in there has been a rather unattractive, and not altogether sturdy, banister on our stairs. Now with an impressive 45 degree angle, you want a banister you can trust. Also, Tim and Laura got one so we got a bit jealous. Jon and the ever amazing Dr. Lloyd set about replacing our banister.

This is a big hole that was left after removing the old banister. As you can see below, our wall is clearly made out of a bit of old wood and wattle and daub 

(this may not actually be true, I may be exagerating a bit)

But it was quite hard for the dynamic duo to find anything to give our new banister some purchase. That meant there was a lot of prospective drilling.

and here it is! On the wall to help us mountaineer up the wooden hills to Bedfordshire.

or down, if that's the way we're going.

Steps.

Look at that carpet! It looks like it smells of cat wee and has fleas.

Do you know what? You're probably right! It's got to go.

I think this photo shows up cat wee patches.

 So I ripped up the carpet, yeah.

 And used pliers, a hammer and a letter opener to pull up all the nails and staples and that. But what the flip is that? (I didn't hear you ask.)

 Tragedy! A piece of plywood over a step is not a good sign. What lies beneath?

 As it turns out, nothing. The edge of the stair was a little more worn than the others and I think the plywood was added so that the carpet didn't rub so much and wear through. Or at least that's what my archaeological instincts tell me. The keen-eyed amongst you will notice I've taken my jumper off here, because it's Hannah's and it was getting fluffy from underlay handling.

What the heck is going on at the back of my head? I'm not going back to that barber, even if he does do Colin Farrell and Prince William's hair.

These are the stairs (half complete). I flipping love the original paint and we might keep it cos it's heritage, like.