Holy renovation, Batman

This time not ours (well, sort of ours), but our neighbor's.

We live in what's called a "terraced house"-- U.S. translation=townhouse. Meaning, houses that are all connected. Since we're in a mid-terrace, that means neighbors on either side. These houses are over 200 years old, so they're not particularly well-insulated. Meaning we can often times hear into the next house if there's a lot of people over or music is particularly loud (which thankfully due to very quiet neighbors, is very rarely the case). We've been lucky because in the four years I've lived here, one of the properties neighboring ours has actually been empty. As I was moving in, Betty was moving into a retirement home. Betty had moved into the house when she was first married to her husband at the ripe old age of 18-- 70+ years ago. She had raised her family in this home, and her kids, even though mum had moved out, were reluctant to sell.

Well, sell they (finally) have, and considering the place hadn't been touched in over 80 years (there's still an outdoor toilet-- don't worry; Betty did have indoor plumbing as well; the outdoor toilet is just a bonus), it needs a lot of work. Work that started yesterday. They're literally GUTTING the place. Walls are coming down-- and rather loudly. It's making my kitchen cabinets (and subsequently all the dishes) shake. When I opened the medicine cabinet last night, a ton of things flew out (including my electric toothbrush which is now cracked).

Oh-- and did I mention I work at home?

I'm finding it hard to concentrate with the constant pounding (are they taking a sledgehammer to the walls or something??). It sounds (and feels) like they're going to come through our wall... Ughhhh. What I can't figure out is how freaking long can it take to knock down walls? These houses are SMALL. Plus, we have new neighbors on the other side of us, so there's lots of drilling and hammering coming from that direction too. On the bright side (as MRN pointed out), work on this street means more occupants and hopefully rising house prices. Between Betty's house and our corner property (as well as a few others on the street), things might be looking up for good old Grange Street. I doubt it, but one can hope.

Still a wannabe

Clearly a wannabe BLOGGER considering the two month lag in posting. Yikes! Wish I could feign grand adventures but alas, it's just life getting in the way as usual. Between house renovation (the other one, not ours... we've finally thrown in the towel and hired professionals to finish it. And somehow one week in we're already £3K-- nearly $5K over budget), work and gorgeous weather (ummm-- it might  have been our summer), there just doesn't seem to have been any time.

(It's SNOWING in Scotland... and due to come south in the next few days. This after 80 degree weather last week. WTF.)

All things aside, wannabe still refers to my wanting-to-be a wayfarer. It seems that life is also thwarting THOSE plans. I was due to go to China at the end of the month for work-- CHINA! Beijing and Shanghai, to be exact. I was so excited-- I've never been to Asia, and have always wanted to go; and to be able to go on the company dollar and get my bearings on a work trip was all the better. Alas, it was not meant to be. Timing due to some follow-up treatment from my January surgery is happening this month and it can't be postponed. Which means I miss my chance to go to China. Argggh. But did you know you can fly to China from London for less mooh-lah than it costs to fly to NYC? And there's a direct flight to Beijing. Who knew? Of course, I'd be going on my own because MRN has absolutely no desire to go. Any takers? Come on-- I know you want to come with me to China!

:( Maybe next time.

Embarrassed...

...about the mold problem in our bathroom. So much so that I couldn't bring it upon myself to take a before photo. Okay, so it's not that terrible... but gross enough that it has to be dealt with. Stat. Because, of course, house guest number 2 is due to arrive in December.

So this weekend was spent cleaning the walls (thankfully the worst of the issue is isolated to one area near the ceiling in the bathroom) with some gross cleanser called Zoflora. Quite a challenge considering our ceilings are 10+ feet and I am not the most proficient on a ladder (ummm... gigantic klutz, let us not forget). Unfortunately there's patches of mold all along the wall just adjacent to the ceiling. So it's been quite interesting trying to sort that out. Then came the great "seal" with what I'm sure is toxic paint that is oil based and has a slight sheen, meaning impossible to clean brushes. And finally, the "mouldtec"- and condensation-resistant bathroom paint (conveniently available in the same color as the rest of our house: Natural Hessian). I've only managed to "cut in" on all of the edging and corners around the room (so, all the mold-affected areas). This weekend will be a second coat on all the edging and then a full coat on the walls. Man, do I hate painting. But not as much as mold. Hopefully this will solve the problem... but living in the dampest of all damp places, I'm not holding my breath.

Filing solutions

The raw materials

After a few years of changing the subject every time MRN brought up our "filing system" (which admittedly wasn't often), I finally decided that it was time to address the problem head on. Well, that's not exactly true. The real story is that in a frenzy of looking for a ridiculous number of documents to prove all sort of ridiculous things for immigration purposes (mine and his) he finally put his foot down and insisted that if we didn't address the filing issue then he was going to go out and buy an ugly, metal vertical filing cabinet and put it in the office.

You can bet that kicked my bootie into high gear.

Not that I didn't agree that our "system" wasn't much of a system-- it was a series of expanding file boxes we got at various Ikea visits; so they didn't match and were not integrated... and there was duplication all over the place. But with the threat of ugly entering the house, I set out to find a better solution--err, compromise. I had found a "filing ottoman" at the Dormy House, but at a whopping £500, I wasn't about to spend that kind of cash. I mean-- what is it? Some plywood, some fabric-- how hard could it be? So an idea was born. And thankfully with a handy husband, it was also relatively painless.

It took MRN all of 15 minutes to build it (thanks to the cutting service at B&Q-- England's equivalent to Home Depot). Then the fun part of upholstering. Which wasn't fun at all-- what started as my project ended with me throwing my hands up and letting MRN take over (he can't help it... I'm the queen of get the project finished in the least amount of time and he's Mr. Detail get everything perfect when it comes to building anything). Our take-away? I'm the "idea man" and he's the "execution man." Fine by me!

Here's a step-by-step of our DIY filing ottoman. Still some finishing work (in terms of lining the inside), but functional and in use for the time being. MRN thinks we should sell them-- much better option than ugly metal filing cabinets, don't you think?

The goods:

• Plywood
• Foam
• Quilt batting
• 3 yards of striped fabric
• Spray adhesive
• Staple gun
• Furniture legs
• Hinges
• Metal dowels
• Cardboard
• Satin ribbon
• Upholstery nails 

The process:

A notice board/decorative touch on the inside cover made from thick poster board which I covered with the same fabric, satin ribbon and upholstery nails. The ribbon is a pretty close match to the color of the flowers in the wallpaper used to decorate Gladys (and the lampshade). Lucky purchase on my part considering I didn't bring a swatch to the fabric store. Whoop!

Etsy-inspired

Vinyl Monogram Decal from Etsy

And aptly pinned (have I mentioned my obsession with Pinterest? Oh-- well, I am-- OBSESSED)-- this is the newest addition to the re-arranged bedroom decor. It's taken far enough away so you can't see how I completely messed up the whole application of the decal (yes, we all know that I am not crafty... or patient... so what business I had applying a decal to a glass surface, I don't know). On a positive note, it's at least centered and level.

And yes-- I do realize the unfortunate nature of our monogram. Seeing as I'm not a big fan of chocolate, we can hold the candy references and paraphernalia. ;)

Office makeover

Home Office: Before

You may remember a few years ago (or may not... but considering there's only three people who read this blog, it may not be too far of a stretch) when we started to re-do the office. I posted a pretty pitiful before shot, which is pretty much the only photo I took. But you can imagine, based on this pic, the state of things. Basically you couldn't really walk in here. It was a storage closet with a desk crammed into the corner that was all but consumed by the behemoth all-in-one printer that my company issues to work at home employees (seriously-- could they give me a bigger one??). I know that it's getting old, but you'll remember my house is SMALL. So storage was a key priority. Plus, if we were to ever have guests (which we still haven't had), we wanted somewhere for them to sleep.

Home Office: After

DIY Roman Blinds

This is pretty much how the office has stayed--significantly cleaned up with nothing in the room/on the floor aside from the desk and closet units that you see here. That is until I got and made-up Gladys, we moved the dresser previously in the bedroom to this room, got some new shades, and made this nifty ottoman (more on this in an upcoming post)-- and re-arranged some pictures and mirrors in the house. And wouldn't you know it-- it went from a space in transition to a pretty nice (if I do say so myself) space.

Gladys and re-arranged wall decor

Wall decor, alcove cover, rearranged dresser

DIY Ottoman

DIY Tailored Roman Shades

Well, sort of. We've lived in our little house for 3 years and still don't have anything on the windows. Well, not 100% true, I suppose. We have vertical blinds-- probably the last remnant of MRN's home decor B.M. (Before Me). While they're perfectly utilitarian they're, well, perfectly utilitarian. Plus, because our windows are massive (seriously-- the ground floor-- containing living room, kitchen and laundry room, is smaller than my living room in my old Chicago apartment). The one in the office (which these shades are for) are the smallest ones in the house-- 3ft-3in wide x 5ft-4in long. Yes-- they're the height of the average woman. While it's great because it means lots of light (well, when the sun shines in England, that is), it's been awful for finding curtains or shades because the size means custom which translates to expensive.

I'd finally decided on roman shades because our rooms are small and all the windows have obstructions that would prohibit curtain rods or curtains (cabinets, closets, walls) and I like the look of shades over blinds. But as usual, my brain threw a wrench in things. I had an idea of what I wanted and couldn't find anything that fit the bill. I wanted something clean and tailored, maybe a geometric print in a fun color. Of course, everything I found that I loved was in the US. I couldn't find anything remotely similar here in the UK. And the crazy size plus custom sewing plus international shipping made for a $500+ price tag. No way. Exhaustive internet searches of every UK website yielded nothing. I couldn't find any pattern I liked and plain colors just seemed boring. And I just couldn't stomach settling for something while still paying exorbitant prices for custom shades. I even entertained (for about a half of a second) finding fabric and learning how to make my own roman shades, but I couldn't find any fabric that I could live with (oh, and I can't sew).

Oh, but while I can't sew, am not crafty and hate DIY projects, I can come up with ideas... and so this was born:

Plain white (translation=cheap) roman shade made to order to the window size (approx 50 GBP)















+

38mm black grosgrain ribbon (11 GBP for 50 yards-- I used about 4 yards, give or take)















=

Pretty perfect, tailored look

















Sometimes I CAN turn my ideas into reality.

Before: Vertical blinds

















After: Roman shades

Getting organized

I'm in a bit of an organizing frenzy. I go through one every once in a while where I need to throw away all the clutter, give away the clothes, shoes, dishes I don't wear or use; or just more generally change things up with a new picture, pillow or some other redecoration (even if it's just moving things around). I suppose somewhat inspired by Gladys and finally being able to find my shoes, I've now started to tackle other areas of the house.

Case in point: the kitchen junk drawer. Does every kitchen have one? I certainly always have (well, except for in NYC where my kitchen only had one drawer. Seriously.). No matter how many times I empty the thing out and organize it, it always seems to fill up again (suspiciously with things like screwdrivers, nails, bolts, fishing wire and cuff links... not that I'm blaming anyone...). So last week, I decided that I'm putting an end to the not-being-able-to-open-the-drawer-and-having-things-smooshed-out-the-back-into-the-trash-below nonsense (smooshed is the technical term). And I bought a drawer insert from Ikea.

Seeing as our kitchen is from Ikea, it fits perfectly. But it seems to be a standard size that would fit in most kitchen drawers (although you never know-- those Scandinavians have some funky sizes). I forgot to take a before picture but if you have a junk drawer, and chances are you do, you'll be able to appreciate the after. I.LOVE.IT.

Now to tackle the junk drawer in the bedroom dresser. Sigh.

***SNEAK PEAK***
New project (also of the organizing nature). Details to come...

Premium Space

When you live in a small space, every nook and cranny is at a premium. My adulthood has been spent living in expensive cities where living spaces are priced at exorbitant prices per square foot so you a) try to get the most bang for your buck without sacrificing things like running water; b) try to get the biggest space to lowest vermin ratio; and c) get super creative at storage solutions.

My big city experience have been tested in the English countryside over the last three years-- because while property is considerably less expensive (okay-- crazy cheap), English people 200 years ago were apparently super small and had no stuff. So they didn't need things like closets. That meant that our little "two up, two down" (for all you non-English real estate peeps that means two rooms on the ground floor, two rooms-- and a bathroom on the second) needed some adjustments to make way for me. Taking advantage of the ceiling height, we built up in order to not make the already teeny rooms teenier.

There was one hold out-- the guest room/home office. While we'd created great storage where we could-- building narrow cabinets from floor to ceiling flanking my desk and converting an alcove over the stairs into a storage closet and accessible from the room, I was still reserving the majority of space for a bed for house guests. This week, I finally gave in. I figured that with only one house guest in three years, it makes absolutely no sense to reserve much needed space for a "what if." After all-- we live here everyday. So last night, I made a plan (and enlisted MRN to execute it right there and then) to free up some space in our cramped bedroom by converting the guest room part of the office into a much needed closet. I'm now in the midst of decorating bliss (really, just rearranging furniture and moving a dresser into the office... and freeing up some walls for artwork-- whoop-whoop).

And for anyone who may decide to visit in the future? I'm afraid it's the sofa for you.

Random Information

Did you know that you can still "flush" your toilet even if the flusher is broken? Oh yes, dear readers it's true. And I know this is true because I'm on day #2 of not being able to flush mine. Boring story of broken toilets aside, apparently all you need is a big pot filled with water and voila! Instant flush. So lesson for the day-- stockpots have an infinite number of uses.

PS-- I dream of the day when I have more than one bathroom. I'll even settle for a half bath.

PPS-- Lesson #2 of the day is to not be overzealous with the dumping of the water in the toilet. That just leads to all sorts of problems. Just saying.

Paint is not always just paint

I love interiors almost as much as cooking (which if you're my friend on Facebook, you'll know is A LOT). Thankfully I have an uber-talented friend, LWC, a designer who is my guide and style guru when it comes to all things interiors (and cooking for that matter). Whether it's furniture, arranging space, colors, design, fabrics, picture hanging... you name it, her impeccable taste always knows best. She's my go-to person in more ways than one.

When I lived in NYC, in addition to taking me shopping for my first apartment, she gave me a stack of her business cards so I could browse around the famous D&D building-- NYC's premiere design center with 120 showrooms. What a treasure trove of decorating! Furniture, fabric, decor, lighting, everything that you could possibly think of was there. Unfortunately at the time (or, who am I kidding-- even now) I couldn't afford to purchase. But oh, did I like to look. I would take notes and snip ideas from catalogues that I would put into a "wish book" that I still reference when doing up my own house.

LWC recently turned me onto this amazing paint and paper company: Farrow and Ball. I know you're thinking, paper and paint? But, oh-- if you love design and decorating, you'll love this company. I actually got to go to one of their shops when I was in London a couple of weeks ago, and oh the delight. The most beautiful paint colors and wallpaper patterns. Paint is not always what it seems. It has the ability to transform a room-- whether you use color or just add a fresh coat of a neutral. It can clean up a space and add interest (for those who've followed this blog for a while-- both of you, you'll remember my Chicago apartment make-over a few years back...). If I had a plethora of rooms to paint and paper, I would have placed an order right there. As it turns out, I was looking for some paint for a little DIY project (a cabinet makeover that I am HATING-- more on that to come), and picked up some sample pots (I love sample pots) to test out. Of course, you really have to be committed and love the color-- F&B is not cheap-- about $80 (50GBP) for a 5 liter can of paint. But the options are divine. Plus, their website is super cool-- if you pick a color, it will give you suggested "color schemes" to go with that color. Brilliant for the person who is a little afraid of color and tends to stick to neutrals (in design and in dress). Plus, who except the uber-talented (like LWC) can tell the difference between the 20 different kinds of white that you can choose from?

I'm not yet sure if I'll be brave enough to paint my new cabinet... but if I do, these are the two colors I'm considering for the inside of the cabinet. I like gray lately, so leaning toward the Oval Room Blue since it has more of a gray undertone. We shall see!

Fighting the mo(u)ld-- Part 356

I think this time I may just have enough of an edge to win this war. It comes in the form of these weapons of mass destruction:

Yessiree. This would be a dehumidifier, space bags and a bathroom fan.

K clued me into the dehumidifier when we were in Chicago last week. She had one in her guest suite that, since in the basement, was sometimes a little damp. I couldn't believe that it was damp at all because there wasn't a sniff of must or humidity. Light bulb moment! I needed a dehumidifier! And seriously? It's changed my life. The dampness that was literally palpable is now pretty much gone. My books are saved! The brand new ones that look like they're 100 years old because the damp has turned the pages yellow and puffed them up will be no more (or rather, the future ones won't suffer the same fate). Thank heavens for this invention-- and for K for enlightening me.

Next came space bags... yeeeees. The ones from the infomercials that are only on after midnight (which happens to be when I'm awake now for some reason). Hear me out. Yes, I do have a space problem-- but even more problematic is the MOLD problem. Turns out that the dark and damp conditions under the bed was a breeding ground for mold. Even more unfortunate was the under the bed storage served as our linen closet. A lawn of mold over all the pillows, linens, towels and on the upholstered surround. Niiiiice. Enter the space bags. Not only are all the lovely linens now safely put away in plastic bags, they're also shrunk to a quarter of their original size. Whoop-whoop! More storage.

And finally, the piéce de résistance-- a bathroom FAN! Yes, yes-- this is not innovation in and of itself. But when you pair it with said 130+ year old house that required MRN to be up on a roof and in a cramped attic for four plus days, not to mention learn how to be an electrician, it's pretty darn exciting.

Anyone want to join me?? "NO MORE DAMP! NO MORE DAMP!"

Cats are afoul...

... and are a-fouling. In my garden planters. And yes, it's gross.

I'm not a big gardener; I did not inherit my mother's green thumb. Our little walled back garden that's all decking with container plants is about as much as I can do. So I take a lot of pride in those little plants that I've painstakingly chosen and gotten dirt under my fingernails (and we all know how I hate that!) to plant.

Imagine my displeasure when upon looking out kitchen window I saw a mounds of dirt surrounding the planters that were home to our wisteria. I went outside to investigate and saw that someone-- or something-- had been digging in the planters. I didn't see anything suspicious IN the planters so went back inside after sweeping up. A few days later I noticed the same and upon closer inspection also found cat poop peeking out from under the dirt in the planters. The neighborhood cats were using my platers AS A LITTER BOX. UGGGGGGHHHHH.

Don't get me wrong-- I like cats. I would even get one if only I didn't have to deal with REAL litter boxes and, well, poop (and smell...). Just the thought of someone else's cat using my yard as a litter box was enough for me to want to throw everything in the trash and pour bleach everywhere (see previous post about my aversion to dirt). But since, like my mom, I do love flowers and to have a bit of green about, I decided to fight fire with fire. First I tried cat repellent spray. Big thumbs down. It was like catnip. Seriously-- it made the problem worse. Then I tried cat repellent pellets. It worked a little bit better, but the minute it rained (which is every minute in this country), it just washes everything away and I'm back to square one. So now, plan C... I decided to plant heather in the planters around the wisteria to try-- once and for all-- to deter those fouling cats. It gives them less surface area in which to maneuver (although, they previously dug up my violets...), plus the all-weather plant will add some color through the winter (fingers crossed...). Well, that is if I can keep them alive... luckily the daily rain gives the new plants a fighting chance (since I'm certainly not going to remember to water them...). We'll see how this one works out...

(another container planter. The cats haven't been bothering this one but I think it's pretty so I thought I'd include a photo. The blue flowers are new since MRN dropped something on it and killed the yellow chrysanthemums that used to be there. You can see the cat repellent pellets on the decking beside. I have a feeling they're not working because they're some non-toxic, non-chemical concoction that just has a really strong smell of garlic... after all, I don't want to kill the cats... just keep them from pooping in my yard...).

The Good and The Bad

It's no secret that I have issues with living in an old house. There are clear pluses (charm, quirkiness, history) and clear minuses (rising damp, mold, drafty, quirky-- yes, that's a plus and minus). For me, the minuses far outweigh the pluses, mostly because they come with things that are dirty and gross (particularly the damp and mold problem that I swear will be the end of me). But today our lawyer handed over something that makes living in an old house pretty cool: the original deed, in mint condition.

Whenever I say that this house is old, MRN laughs at me. In my world, 1876 is old. But in this country, 135 years is nothing. Let me tell you-- 135 years has made a BIG difference in home construction. Granted, these properties were most likely constructed quickly (and without care) for servants that worked for the nobility who resided at the nearby Townley Hall. Or perhaps the apprentices and workmen of wealthy merchants who made a name for themselves during the Industrial Revolution that saw Burnley grow into one of the most prominent Mill Towns in the country. Either way, they were homes for peasants-- you can imagine the open fires that warmed-- and served as kitchens; the narrow dark stairs that led to the sleeping quarters; the outhouses that stood outside the back doors (I know this because our neighbor still has hers in tact-- she has indoor plumbing now but when she and her husband moved in as newlyweds 70 years ago, the outhouse was the primary bathroom). Curiously, our street and the surrounding ones had different names when this deed was drawn. I'm thinking the main drag-- now St Matthews Street, may have been changed after St Matthews Church was built (it was consecrated in 1879-- three years after the house was built). But not sure why or when the surrounding street names would have been changed. More research to do!

I'm sure that we should probably store these in a safe deposit box or some other secure place. But for the time being I'm going to enjoy the reminder that this is actually a cool little abode. Plus (K!) the paper is really, really nice-- heavy parchment in perfect condition. Beautiful!

The folded deed-- dated 24 January 1876.

















Detail of a seal of some sort with some of the original silver foil in tact.















Original wax seals and signatures (of owners? solicitors? builders? landowners?)

Henry Todd

Alexander Parker (?)

Trouble in River City

I have issues. It centers around dirt. And my huge aversion to it.

For a while I thought that I might have OCD*. When I see dirt, mess and clutter in the house, I have a physical reaction to it. My body tenses up and my blood starts to boil. MRN says that he can see it building up and he hightails it to either tidy or to get out of the room (the latter is probably the better option...). I try to hold it in-- I know that it's happening, and know that it's irrational but I can't help it. I hate dirt and I hate things to be dirty.

This does not bode well for a super handy and wonderful husband who is single-handedly renovating our really old house.

Yes-- rationally I do understand (and endlessly appreciate) that construction yields mess. And that all the mess is for the good and it's making this house more live-able (and ultimately sale-able). And the fact that MRN does the work himself saves us loads and loads of money. And the reality is-- he is NOT messy. He's extremely, extremely clean, in fact. He always, always cleans up the building mess and he even does laundry and cleans the bathroom (well, every once in a while). He's actually a much more thorough cleaner than I am. But even with all this, when the dust, dirt and grime starts blowing all over my clean house, I go a little crazy (okay-- a LOT crazy).

The most recent blow-up (it really is the only time we argue-- and poor MRN, it's due to my crazy) was about dirt from a project he did in the attic. He was fitting a new fan in the bathroom and spent 2 days in the cramped and really, really dirty attic / on the roof putting in new ducts, vents and the lot. And there was dirt EVERYWHERE-- all over the walls, dark streaks an inch thick ground into the tan carpet in the hall and all the way down the stairs-- all over the kitchen-- floors, counters, EVERYWHERE. Even though the sane side of me knows that it has to be done and it's going to make our house so much better (and fix the damp problem we have upstairs due to the lack of an extractor fan in the bathroom), I only saw red (or in this case-- black). I needed to clean. MRN's argument is that you wait until the end-- or else the project takes forever. My argument is that you clean as you go-- it saves time at the end and creates less mess that you can't get out at the end. I've even tried to clean while he's doing the work, but it drives him crazy (and admittedly, I can get in the way and stop progress altogether). An argument I will lose every time.

Soooo-- in order to appease my crazy, MRN thought it would be a good to take our fancy vacuum in the attic to, well, vacuum some of the dust away. Disaster. Not only did it break the vacuum-- it actually created MORE mess, with the exhaust fan from the vacuum blowing more dust out of the attic into the house. Plus it clogged up the filters making it unusable and covered the actual vacuum in filth. Good intentions... poor results. Now, my shoeless house is so dirty that my feet are black from walking around-- despite scrubbing the floors. Ugggghhhhh... not good for my crazy.

On a happy note, reading the vacuum manual I was not only able to fix the vacuum myself (go me and the DIY) but also discovered that the whole darned thing comes apart so you can SCRUB IT CLEAN!! MRN came home to me doing just that... and it looks brand new (to his credit, he just shakes his head and stays quiet. I'd like to think it is because he is affectionately bemused, but I think it may be more him wondering what he's gotten himself into with me). Once the filter is dry (12 more hours), I should be able to vacuum up the rest of the dust (come on Dyson! You can do it!). Bonus? I think this recent bout of crazy has finally justified a carpet cleaner to boot.

The lesson? Happy wife=Happy husband.

*Don't worry-- concerned that I had OCD, read a bunch of books about it a few years ago and have self-diagnosed that I do not; I'm just really, really, really--annoyingly so, anal.

The cupboard under the stairs

No Harry Potter room for us-- couldn't fit a bed in it if you tried. But given the teeny quarters we live in (with no storage space... have I mentioned that enough?), we are trying to maximize every good quality for what it's worth. High ceilings mean cabinets and bookshelves to the rafters. Oddly shaped alcoves get shelved and faced with interesting fabric as a door. Even the bed frame doubles as storage, with some fancy spring action that allows you to lift the foot up to reveal our linen closet. You have to be creative when you're dealing with 100 year old houses b.c. (before closets).

Under the stairs is the latest transformation. The refrigerator, washer and dryer were shoved underneath, but with things piled high on top, we weren't using the available space to the best of its ability. Not to mention it was both unsightly and super loud. I don't know why but washers and dryers in England are ridiculously loud. They may very well be the same decibel as the U.S., and really? What do I know-- I've only experienced them in a garage, basement or a separate laundry room. But all the same in such close quarters (here), if the washing machine was running, forget about watching TV. Even turned up all the way you literally couldn't hear anything.

Enter the ever-handy MRN. We started with some damp-proof and new plaster. Then a vent was fitted through the wall, under the stairs, to the exterior for the dryer. Next came the framing and boxing in to house the washer and dryer and create shelving followed by a new light (since the single bulb hanging from the ceiling really wasn't doing it for me; not to mention it kept burning through boxes and bags I was storing up there above the microwave... a teeny bit of a fire hazard). And finally? The piéce de résistance-- bespoke (English-ism meaning custom) doors to match our kitchen, made by hand by the talented MRN.

The awesomely crazy thing about the feat is that there is literally not a straight wall in this house. Partially to do with its age, although I suspect much of it to do with the cowboys who called themselves builders, it means lots and lots of extra work to make anything look right or doors to actually open. This project was no different, but sheer genius has prevailed. The result? Amazing cabinets that even have room for the vacuum (courtesy of yet another custom shelf) and a laundry basket. All hidden away by beautiful doors.

Can you tell I'm excited??

damp course treatment and new plaster































lovely light bulb













yes-- sooooo attractive...













boxed in and getting tidier (new refrigerator... the teeny one broke... thank goodness)
















new doors going in, pre-sanding and painting



































painted and beautiful, color matched to kitchen cabinets

















and another bonus-- a place to hide keys and (finally) hang my key ring key (that i love). oh-- and get things off the front of the refrigerator (which MRN hates).