Friday, 25 March 2016

Colour and the light at the end of the tunnel.......

.....it is just wonderful to have some rooms finished for Easter.  Today the carpets went down in Bedrooms 2 and 3 and we have been able to move furniture back in time for our family coming home for the holiday weekend.

Essential furniture and beds are in - we just need to add pictures and accessories to personalise the rooms now.

bedrooms ready for occupants.....and all their 'stuff'!

Most of the interior will be decorated in this off white colour with neutral Berber style carpet throughout.  We aim to get the colour and interest from the furniture, fittings (lots of natural wood including windows, panelling and floors), soft furnishings and accessories.  The house was  decorated in this way when it was first built (with a neutral palette and accent colours) - we have the original colour scheme in the archive of architects drawings - part of which is shown below. 


In Through the Colour Lens (2015),  Marisha McAuliffe discusses how the modernist architect Le Corbusier's philosophy centred on 'order, purity and truth inscribed in a dazzling whiteness'  however he did use colour and considered it essential suggesting that 'man needs colour to live'.  We love colour and have thought about the modernist 1960s origins of the house when choosing it for our remodel of this house.

Le Corbusier's colour keyboard
    This 1959 keyboard contains the accent colours we have chosen to use in the house - vibrant lime green and red, but also dark blue, black and grey.

The master bedroom and bathroom are almost at the stage for decorators to go in there.  The shower tiles are done and the fab storage cupboard is shelved out.  

Morning sun in the new master bedroom

Shower tiles complete

Storage in the bathroom - we have designed in lots of large storage cupboards - you can never have too much!  Oh! and we are not have his and hers toilets these are waiting to be collected as they are faulty.

The wardrobes take shape in the dressing room - these have been made with fittings that were taken out from other rooms and will be painted white.
  
In the kitchen, the work tops have been put on and last night we ate at the table in there, rather than with a plate on our knees, for the first time.  Hot water is back on after 2 days without however the benefit from that is that the kitchen sink and dishwasher are in and working.  No more once a day washing up in the downstairs cloak wash hand basin - hurrah!  So, an almost fully functioning kitchen - the fridge isn't back in there yet, it is not decorated and has no floor covering but it is good enough to mean bacon sandwiches for breakfast this morning - fab!

The red discs in the ceiling are the capped off extract points for the MVHR - (yet to be finished and commissioned)



The new super insulated hot water tank has been installed and is ready to be connected up to the solar thermal panels on the roof.Radiators are going in throughout the house and the new Rais Q-Tee log burner, with wood store beneath, has been installed.  This was another very dusty event as you can guess when you see the picture below.  The stove isn't usable yet as the plaster has to be finished around it on the wall and the slate hearth has to be fitted - so another week till we get that going.




After Easter work will begin again with the push to the finish.  The outside Rockpanel cladding has been delievered and will be installed.  The interiors are to be decorated throughout and we give up the sitting room and dining room for the plumber to deal with the heating there. - Not long now!!

Friday, 18 March 2016

Decorating, lighting and finished rooms............!



 
......plaster dust - it is a phase you just have to get through!  That fine white dust gets everywhere and this week we have been eating it, inhaling it, sleeping in it and tramping it throughout the house.  We have to check our clothes when we go out for huge, white, dusty smears!  However, great things have been happening and we now have two bedrooms pretty much finished - which is a good thing as my family are starting to come home for the Easter break and at least we can put a mattress on the floor to make a bed.  Carpets are scheduled for next week and then we can move the furniture in and ease the overcrowding in our bedroom. (We have all the furniture, bedding and contents of 4 bedrooms crammed into one)


Newly decorated Bedroom 3


Work on the kitchen goes on a pace and the beautiful Iroko worktops will soon be in place, the lighting is fitted and we are - Oh! so near to being able to use it. 



I have an old 60s light fitting that was over the kitchen table which I have resprayed copper and I hope the electrician can fit it in place over our new table.
Before!

Up-cycling in progress

The lovely hand screen printed lampshades for our bedroom arrived today from Emma Purdie - through www.notonthehighstreet.com   Picture below


The en-suite bathroom and upstairs radiators have also been a major project for the plumbers this week.  Look how tiny those bedroom radiators are - I hope our heat loss calculations prove to be correct!  

Teeny new radiator in new bedroom 3



Great progress in the en-suite - we have had to put in a new bath because we couldn't get taps for the 1960s cast iron one which we had hoped to re-enamel. 

 Throughout the house, in line with our Reduce, Re-use, Recycle mantra,  we are re-using bits of the hardwood fixtures that we have removed during the build.  We love wood, so in the kitchen there will be two shelves and  two doors on the central island, the window seat and two long shelves over the sink.  In the en-suite we will have a mirror trim, shelving and bath panels that take the wood theme through - and, of course, we have re-used that lovely panelling in the master bedroom.  In the lounge/garden room my desk is installed (made from a playroom table and some wood from the old kitchen) - just the shelves for my library to finish and a see through, shelved room divider that we are in the process of designing. 


my new desk - it looks a bit small here but it isn't in reality
 
This is the sort of thing we are hoping to create from recycled wood

 Next week sees the fitting of the wood burning stove so our chimney has been swept in anticipation by Roger - see links panel.  We also expect to have the hot water tank replaced with one that connects to solar thermal panels on the roof - Oh - so that will be no hot water for a little while then....! 

Friday, 11 March 2016

The only way is up as internal works progress.....

Monday saw the low point in our living conditions as the wall between the lounge and the new garden room extension was removed.  In fact, the whole week has been very, very testing with frequent dust storms and cold temperatures but surely, from now on, the only way is up!  I spent the week working,off and on, in the dining room which was the only habitable space.  However as it was a thoroughfare to various points within the house for the 4 van loads of contractors who were on site I had to wear a fleece (1 degree outside) and have the dog tied to my leg so he didn't escape!  We also went out a lot and put the dog into kennels for a couple of days so that he was safe.

The original outside wall of the house - which had to go!


...and here is the new lounge with the wall removed
Almost all of the work has been going on inside the house this week with electrician, plumber, plasterers and joiners on site.  The fitting of some of the original interior fittings continues with my library and desk in the corner of the garden room.

my library and desk begin to take shape


the TV room/snug gets plastered out and a new door
All the bathroom fittings are now on site and the new lighting is in place upstairs.  Work in the kitchen hasn't moved forward much this week, but the dishwasher is in place, skirting boards are on and the worktops were delivered this evening.  I hope that next week will will see a lot of progress in this vital part of the house.

So.....Friday night and we have hoovered and dusted ourselves a space to sit by the fire, poured a drink and breathed a sigh of relief that what could have been the worst week of the build so far is over!

Friday, 4 March 2016

Re-using mid century features.....


This week the joiners have been at work.  The kitchen is well on the way to being fitted - just waiting for some missing bits and for the Iroko worktops that we have chosen to keep the 1960s teak type wood effect going. We also intend to use some of the original kitchen cupboard doors and more of the wood as open shelves.  The Aga is in and working, albeit on slumber at the moment, and it does make that end of the house feel a bit warmer.



This is what we are aiming for...

In line with our mantra of Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and because we don't want to lose the 1960s roots of this house the joiners have been busy using elements of the wood panelling and wood fixtures in new locations.  The two bench seats from the original breakfast nook are now a window seat in the new kitchen.



Some of the panelling from the dining room has been removed to lighten the room (the wall will be plaster boarded and painted off white).  This lovely panelling is being re-used in the master bedroom and we think it looks brilliant. 



The dining room panelling removed and ready for plasterboard.  Don't worry, there is plenty more of this panelling still intact - in fact the other 3 walls!


 The floor in the TV room has been poured and the builders have finally sealed up their access ladder and finished all the upstairs floors.  However, this means they have to come through the house now and up the main staircase so dust is a problem again!  The plumbers arrive on Monday and will start fitting out the bathrooms, the hot water supply (solar thermal to go in) and the kitchen plumbing - Oh and the heating!!!!! WOW!

Also on Monday the last really dusty job will be done - the removal of the wall between the lounge and the garden room.  So, finally our sanctuary will be breached - hopefully, from this point the only way is up!