I am now *this* close to being finished, just waiting for a dry enough stretch for the builder to come finish the front of the house and tidy up some minor items on the snagging list. Since the last post the bathroom is done, the living room has been repainted (um, again, I changed my mind about the colour) and a fireplace installed along with two gorgeous rescue cats (PS the Celia Hammond Animal Trust could do with more good homes for their cats, go check them out).
Over the last year and a half there have been lots of big learning experiences (see posts on floor sanding and tile painting) and many more little ones. I’m collecting some of the little ones in these posts.
- Black floor tiles show up the dirt probably as much as white ones would. Got matte black tiles from B&Q for the kitchen, they look great when clean, but are mostly covered in little paw prints now and are quite hard to get looking really good again. Even when I do it’s fairly fleeting as more dirt is tracked in. I have settled for regular sweeping and less than perfection.
- Neutral colours on a oddly shaped room make it look untidy. I couldn’t make a decision when I first had the living room done so opted for whites and creams. It’s a tall room with a big bay window, fireplace and alcoves and a funny little cut out bit for the door and hallway. It’s a bit awkwardly shaped, really, and the whites just emphasised this and drew the eye to the clutter of the bookshelves and so on. I decided it needed to be brought back together and found a series of warm greens from Dulux, lighter above the dado rail and darker below. MUCH better. My mother commented that before it felt like the room was flying apart and now it’s coming together, which sums it up for me. I will post some pics later, I promise.
- Test wood stains/beeswax on a small area, really. I hate my bedroom door. I have new pine doors throughout the house which need treatment. Beeswax with a tint was recommended, and I went for “antique pine” to match floorboards. I thought it was going on a bit dark and oddly coloured, but persevered as I thought maybe it would look better when all covered. Er, no. Looks rubbish. It doesn’t help that I put it on too thick and didn’t scrub it in with wire wool enough, but even after a thorough going over it is still the wrong colour. May have a go at sanding it back some day, but I’m stuck with it for the meantime. Probably gonna go with plain beeswax or paint, and maybe get someone else to do it because it’s a right pain, I can tell you.
Fixing It Up 