Bathroom update: it’s finished! April 17, 2008

The bathroom project is at last complete, and has gone very smoothly. We had our kitchen replaced about two years ago, and that was a project beset with problems, so it’s a great relief how much easier things were this time around.

You can see all the photos here.

A few hiccups:

• the paint colour issue, mentioned previously. This wall is now white and looks great, and the decorator was very patient and did not complain at all about having to re-do the wall.
• our ceiling light – I won’t name the shop I got this from, but know that I paid £7 for next day delivery (the only delivery option they offered) and it still took over a week. And then the bulb (also bought from them) broke after a few days, showering the room with bits of broken glass and goodness knows what else.

Even though we did almost none of the work ourselves, it was still tiring. It took a very long time to source all the required bits and pieces and to get them to arrive at the right time, and it is hard to coordinate all the various workmen and their schedules. (And they were all men – we did have a female tiler come round to quote for doing the tiling, but she wwas booked up for months and so we couldn’t use her.)

From start to finish, ten (TEN!) people worked on our bathroom:

• A plumber
• An electrician
• Two plasterers
• Two tilers
• Two window fitters
• A decorator
• A floor installer

At the start this was fine – the room was horrible and so I didn’t worry about the loud noises of drills and hammers coming from the room. But towards the end, when most of the work was done, it became very unsettling, and we worried that work done by previous people would get damaged. It all looks OK though.

One thing that was hard to plan for was our kitten – she’s not allowed outside (except on a lead) and so couldn’t be left alone in the house with workmen, because chances are she would run past them and escape. (Or she would get in their way and be in danger while work was being carried out.) So for a few days she went to a cattery, and the rest of the time I booked off work as holiday.

If you’re planning a similar project, I recommend you do as I did and get some nice biscuits to offer to the various workers that will come through your home. It makes a big difference.

Pockets April 9, 2008

I’ve been using my new Sew U book to make a skirt (almost done, pictures soon) and have found that the book, while it’s comprehensive in some areas, is lacking a few details in places. Like pockets – surely one doesn’t simply ‘attach’ pockets*? I can work out for myself reasonable ways to sew pockets on so that they look neat, but I suspect there are better ways out there, and so I’m really happy to see this video tutorial at Simple Sparrow. The end result is a very neat pocket, with all the fabric’s edges hidden away.

* perhaps there are more detailed pocket instructions in the book somewhere, but so far I’ve not been able to find them. Don’t let that put you off though – there is a lot of very useful information in there.

Robots April 8, 2008

Two things connected with robots that I love:

• These cupcakes by Hello Naomi – I’ve never seen anything quite like them. Her Flickr stream shows some of her other creations, which are equally amazing.
• Robot eggcups! One of those things you don’t realise you need until you see it. And they do robot plates!

Bathroom Update: Hiccups April 3, 2008

Yesterday the first coat of paint went on in the bathroom. Earlier this week we found the colour we’d been planning to use (a shade of grey) did not look good on the walls. It seemed to have a murky greenish tinge to it. So we got another tester pot, of a colour called Potters’ Clay. It’s very hard to describe this colour – you can see a computerized approximation of it here – but it was a colour we had in mind for the bathroom a long time ago, and we both like it, which is a good start.

Of course as soon as the walls had been done, it became clear that this colour does not sit at all well with our green glass tiles, which are above the basin. Yikes.

We spent a long time last night coming up with a plan. Replace the green glass tiles? Repaint the whole room? Apply some sort of tile-paint or transfers over the tiles?

The solution we’ve chosen, which may be temporary or permanent depending on how well it works, is to paint the wall the tiles are on white, but leave the other walls as they are. This afternoon the first coat of white paint went on, and it looks like another one or two will be needed before the job is done – but so far, so good.