State of the nation

A new order awaits, one more sleep, tomorrow the migration to our Grand Design in Coytrahen begins.  Actually, it began over 4 years ago, tomorrow we end it.  It's the closest Rhian and I have been to that night before Christmas feeling as kids.....probably won't sleep tonight, hence the wine.

We have tried to chip away at some things this week, a lot of packing by Rhian, some moving by both of us and I have achieved Olympic standard wardrobe wrestling.  The only thing me and Tiger Woods have in common is our backs are killing us, actually he is currently building a house as well but I digress.....

I thought a blog of the house the night before we move in would be a celebration of where we have got to and what is left.  The house is not finished, but the time has come.

First off, the results of the wardrobe wrestling....

Above, the master bedroom.  I might get the doors on later this year!

The above 2 photos are the dressing room between the master bedroom and its en-suite.

Ellie's bedroom, ready for when she returns from Liverpool, Easter I guess......

Caitlin on the other hand right in the thick of it sorting her room out.  Fairy lights - check, tables - check, toilet rolls - check.

The door mat at number 6.

The living room with the new bean bags, there will be a sofa and a tv and so on..... we haven't gone all weird.

We went to town a bit on the stools, but they work for us.......kitchen looks great.  Probably the one room that is more or less done.

Ellie decided to send her Mum some flowers to make the occasion, they went down very well.  Good work Ellie.

The essentials have been bought.

The stairs has its steps, they are covered up while we move our stuff in.  Also, the glass for the stairs and the hallway are yet to be delivered.

One more sleep......

The White Room

A lot has happened since the last blog, which was essentially the kitchen being completed.  And yet it feels like not much has happened.  Time seems to have stood still but we only have 5 more sleeps left in this God forsaken draft hole.

There are lots of things done, a load of things that are 90% done and a couple of things not done at all.  In the last category, alarmingly, is the stairs.  Probably the only thing that concerns us, the rest of it can be finished around us as it is mainly external works.

A bit of a milestone after the kitchen was fitted, the builders stores was removed from site, this made a difference to how the place felt, the view from the house out to the front changed completely as it was not a view of the stores and toilet!

Some shots from the weekend after the kitchen was fitted:

Below, the view to the front now the stores have been removed.

Below, the back room clutter free the day the tiler weaved his magic

Again, as there is no stores/toilet to the front, a timely day time shot of the front door and beyond...

We are now also able to take a different photo of the front of the house as we can stand where the stores used to be.

Another glimpse of the tiles, these are the steps down to the master bedroom...

Another tile shot...

And finally, doors.  We have gone for hardwood doors and this is how they have taken shape.  First the doors you see when you come through the front door.  Left to right, kitchen, living room, cupboard and toilet.

In Ellie's bathroom...

and in Caitlin's bedroom.  Behind one of these doors lies a bathroom...

...there it is!

The final photo shows the white walls, grouted tiles, straight lines, doors and handles all together.  This is the view down to the master bedroom.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, moving in day.......

:-)

You'll always find me in the kitchen at parties

The kitchen is done.  Yes, that's right, done.  The units were installed a couple of weeks ago, the work tops and other finishes have now been done.  There has also been some good progress on the tiling and other bits and pieces, but that's for another blog.

Above the second phase of the kitchen can be seen.  This resulted in worktop, glass splash back, hob, downdraft extractor, ambient lighting and pop up power supply.

We love it.  More gratuitous kitchen photos below....

We (well Rhian mainly) agonised over the materials and the colours for the kitchen.  As the rest of the room is fairly neutral, any colours that we would use to shape other things we wanted to do would come from the kitchen.  So, no pressure.

Caitlin and myself went the extra yard this week to bring the house to life.  Below is a video of the cooker hood.  It was filmed on my phone with Caitlins phone providing suitable music...enjoy...

Finally, one to show off the lights....

In addition to the kitchen, we have been able to take a different view of the outside as the workmans cabin has be removed.  Now, the view from the front living room looks like this...

Where the cabin was we can now stand and view the house.  Being able to stand back and view the cantilever room with the rest of the house felt like progress in itself.  Below, is the view back out fo the front room to where the cabin was.

20 sleeps to go.

Tragedy

At last, we have some steps!

Not inside, but outside.  From the deck to the garden, no longer do we need to circumnavigate the house.  This will make things a bit easier while we finish off the house and until the stairs inside the house are fitted.

The steps are in hardwood and feel really solid to walk on.  It has been brilliant to be able to use the stairs this week, it felt like a big step forward.  Clearly much to do on the deck, balcony, bannister, lights and so on.....but this is a good start.

We do need to work out how the birds manage to find the bottom 3 steps....

White lines

This post may well take over as the one that has my favourite photos.  A week of relentless activity by painters, tilers and electricians.  Plus a bit of fine tuning on the doors so they function correctly.  We go up most nights, but the best photos come in the daylight the weekends provide.

Aside from all the great work that is ongoing, the scaffold was taken away which means the front of the house looks a whole lot better.

Anyway, tiling first.  The bathrooms were tiled the previous week, so it is now about the rest of the house which are having the same tile.  Here are some photos of the tile starting to appear around the rest of the house, firstly the back room, by day and night....

The photo above also demonstrates the fact the lights are being fitted.

The next photo, looking back at the kitchen shows off the tiles better:

The master bedroom has also had much of its tiling done, see below for the tiling through into the dressing room, you can just about make out the room has been painted as well:

The master en-suite has come on a treat, seeing the tiles, the painting and units/mirrors all finished provided a highlight this week.

There was a bit of snow and ice on the ground on Saturday morning, it showed the house in a different light, it showed how pretty the outlook will be, even in coldest winter.  Here are some gratuitous snow shots:

If you look closely you will see other aspects being completed, outside lights and power points.

And finally, my 2 favourite photos of the whole build so far.  The first one shows off some of the different finishes and the craftsmanship that has gone into the build.  Also, now the scaffolding has gone it is the first time we have been able to admire the stone corner:

The second one is more abstract and probably captures the essence of everything the architect was trying to achieve.  Clean lines, contemporary feel, a mix of materials and best use of awkward land.  This was taken tonight, dark outside and lights on.  What you cannot see is the all the rubbish  and tools lying around as the room has not been completely painted.  But this is a glimpse of what the house will look and feel like....

This photo runs them both close to be fair...

Get well soon Brian...

8 days a week

There are all sorts of things going on at the moment, so rather than a single theme, here is what has been happening....

Outside the stonework has been completed, and is outstanding.

Above is the side of the front room looking down the house to the cantilever room.

Above the detailing around the bottom of the front window can be seen.

Above, the front corner of the house.  These views will be even better this week when the scaffolding is taken down.  That will be the first time we have seen the complete wall as it should be.

Work on the kitchen and utility room started this week, the first photo shows the state of it today, you will note we had the internet working in the kitchen at this point and the football was streaming to the computer.

I really like the photo below, it shows the whole room and was only possible as there was a step ladder handy.  Definitely work in progress....

We also have a shiny utility room!

The bathrooms have come on in leaps and bounds, here is the latest after the plumbers put a shift in on Saturday afternoon after the tilers nailed it in the week.

Caitlin's:

Ellie's:

Rhian's (and mine):

You'll notice from the photo above the painting has started.

Over the next week we may have ceiling lights upstairs, painted walls, plumbed in bathrooms, a deck with a working stairs, a driveway in the making and who knows what else!