As this is going to be such a big ongoing project in my life for a while, I thought it might be nice to do an occasional blog post about how my flat is progressing. I've been taking lots of photos of all the changes we're making and I thought it might be fun to share some of them - I hope you'll enjoy following along in the coming months.
Moving day: using a box as a makeshift table for our first cups of tea!
The first of what will no doubt be many bits of flatpack furniture from IKEA (I love IKEA).
I shared this pic a few days after I moved in because it made me laugh that I had hardly any furniture and no fridge or cooker but I did have a big pile of handmade blankets. Priorities. I'm moving all my boxes and the few bits of furniture I own gradually, so I can live out of part of the flat while decorating the other rooms.
In the first few weeks after moving in we did lots of cleaning and I bought what felt like all the things: everything from paintbrushes to curtains to an ironing board to sandpaper to a plug for the bathroom sink.
I won't bore you with the full list (it's a very, very long one!) but I also bought a new thermostat (wired in by my dad, what a star), a fridge/freezer (and a cooker! hurrah!), some super energy-efficient LED lightbulbs (which also look much nicer than those old long ones), and some moisture-absorbing thingummies to help prevent damp (weird looking but very effective).
Mostly though I have bought DIY equipment, which is starting to take over the place.
The flat has some lovely old features, like the doors...
... and some less lovely newer features! Yes, that is an iron mark on the carpet. Luckily it's a carpet I was planning on replacing anyway.
My mum has been gradually painting the living room white - she is a whizz with a paintbrush and is happy to paint pretty much anything as long as you keep her well-supplied with cups of tea. We're cheating a bit by painting over the wallpaper in the living room instead of stripping it but after several coats it looks pretty good.
It's amazing how much lighter and bigger the room looks replacing the light grey with brilliant white. It all looks very bare at the moment but this is a blank canvas for all my colourful stuff, not the beginnings of a new minimalist lifestyle. I'm quite excited about the possibilities of those alcoves!
We've also started prepping to decorate the spare room: filling and sanding the walls and replacing the wall vent.
We've made lots of little changes too, including: updating the light fittings and adding simple white shades; putting up a new white curtain rail, some thick curtains and some sheer voiles in the bedroom; giving the radiator in the living room a fresh coat of paint (and cleaning inside and behind it too - those things trap so much dust!); and moving one of the bathroom mirrors to a wall with better light.
Oh, and I'm not going to show you a photo of my new loo seat but: I got a new loo seat! I never thought buying a loo seat would make me happy, but it totally did! We also put up a shower rail in the bathroom, bought a new shower curtain which turned out to not be entirely waterproof (not great), took down an old cabinet, and painted over the lilac bathroom walls with more white paint.
Not bad for a month and a half, right?
8 comments:
Wow! You all have been so busy! You've accomplished so much in 6 weeks! And you're keeping up with your blog, too? Wow! I love seeing your progress in your new home! Thank you for sharing!
Hi there, I am laughing as i read you replaced your loo seat! That is the first thing my Mom and Nana told me to do when I moved into any place! haha So fun! Your new Flat is going to be SO wonderful and I am happy for you! Sounds like you guys are having fun painting and such, I love it myself. Congratulations and happy flat to you! It will be very much fun having your own place! sincerely, Kat
You've worked very hard
I'm sure it's going to look fantastic, and I m looking forward to Instagram telling me you've written another post!xxPennyL
It is always exciting to move into a new flat but it's so much more exciting to move into a flat, that belongs to you. You can do whatever you want to make it totally yours and it seems you and your parents have pretty much fun with it. I think your home will look great when the makeover is finished.
The best part of moving house!Thanks for sharing!Am I the only one who thought that that black and white wall paper looked nice?Is that the fireplace there?AriadnefromGreece!
Thanks for the comments everyone! I'm so glad you all enjoyed this update :)
Miaismine - it has been a hectic few weeks, and there were a few when I was DEFINITELY too busy to blog. It's nice having something other than DIY to work on now though ;)
Kat - it's a v wise bit of advice, I think! :D
Penny - thank you xxx
Katrin - yes it is EXCITING being able to decorate it how I want to, although I haven't done anything especially adventurous yet haha.
Ariadne - I quite liked that wallpaper too, but I definitely wanted everything white to make the most of the light and the space. That is where a fireplace would have been originally, I might put one back in eventually :)
Congratulations in a new flat! I envy you the seaside! :) when we moved it was the same excitement, every little thing we bought made me happy and even happier if I could actually put it together. You say loo seat is exciting, for me it was the toilet brush. It was from IKEA and it came in sveeral pieces and I put it together using a miniature screw and a screwdriver. Talk about achievement there :D it is lovely slowly furnishing the place. Enjoy it. I sometimes miss the makeshift tables and open space which gives your imagination such a boost, thinking what you're going to put where... I look forward to seeing how it progresses. Good luck!
Thank you! I cannot WAIT to start filling this place with furniture - so many fun decisions to be made! :)
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