Friday 8 June 2018

My Flat in Progress: April & May 2017

Time for another update from my fixer-upper flat...

You can catch up with the story so far with my posts about what we got up to in December & January 2016/17, February 2017, and March 2017.

In April 2017 the living room was still looking rather chaotic, but my dad and I were starting to get everything wrapped up in there. We did the last few repairs to walls and woodwork, and finished the last bit of painting...


... then hung up the curtains and the voiles.


These curtains (like the ones in my kitchen and bedroom) were a cheap as chips clearance bargain - they don't look particularly exciting but they're wonderfully thick, which is always a bonus in an old house.

We'd taken down the old curtain track in March to scrub it and remove years of dirt and old paint splatters, then refitted it ready to hang the new curtains. I scrubbed and reused the fixings, too. Just a small thing, but every penny helps!


The DIY-related chaos continued to make for some interesting photo set-ups as I juggled work deadlines and the flat renovation. (Click here to see how this photo turned out!).


With the living room almost done, we focused on finishing the spare room.

My dad stripped some old and knackered paint from the door (revealing some fabulous texture which I was almost tempted to keep as a feature)... 

 

... filled, sanded and painted over the patches of wall he'd repaired the previous month...


... then filled and the door, added knotting fluid, and began painting it.

Oh, and we painted the spare room skirting boards, too. 


I turned up the voiles in the bedroom and kitchen - a task which was slightly complicated by the kitchen curtains not actually being level!

I also took this photo, which I'm calling Assorted Objects Some Kid Stuffed Into The Keyholes In My Flat (mixed media, 2017).


(As well as being a delightful bit of found artwork - in perfectly on-trend millennial pink! - this is also item number 2367 on my ongoing list of "things I have used a knitting needle for, not including actual knitting".)

In early May we finished the painting in the spare room...


... then put the room back together. It's amazing the difference just hanging a lampshade and some curtains can make to the feel of a space!


I don't have proper before/after photos to share (not least because these rooms were not and still aren't totally finished) but here's a reminder of how the spare room and living room looked when I first moved in:


After five months and lots of messy hours of DIY we finally had these two rooms smartened up, painted white, and ready for carpet. Not bad and also Hurrah!

2 comments:

bairozan said...

Ironically, this is the more exciting part than actually living in the "after" flat :) Seeing how everything changes, I mean :) That's a lot of progress for someone who doesn't use extra help, good luck with it!

Bugs and Fishes said...

Haha, seeing the progress IS exciting - but maybe more looking back than actually doing it :D