The Big Switch On

Monday 14th March... That's the day that the electric finally gets switched on and the house will light up.

Tuesday 15th March... That's the day that the kitchen gets delivered and the fireplaces turn up.

Wednesday 16th March... That's the day that the kitchen will be fitted.

In and around all of this, the interior will be painted, doors will be hung (albeit all the upstairs doors are now in place). Patios will be laid and front door steps will be constructed. The garage will be rendered and the roofing completed.

In short - this is going to be a big week. There will hardly be room to move on site. (Thankfully, I'll be nowhere to be seen!). It still seems like there is a lot to do and a very short period of time to do it, but I guess the professionals are involved rather than a DIY amateur like me - if I were to hang a door, I'm quite sure it would take me hours!!!

As with every blog entry, it is appropriate to show some imagery - people like photos because some people can't read. So here you go:

A boiler:

The electrical consumer unit:

The view from the top of the stairs:

I wonder should we start to think about packing up and getting ready to move in?

The Doors

No, not a reference to the late Jim Morrisons band (which might have made more exciting reading than the rest of this post), but we have doors on site! Here are some just sitting there..

And here's one which has been hung in Rachel's room! I think the hinges are great, all down to ball bearings apparently.

And we have an almost finished garage.

Another not very exciting photo but it charts our progress - sockets have been done and most of our downlights are in as well.

Outside, most of the raised beds have been plastered and several big piles of pavers are waiting to be put down.

I went down to Randalstown on Tuesday and ordered the tiles and today I picked the door handles. I need to get the wooden floor nailed down (ha ha!)

As far as the near future is concerned, the upstairs tiling will be started on Monday. The kitchen is delivered on Tuesday and will be installed on Wed - Fri. So in a week and a half from now, we will have an almost habitable house. It is really starting to come together and everything I have thought about for hours and planned in detail for months will become a reality.

Artichokes or Pinecones?

I think I have chosen the light for the hall.

http://www.dwell.com/articles/ph-artichoke-50th-anniversary-edition.html

it is a snip at only £50k. For goodness sake - it is 24 carat gold!

Ok, ok, ok - I'm only joking. I am gonna take the advice of our architect who (like ourselves) has very good taste, and I'm going for a reproduction of the same light. I can hear the bank account breathe a sigh of relief.

Lights

I had a 2 hour meeting with Trevor, our electrician, on Friday, to discuss the lights. We had a lot to get through but it's nearly nailed! We're having mostly downlights, but in the hall, we're having these:

Outside on the raised beds we're having these:

We have still to sort out the ones on the front steps and by the front door.

For the hall I love the PH Artichoke light:

But I think I will be having the Norm 69 instead as it comes in a bigger size:

Buying Tiles

I knew I would struggle with the tiles as there are so many options available, just when I think I've got it sorted, I see something else. However I knew that I always wanted a black ensuite. Something like these would be good. However I am not sure whether to tile some or all of it. I am absolutely delighted with the chunky shelves that the joiner has put in to utilise a bit of space behind the shower. It is exactly what I wanted and I love it! Now should I go with the black grout or not?

I (at the moment!) have chosen this grey colour for the other bathrooms. There is a 30x60 that goes with this mosiac. Also I am thinking of having a white tile for the family bathroom to brighten it up a bit. But what to put where? The floors are easy - they will be the 30x60 grey one, but the walls? Aargh.


Some ideas:

These are fairly simple looking - easier said than done I think.

Stairway To Heaven

The builders have been busying themselves with the landscaping over the past week but that hasn't stopped some work continuing indoors.

The stairs have been installed but have also been "built-in" now. The hallway no longer has dodgy ladders or precarious scaffolding:

Of course, the stairs are currently protected , but the effect is still quite something when you have been used to a blank void!

Indoors, there isn't too much left to do. Install the kitchen; install the bathrooms; install the electrical fittings; do some tiling and install the fires. Actually, now that the list has been written out, there's still plenty to do. However, we are into the final four weeks apparently and it won't be long before we can open the bubbly and celebrate moving in to our new home.

Now - time mto draw up an invite list for the house-warming party!

Number 34

Two last minute viewers squeezed in today. Very positive vibes, one works for a builder so he was very interested in the plans for the extension we had planned. Fingers crossed again.