More Piccies

Today began the demolition of the rest of the roof in our loft and hallway.  These photos were taken from the staircase in our hallway looking up at our loft.  More photos to come...

The old roof is completely down.  A view of where our balcony will be.

The old skylight in our hallway is out and the old supports are now gone.

Progress

Our builder Dave has been working like a dog since the roof came off.  He's been busy weatherproofing and building the structural supports.  Our bi-folding doors were ordered yesterday through a company called Vufold and they've been great to work with since we placed our order.  Tomorrow, Vale glass is coming out to give us an estimate on the glass balastrade we want for our balcony.  All good stuff going on! 

!!!

Me and our builder Matt, standing where our balcony will begin

Please Don't Rain!

Dave has gotten stuck in!  Within the past 2 hours, he's taken off one portion of the roof.  More photos of the progress to follow...

Off the Wall(paper)

Every wall in our house is covered in many, many layers of wallpaper and paint.  We've decided to take off all the wallpaper in as many rooms as we can and start from scratch, since some of it felt like it was coming away from the wall.  Well, it was more than just the wallpaper...  As the paper comes off, the plaster falls right off with it.  Our builders say its because they didn't have the same type of bonding materials a hundred years ago.  The plaster has literally been held on by the wallpaper for years.  We now have to bring in a plasterer to do the entire room which we didn't account for but I keep reminding myself this is a good thing in the long run. 

All Systems Go!

Approval for our planning application has been officially granted by the council!  Now, let's take the roof off...

Hit the Bricks

We've been having the front of our house re-pointed and the bricks replaced.  Because the house is over 100 years old, some of the brick work has been really difficult to source.  Our builder Daz took it upon himself to chisel and sand down the bricks to match the original brick work.  Have a look at the photo below (the original brick is in the middle).  What do you think?

Two-Tone

While the build is on hold, I've been thinking about how we should decorate the new space once its finished.  I've noticed a trend appearing on design sites lately, of two tone painted rooms.  I really love this look.  It adds a subtle, bespoke feature to any room.

Mixing wallpaper and paint

Painted headboard accents

Photos by Design Sponge

Please Stand By...

Our build has been put on hold while the council decide whether or not to approve our balcony addition to the dormer loft conversion.  There aren't many balconies in the area so no official guidelines exist, making the situation tricky.  Mark's dad has been incredibly helpful in the whole process (thank you, Tom!!) and our neighbours have been supportive of our plans.  We should know more next week and all we can do now is wait...in our own filth.  : ) 

Goedemorgen!

I just got back from Amsterdam yesterday visiting dear friends and am in love with that city!  The architecture, the canals, the food(!!) but my favorite had to be the vintage shopping.  We stayed in the Jordaan neighborhood full of amazing restaurants and boutiques.

I absolutely love these antique lighting fixtures from a store called de Weldaad in the Noordermarkt. Perfect for a kitchen or bathroom (these lights were all over the restaurants & cafes in the city):

They also had really unique cabinets, bottles, tables and great kitchenware at very reasonable prices.  I'm obsessed!  Amsterdam is definitely a city that requires a van instead of a suitcase when bringing back souvenirs.

And We're Back!

We had an amazing weekend away for Mark's birthday and spent it with his parents in Newcastle.  But its now back to the dust and dirt.  Our builder made some great progress while we were away but we've had to put the whole project on hold until we receive the green light for our terrace (hopefully next week?).   Aside from a radiator leak and the rain coming through the roof, it's been smooth sailing!  : )

The second Velux is IN!

Raindrops were falling on our head

While we wait, we're having the front of the building re-pointed and broken bricks replaced while we have the scaff up.  I didn't think it was possible to add anymore dust to the house.  It is.