We spent half a day sorting through several moving boxes currently living in our study, trying to remember why we have so much stuff. By the end we managed to relocate many of the items to elsewhere in the house, or offer them up to charity. What remains is a box of pictures and another of photo albums, both of which won’t find homes till after the final coat of paint. While not the most exciting job, this gets us one step closer to carpeting the study, which will be the baby’s room, so worth a slow start to DIY this weekend.

Released from box sorting I decided to try and finish off the corner cabinet. First the side panels needed attaching. To do this I had to screw in some batons to attach the panels to, a little tricky in the small space but doable.

Before they can be attached they needed painting, so I coated them in primer before doing the same with the top shelf of the TV unit and the new shelf and brackets in the bookcase.

The rest of the unit got a quick sand, to tidy up some filler, and a coat of cream paint. The whole thing now needs a second coat, as do the pieces coated in primer, but this can’t happen till everything has dried.

I moved on to filling the screw holes and joins on the skirting.

Having some leftover filler I tried to smooth out some lumpy patches on the ceiling. Clearly a poor repair, before our time, we’d ignored it as none urgent, but I’ve been finding it more and more irritating, so filler it is.

While everything dried out downstairs I cut a cardboard template for the final windowsill upstairs, ready to cut out the final pieces of wood another day.

While I was labouring away inside, Chris had opted to brave the rain outside the house, working first on his car before moving on to give the hedge its winter cut. Cutting back the laid hedge will encourage it to thicken up, which will make it better for wildlife in the long-term. Cutting every other year once established can also be beneficial to leave berries in place through the winter.

He also spent some time tidying the shed. A leaking chainsaw had covered several shelves in oil, and cleaning it up was not a fun job, but a necessary one.

Finally, he spent some time reattaching a downspout at the front of the house, which had fallen off in a previous storm. By attaching an elbow to it we can direct the water away from the house and into the flowerbeds, better for the house and the garden.

Though not big jobs this weekend it’s always good to feel we are moving forward, particularly at such a busy time of year. After all, only three months till the baby is due, and time will be even less available for DIY.