Category: Uncategorized
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All hail the Recycling Centre
It’s been our first long weekend at the house. Normally long weekends are a relief, a chance to relax and unwind. But it’s a little different when you’re lugging bags of rubble down a narrow staircase. We had planned to hire a skip to remove the bulk of our DIY waste. However, due to the…
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Opening up
One of my favourite things about old houses is the history they come with. Marbel staircases worn with the passing of feet, brass door handles polished by many hands, layers of paint and paper exposed by rips and chips. Yet, while the past can be picturesque, it doesn’t always meet modern needs. When updating an…
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Up, up and away
When it comes to DIY planning, Chris is the expert in our little team. I am an over-optimistic DIYer. I look at jobs that take weeks and think; ‘oh yeah, that’ll be done in a few hours’. One of the reasons for this is that I forget that jobs are like Russian dolls. Open up…
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Constructive destruction
I don’t know how it is for everyone else, but I often find the anticipation of work much more tiring than the actual work itself. After months of waiting and thinking, it was a relief to pull on our ever attractive PPE and start making a mess. Our first job, as marked out in Chris’s…
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A hill of beans
Today we got the keys to our new house. Walking through the doors, I think we both felt a mixture of relief, excitement, and absolute terror. Looking at the task ahead of us, it was difficult to build up the courage to start. So we started small. Much of the build-up to getting the keys…
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Falling in love with a ruin
There is something about a ruin that is more exciting than the comfort and convenience of a sleek and modern house. Depending on your viewpoint, they are full of flaws, or simply blessed with many quirks. Personally, I enjoy the unexpected nature of older houses. Tiny doorways may not be practical, and rusty ironworks always…
Ruined 