A bathroom refresh

It’s been a fair while since we’ve done much work on our house, but we’ve been pondering a bit of a bathroom refresh for a little while. The last time we went to Grand Designs Live - that must have been May 2019, quite a while back! - we saw the most beautiful wall hung vanity unit. I’ve kept the photo, looked at the catalogue and now we’re at the point of actually making it happen, realised I don’t like the price anywhere near as much. Thankfully it was also too big for our space, and a pale blue which isn’t really our colour, though it would kind of work with the wallpaper that we’ve used as a continuing feature.

But the idea of a wall hung vanity unit was sown. And one that hasn’t gone away. So another one was sought, and found. And has since been delivered. Along with a new toilet and a new shower - just the shower bit, not the surround. The shower is no longer as hot as it once was, or should be and therefore is being replaced. We’ve a suspicion that the toilet is slowly leaking at the base, and our current basin, well it still works as a basin should (though sometimes it drains very slowly), the porcelain is starting to crack and it looks as if it has many veins appearing. Some porcelain just goes like that, but as all of this was put in in 2007 we’ve had good use out of all of this and so replacing the bits that are starting to ‘go’ isn’t exactly extravagant.

The other day it all arrived, on a pallet. We got our delivery slot - one of those all day slots, though being home based that’s less of an issue than it would have been if we were office based - and they were knocking on the door a good five minutes before the slot started. So that was a very good start, and before breakfast - we’ve got very bad at getting up since it’s been darker in the mornings and especially as we don’t need to get anywhere other than the dining room table - MOH was out in the drive unpacking the pallet. I was called for a bit of ‘to me, to you’ to bring the heavier items in, and then later up the spiral staircase. Since then our plumber has visited to check we have all the right bits, and so he can get what else is needed - we passed, phew - and now we’re booked in for a week or so’s time to have it all fitted.

Now it’s here, I can’t wait - though as luck would have it, the day it’s happening is one that I have booked off work. Not that it really makes much difference at the moment as it’s unlikely that I’ll have grand plans to go anywhere much. So by the middle of February our purchases should be installed, and I’ll be setting MOH some tasks mostly around painting - refreshing the woodwork and giving the ceiling a lick of paint, which to be fair he’s identified too. The final job will be to paint a cupboard we have in there - it’s currently a very darkly stained MDF custom-built affair. It works with what is in there now, but with our new unit being matt navy blue, I’ve a feeling it won’t work quite so well, so my plan is to have MOH repaint this a similar colour. I know it won’t take much to persuade him as he recently let on that he’s never been much of a fan of how it looks, it’s been there almost 14 years - he’s a very patient man (though I knew that already).

AREZZO WALL HUNG VANITY UNIT, VICTORIAN PLUMBING

Post Comment Love 29-31 January

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here this week we’re pleased you’re here.

Like many people we had some snow last weekend, not very much but it doesn’t need much to get Londoners excited by snow, though it also doesn’t take much to disrupt things either. But last weekend I think the snow got it just about right. It arrived as predicted, settled a bit and then disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. Snow like that I could put up with, though I didn’t venture out - small steps and all that.

My niece shared a picture which really made me laugh. The first of a snowman, and I’m sure in our minds eye each of us think about a substantially sized snowman. Her first photo was quickly followed by this one, for scale, a good reminder that not everything is what it seems.

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An open-shelved delight

When we arrived at our holiday cottage in Norfolk last October this was the view that met us as we opened the door, quite breathtaking isn’t it?

We knew the cottage would look great, but we perhaps weren’t expecting our breath to be taken quite so much away. I like the idea of open shelving in a kitchen, but I know that mine would rarely look as pretty as these! But I was hopeful that for a few days, and in someone else’s space, I wouldn’t mess it up too much.

I was also quite taken with the zinc worktop, and it’s something I’d have in a future kitchen. Perhaps not on every worktop, but I can see the advantages of incorporating it somewhere. I could get MOH to make even more pastry - one of his specialities - if he had such a space couldn’t I? I’m less good at pastry, I think because my hands are too hot, but that works for bread making, which is very much more my thing.

The worktops looked great, but in reality for longer term living all the ‘staging’ probably wasn’t that practical. Though adding the gourds and pumpkins was a really lovely touch and one that’s do-able and very repeatable in my own kitchen. I just need to remember - or find this post again - in the autumn.

The stack of enamelware reminded me how much I like enamelware, and reminded me of what I have at home, and rarely use. This was a soft grey and white variety, whereas mine is white with the blue trim - quite the classic look. I do like a classic, as my Le Creuset is the traditional orange sort too. Having been reminded of the enamelware’s beauty I promised myself to make more use of my own, and I’ve added to it too. MOH now has some espresso cups, and I’ve my eye on a roasting set too, if it ever comes back in stock.

The mix of practical and pretty really appealed to me. I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence that I’ve also bought some pretty and hand painted coffee cups either. And even though the look is modern, there were many traditional elements, like this drying plate rack above the sink.

And I bet like me, you weren’t really surprised to discover the style of the cutlery in the cutlery drawer.