LOOKING OUT OF THE WINDOWS

We are so lucky to have beautiful and interesting views from each of our windows.

Take this one above...it's from the hall landing looking across at our neighbour's field.

The sun is setting after a warm summers evening, the grass has been cut

and bundled into hay bales. Is there anything more lovely to look at?

We look out of this window every morning as we walk down the stairs to the hall below.

Each day, after several years of seeing it, it does not disappoint. 

The lounge (above) looks towards the church across the road.  

You may not be able to see it clearly in this photo, 

as the shrubs and trees against the wall are growing fast but beyond them you can just see the roof of the church.

Richard's office has a special view looking past the conservatory onto the garden. 

The purple Catmint is in full bloom, lush green grass and a Corkscrew Willow.

We are very lucky to have dual aspect windows in the kitchen, offering us two very different views to look at. 

The sink (above) looks out over our neighbour's drive (always immaculately kept).... 

and the opposite side has views of our garden which has lots of green trees, bushes and grass too.

Looking through the windows every day brings a happiness....

it offers a new image to see as the seasons come and go.

KITCHEN AND UTILITY REVEAL

I'm getting a few subtle hints ....

(actually not that subtle, rather more like blatant, honest remarks)

that I'm 'dragging my heels' taking too long in showing the final reveal of the kitchen and utility rooms.

So, I've decided to do things slightly different and show them now, 
then save the updates of details etc for later posts.

Here goes then......ta dah!!!!!...........

 

(below) The utility room ...

 

What do you think of the finished renovations?  

I would love to hear from you.

KITCHEN AND UTILITY RENOVATIONS (PART 4)

DECISIONS

After the 'strip out' of both kitchen and utility rooms, decisions from us were necessary.

Our builders helped with the planning for the internal walls.  We were adamant that these rooms wouldn't be cold or drafty.  

The builders offered us with a great source of information and after much discussion, 
it was decided that insulated plaster board was the way forward.

Insulated plaster board has become an important material used in new housing or 
to renovate and refurbish older houses like ours.

There is a layer of plaster board which on the reverse side has an insulating foam.  

The boards are designed for cold weather conditions, reducing the amount of heat passing through them, ensuring a warm environment to live in, reducing energy costs and carbon foot print.  All this was good for us and most importantly for the house as well.

Before the insulated board was attached, most of the positioning for wiring and plumbing had to be made instantly 
- which was a little stressful.  
The pressure was on to get it right!!
Confident with our choice of plumber and electrician, we were guided by their expertise, we listened and decisions were finalized.  

The boards were installed, plastering began on top of the boards and then over night the rooms were transformed... 

(above) Plumbing and first fit electrics installed in the kitchen.

 

(above) utility room showing toilet (right hand-side door)
and cupboard (left hand-side door).

(above) detail of toilet room with first fit plumbing.

(above) walls plastered and doors hung to toilet and cupboard.
Both doors open into the utility room.

(above) First fit utility room plumbing for sink and washing machine.
Also, this is the wonderful new window that has been added on the south side of the house.
It is one of the best decisions we made.

KITCHEN AND UTILITY RENOVATIONS (part 3)

The building work continues....

(above) Electric first fit

 (above) Boarding fitted around the new utility room window and existing wall of cupboard prepped for plastering.

 

 (above) Toilet room window and walls

We're getting somewhere at last....
day by day, new and exciting things happen to make a change. 

The end of the tunnel is in sight!!

KITCHEN AND UTILITY RENOVATIONS (part 2)

I digressed for a little while from the kitchen and utility renovations, 

so these are the next photos of the stripping out stage.

More or less everything had to go, from worktops, cupboards, to the ceiling to the floor and wall tiles to some of the windows. 

Not all of them because we'd replaced two in the sitting area previously. 

Above is looking west towards the utility room.

Above is facing west towards the utility room before we started the changes.

You will see that the door is in the centre of the room.  

We decided that blocking the original door up and adding a new entrance on the 

right-hand side into the utility room, would be far more beneficial to us. 

This giving us, two L-shaped work spaces in each room.

Standing at the new utility door, looking the other way towards the end of the kitchen, 

to the 'sitting area'.

(above) Inside the utility room looking at the new (and very exciting) window on the south side of the house.  Adding this window was such a good idea.  

The advantages of the extra light are immense.

(above) Still standing in the utility room, looking west at the large walk-in cupboard on the left and through to toilet on the right.

(above) What the cupboard and toilet originally looked like.  We've decided to keep the barn doors and paint them.

Looking inside the small room where the original toilet and sink have been removed. 

New toilet, sink and radiator will be added .

This shows two new wooden windows in the utility room and toilet (left-hand side).

Lastly, looking back into the kitchen, from the utility room through the new door way. 

The stud frames on the walls have been put up, floor tiles gone and ceiling with mock beams removed. The room is bare for all its exciting new changes to begin.

KITCHEN AND UTILITY RENOVATIONS

BEFORE (kitchen)

This is our kitchen as it was when we moved in....fantastic potential, great size, appliances that were on their 'last legs' and a dated space that didn't reflect our personalities.  

(above) Standing in the middle of the room, looking west towards the utility room which is just through the door in the middle of the room.

Standing at the utility room door, looking east to the other side of the room.  

To the right is an Aga.... a very old one, which probably dates back to the early 70's.  

We've had lots of discussions about whether we should have it re-conditioned, enameled a different colour or do without it and sell it.

(above) Going back into the middle of the room and looking north, the door goes into the pantry. 

The pantry has shelves all around it, a small window and a spice rack fitted on the door. There is a slight step down from the kitchen into the room.  

At the end of the kitchen, there is a 'sitting area', which has a wood burner.

In the same area, is also a cupboard that we believe is original to the house when built. Roughly a year ago, it was decided to take out the wooden panels on the top cupboard doors and add glass. It made a tremendous difference to us. This was a lovely asset to the kitchen that was used for salad bowls, jugs and wine glasses etc etc.  We'll continue to use this cupboard in the same way. Underneath houses, gas meter, sewing machine and various other bits and bobs.

BEFORE (utility room)

Moving from the kitchen to the utility room, highlights the need for a major update in this room.  

There is a window facing north and door beside it to the garden outside.

Washing machine and tumble dryer are positioned in the middle of the room, with the sink the other side of them.

It's easier to understand the layout, standing with the garden behind, sink in front and domestic appliances the other side of the small brick wall. We initially thought the brick pillars were added to hold up the ceiling but further research showed that this was not the case allowing us to take them down.

Another view from the back door showing the brick pillars and mock beams.

(above) These two doors off the utility room access a toilet and large cupboard. 

 

(above) Both photos show the toilet and sink and painted brick walls.  When we first moved into the house six years ago, there was signs of damp on the walls.  This has now been 'treated' by Rentokil who provided us with an effective treatment that sorted the problem.

  

(above) First stage of the renovations , saw a window being knocked through from the south side of the house into the utility room. This was essential to the changes we were to make.  It meant more natural light into the utility room as it was a very dark room and an end to constantly having to put the light on when entering the room.