How we got here

Today marks the second anniversary of the day we moved into 265. It feels like it was much much longer ago. A couple of days even before that, when we first got the keys, I went around taking pictures of the house we had just committed ourselves to, convinced of its potential. I thought it would be fun to see just how much of that potential we've managed to realise.

Let's start the tour at the front:

The frontage has changed significantly, and not just how overgrown the surviving shrubbery has become, nor the Council's new litter bin. We really should do something about tidying up those TV cables running up and across the front.
Inside, the hall has expanded at both ends, to move the front door forward and to create more space under the stairs. However, I think the removal of that wallpaper has helped make it seem bigger as well.
The living room has been through a lot, having been fully furnished well into the building phase, then used as a store room during the renovation. Now it's only a little blanker than it was when we took possession. Changing the window to patio doors has probably made the biggest difference to this room. It'll certainly change how it's used during the summer. And we'll get our stove fitted some day, but it's not really necessary.
We always liked the proportions in the Library and we've sought to preserve them. The bookcases here are temporary and we plan to have floor-to-ceiling shelving on three walls just as soon as we can afford it.
Pictures like this make the two years feel even longer, since the vista here presented on the left hasn't existed for the vast majority of the time: we had that gap on the far left bricked up within a few months, and then it was demolished again when the new extension was built.
And here, of course, the room in which the original photo was taken no longer exists, but the newer one is an approximation of where it was. The original tiny kitchen, however, is still on the same site and only the wall you can't see (to the far right) has moved at all -- coming deeper into the room to make the space under the stairs bigger.
And this room at the front was taken down in its entirety and rebuilt from 12 metres below the ground up. It was rebuilt smaller however, so the new photo is taken from a foot or so further forward, and a bit to the left. The wall on the far left -- the side of the original house -- is the only part in both pictures.
The spare room, our shelter for most of the project, remains mostly unfurnished. But without the old wardrobes it's a lot larger.
Same goes for the front bedroom, though I took the original wardrobe out on the day we moved in. This room is now my study.
And this is Dara's study, still under feline occupation, but that's her problem, not mine. The change to this small room has perhaps been most dramatic of all. As in, it's now possible to go into it without feeling nauseous.
That said, there's a chance that the change here has been even more significant.
The side passge has been lengthened, narrowed, and generally tamed. We hope to get a new gate for it, and the front, fairly soon.

I'm actually a little disappointed by how much garden we have left. I can't help thinking maybe we should have built on more of it. But I'm sure I'll appreciate this more when the sun comes back.

A quick look, then, at the two new rooms above the extension. The main bedroom is pretty much done, but the dressing room is still very much in need of its wardrobes. Soon.

Finally there's the back. Yes, we have a lot of landscaping and external works on the cards, but it still looks much much better than it did, I think.

And this is the point where I'm bringing an end to regular updates on this blog. When more stuff happens, I'll throw a note and a picture up here, but you can stop coming back for regular updates. Subscribe to it into your RSS reader if you have one; and if you don't have one, go and get one. Just let me take this opportunity to say thanks for reading to all those who have commented, those who e-mail me behind the scenes, and the lurkers who keep themselves to themselves. May all your renovation projects be as worthwhile as this one.

Walkover

The builder was late arriving this morning so we didn't get to gauge his reactions to the amount of work we've told them they still have to do, nor do we know when exactly this desnagging is going to commence.

Meanwhile our project manager has been negotiating final figures with the builders. A couple of big-ticket items they were trying to charge us for have fallen aside with minimal pushing. There are still a few other areas we'd like money back on, largely concerning refunds for things that got lost or broken during the project.

We're in no rush to hurry either of these processes along since, when they end, we're going to be severely out of pocket.

Just when we thought it was safe

We've become very accustomed, over the last few weeks, to not getting kicked out of our house at 8am every morning. So we really weren't ready for last Thursday's pre-8 o'clock unannounced visit by that damned electrician, wanting in to finish the last bits of his work. He was sent off, sharply if blearily, and said he'd be back on Friday. Big surprise: he never came near us.

On Friday the builder's site manager rang to ask about returning to the site to examine their own snag-related jobs. The tale of the electrician was recounted and he wasn't pleased at all. I suspect this may be the last domestic job our electrician does for our builder.

Anyway, the builders will be back to begin their final stage tomorrow. I'd imagine there'll be a bit of horse trading on what they will do, what they won't, and how much of the outstanding money they've claimed for we will actually be paying them.

Curtains for us

Bit by bit things are getting done. Four of the eight curtain poles are now fitted, including this one in the TV room:

(They all look like this, incidentally -- closing down sale at the hardware shop.)

Last night was the first in many months that we slept in a curtained bedroom, though said room is one of the very few we actually have curtains for. The rest are on the shopping list for the weekend.