How’s your DIY year started, got any done? 2018 has started off brilliantly for us on the reno front, with not only all the dining room action but also some cheeky floor laying upstairs in the extension. The last of the three new build first floor rooms was skimmed just prior to Christmas, so I could finally lay the remaining Polyflor grey planks and have something nice to walk on. Something which meant we could walk about in the extension bedrooms without it sounding in the kitchen below like there was a herd of elephants above!
The last day of 2017 saw me wielding a spray can of glue and flying New Year’s Eve high in the most unglamorous way ever. Oh, but I didn’t care, because the result is something so warm and quiet and lovely. My office is temporarily in the bedroom and it’s just a joy to walk with bare feet on something cushioned and clean. I’ve never in 12yrs of living here had a new or in any way attractive floor in my home office. I adore it.
On the lighting front, there was much cogitation before these LEDs nestled themselves deep into the ceiling strip next to the sitting room and also in the upstairs hallway. I and many other Builder-Designers in the early noughts had severe cases of developers acne, scattering spotlights like rampant illuminous pimples across the ceilings of England. I’m truly sick to death of them and vowed not to have a single one here. Then kicked myself as sometimes a run of spots is actually the best option. As a compromise, I plumped for these recessed ‘architectural’ plaster fittings, which set the light deep in the ceiling so the front face of the lamp isn’t on show. I’ve yet to finish them properly, filling slightly where the skim coat isn’t perfect but you get the idea. Cool aren’t they? They give off a lovely light too.
Talking of lights, gaze upon this beauty we sat under for lunch in the Wigmore tavern whilst in London for some meetings last week. *Slightly* bigger than your average chandelier, this is a truly spectacular installation by the Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, a super sized version of the fabulous brass and globe lights so on trend at the moment, but also rather cleverly looking like it could have been hanging there forever. It felt strangely like home under the deep green ceiling (see the spot light image above for a sneaky glimpse of the Moregeous ceiling) as we scoffed our egg & chips. Ok, they were baked Burford Brown’s with hollandaise and seventeen times fried fat chips with Bloody Mary salt, but still, egg and chips. Proper posh, but not at bonkers prices actually.
Three Wigmore things bowled me away. One, the light, obv. Two, the drop dead gorgeous loos. I went to the loo. I lusted. I forgot my phone. I had to go back to the loo. So I got the photo but also got ‘the looks’. Yes, Pinterest and Insta are all about the millennial pink and the forest green but, *taps finger on nose*, this deep glossy mulberry felt so refreshing. The panelling is superb, curvaceous and tactile. The flooring is insanely divine. If you’re mooching anywhere near Regent Street I absolutely insist that you pop in just to ogle these loos.
The third bowling away was water induced. This is London. Central London. But the water is free, with a donation made to Water Aid. Astonishingly refreshing. Just like the loos.
Straight from posh lunch back up North and to me in my scrubs, on my grubby knees, as usual. Time to tile the dining room fireplace. You can tell it was a serious job, the slippers were on 😉
After much deliberation, our chosen and very beautiful encaustic tiles arrived earlier this month but I still needed to clean and seal the bricks on the back wall before the delicate tiles could be laid, hence the delay. This was also my first attempt at laying this type of tile so we took it slow and steady. Let’s see, what were the complications….
Well, first up the fact that they’re encaustics, needing sealing and careful handling. And they’re hexagons not squares. And patterned. With a random and mind boggling pattern. And then we decided to spill them out into the wooden floor. I say we. You all know I mean me, and those of you on Insta also know Mr Moregeous laughed a lot when I first suggested it. Then stopped laughing when he realised I was serious. It’s a post in itself, the whole giving advice on encaustics, but suffice to say it’s totally doable (as long as you have a handy person to do all the wet cuts – credit where credit’s due Mr M 😉 ). Here’s proof we finished the job…
Not grouted yet, gawd, give me a chance, and the floating shelf still needs finishing and we’re short one tile (rear of the front left nib) and the seat pads have to be upholstered and the inset shelving where the peace lily is sitting have yet to be built…. but it looks very pretty I reckon! I love my Lilypads 🙂
We unpacked loads of stuff from the storage unit this week and I also might need to invest in some new cushions, rather than those vintage & whiffy Habitat ones, however whilst it’s still dusty in the house, they add a splash of pattern All this progress, eh, whatever is the Moregeous world coming to?!
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