DIY another day

from the outside

Paul hacked down that gigantic shrub thing from the side of the door, and it was no small feat. Not only did it smack you in the face when you tried to come through the door, it hid the house number and it attracted various stinging insects. So between that and the bumblebee-filled lavender plant on the left, getting to our front door was rather perilous. We picked up the slate house number on the left in the Lake District. Note the nice new UPVC windows and door. Oooh aaahhh.

kitchen

Melamine primer works an abosolute treat, and it's a cheap and quick way to update your cupboards. I put on one coat of primer then another two coats of regular satin wood paint.

Yummy. The same tiles (in blue and brown) are in both our bathrooms as well. I used tile paint (no primer needed), which works fairly well but I would only recommend it as a temporary fix. We discovered that the paint comes off relatively easily (we rotated a plant that was sitting in a clay pot, which removed a neat ring of tile paint) and it takes a few coats to cover tiles with dark patterns. Since the patterns on these tiles were embossed, you can still still the design if you look closely. Still, it's a vast improvement! I went over the tile lines with a grout pen - dead easy to use (it's like a magic marker) and it looks like we've re-grouted.

	This side of the kitchen is all Paul's handiwork. He had to cut down the cupboards on the left to fit our fabulous new fridge in, tiled all the way across the back (so that it acts more like a splashback), and fitted a new countertop. The previous owner took his slot-in cooker with him when he moved (which to us North Americans is a regular stove), so we had to get a new one. We prefer cooking on a separate hob (stovetop) and oven, and when we redo the kitchen completely, we'll have the oven built into a "tower" (a tall cabinet) with a convection/microwave oven on top.
	The space on the right under the counter will soon contain a dishwasher. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Hooray hooray, it's a big fridge! Most fridges here are what I'd call "bar fridges"; small ones that fit under the kitchen counter. Either that, or you get tall, slim fridges with the freezer on the bottom (with big drawers). We were thrilled to find this one - not only is it big, it's got a wine rack.

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