Here are the pictures of the parquet floor as it was left by the floor layers. The floor-laying was almost completed. They worked on it for ten days and did a good job. I don’t understand why they decided to leave after ten days of work!

I have found another guy who is coming on Monday and will finish laying the edges.

Then the floor will be sanded at least twice, the gaps between the tiles will have to be filled (the parquet bits are old and some are uneven), then sanded again lightly. This will be followed by two coats of polyurethane varnish.

This is a preview, read Reclaimed Parquet Floor in full.

If you have a remodeling project, spring time is probably the best time to do it. By now you should have thought about what you need to remodel rather than just redecorate. Remodeling requires the revamping of a space, so it’s normally a more time-consuming and expensive project..

This is a preview, read Spring remodeling in full.

Week 31

Well, not much was done during the last week. We had a guest and we couldn’t really do DIY. So I decided to go shopping instead.

This is a preview, read DIY Project Diary in full.

DIY Project Diary – Week 30

My arms are killing me. I spent the last 7 days painting, painting and painting… I covered the walls with a textured paint that is supposed to be used to achieve a Mediterranean rustic look. Instead of painting this with a strong colour, I decided to paint it with satin white paint. The effect is really quite interesting – the walls have some texture (rather than looking flat) but they are not rough and chalky. The silky finish of the paint makes the walls look subtle and they bounce the light back into the space. The room looks much bigger.  It took some time because I needed at least three coats of paint, plus I also had to paint the ceiling..

This is a preview, read DIY Home Remodeling in full.

DIY Refurbishment diary – Week 29

Well, the parquet tiles weren’t easy at all. It was relatively easy to lay them – but because they came as untreated I decided to stain and varnish them. The first stain was too red. The second was OK, sort of dark brown – but when I varnished it, the colour turned red. The third stain looked too dark and too messy as the parquet bits didn’t stain evenly. It looked absolutely dreadful. We had to hire a floor sander and sand the whole floor back!..

This is a preview, read DIY Project in full.

Diary of a redecorating project – Week 28

I spent the whole week on painting. My arms are killing me. I painted the walls in the hallway, the staircase (two sets!) doors and other woodwork etc. Although I like painting, I got very bored by the end of it…everything needed at least three coats of paint.  Anyway, I decided to keep everything white in a soft sheen finish. This will reflect the light back into the space making the rooms appear larger and lighter – also this finish is more practical as it can be easily wiped..

This is a preview, read DIY Project in full.

Week 27 – finishing first floor

The vouchers have arrived from IKEA, so we had to go back to spend the money! Actually, I needed some blinds and the utensil rails and other cabinet accessories. So off we went.

Going to IKEA is a whole day’s outing. You can’t just go there for a couple of hours – by the time you get through the checkout, half (if not most) of your day’s gone. Also, you end up buying hundreds of things that you don’t really need, but they’re such a good value – then at the checkout you wonder why the total amount is so high..

This is a preview, read Home Remodeling Project in full.

Week 26 -  Finishing Kitchen

At last the doors arrived from IKEA  – but not the solid beech worktop. We called them and they told us that we’d have to wait for another six weeks. This is absurd. We’ve been waiting for it for over three months! I was not prepared to wait for another six weeks. So we got into the car and off we drove to IKEA..

This is a preview, read Home Remodeling Project in full.

DIY Project – week 25

Kitchen remodeling

This week I finished the painting. I had to use at least three coats of paint of the emulsion that supposedly only needs one coat. The old yellow paint kept showing through, not to mention the marks of the ex-dado-rail. I now think that the whole walls should have been plastered, not just over the dados & skirting. There is one lesson to be learnt here: never glue dado or picture rail onto plasterboard!..

This is a preview, read DIY Kitchen in full.

DIY Home Remodeling Diary

Week 24

Last week was productive – at last. No more builders around so it’s really up to us what gets done and what doesn’t. Anyway, we really got on with it. We installed the hood and boxed in the halogen lights  above the work surface. The main work surface hasn’t arrived yet – it will come with the units’ doors in a couple of weeks. But we got the thinner worktop, made of solid beech, which we cut up and covered the recesses or zones.  We’ve also put lighting into these areas..

This is a preview, read Home DIY in full.