Decorating 12

Sunday - considering I try not to work on Sundays, I put in a six hour shift at the house today. I figured that if I didn't, then the decorating was simply not going to be finished. As it is, the spare bedroom is not going to be done till after Moving Day.

So what did we achieve? I spent all afternoon and evening papering in the living room. It still isn't finished, but the whole of the fireplace wall is now done.

The opposite wall is the one that needed plastering where the plaster skim had come off with the paper, as well as some areas round the windows.

OH spent his time making sure the floors were level for the carpets, which are definitely coming tomorrow morning.

Monday - I was expecting a call from the carpet fitters to let me know what time they were coming. I hadn't had one by noon, so I rang them. Apparently, amid profuse apologies, it hadn't been flagged that they needed to call me on my mobile. The fitters were due to arrive between 12 and 2pm. Of course, they arrived as I took a bite out of my sandwich!

They did the bedroom first, then the bathroom, then the landing, stairs and hall. The carpets look really lovely - and the red in the hall is so warm and welcoming.

Meanwhile, I did more papering in the living room. It still isn't finished!!

OH changed the sockets and light switches.

He also shortened the counter top in the kitchen. There was a space underneath the counter for a fridge, but as the space is needed for an upright fridge/freezer, the counter was rather in the way. 

There was a surround at the rear and side of the counter, where it meets the wall. Of course, it had been plastered after the edging had been put in place, so that meant more plastering when he took off the side rail. He decided to leave the back rail on the wall.

The chimney breast wall had been papered yesterday, so I painted that today.

Altogether I put in a 12 hour shift - 8.30am to 9.45pm, with an hour off for my evening meal - cooked by OH.

Tuesday - OH removed the radiators in the living room... 

so I could paper behind them. 

There were lots of fiddly bits to do today - round window ledges, those awful 2" gaps over the windows, and around, behind, over the brackets for the radiators.

At last, it's finished!!

The final piece:

Then I painted it all, despite the paste not being dry. And OH replaced the radiators.

Between us, but mostly OH, we removed most of the furniture that isn't required in the house. OH took the electric bed to pieces and we managed to get it bit by bit down the stairs, including the mattress - which led us to make a decision. We are not going to fit the stair lift until after the furniture has arrived. It was pretty difficult to get the bed downstairs, so we figured it might be difficult for the removal men to get furniture upstairs, particularly if there is a stair lift taking up half the width of the stairs. So that will be fitted on Friday afternoon, when the removal men have been and gone.

The rest of the electrics have now been sorted out too - new sockets and light switches where they are needed.

Finally, I painted one wall in the kitchen. I have chosen a warm yellow, as the kitchen faces north, but I wondered as I put it on the wall, whether I had chosen too strong a colour. I decided to leave the rest until tomorrow, when I could see whether it dried lighter or darker and basically what it looks like in daylight.

Another 12 hour shift - and at around 9.30 I realised I had only sat down for half an hour today, when I had my evening meal. I even ate lunch on my feet while holding a paint roller in one hand and my sandwich in the other!!

Wednesday - today was a time for finishing little things off and completing tasks.

The yellow in the kitchen looked fine, so I painted the rest of the walls the same colour.

OH took the radiator off so I could paint behind it. As he did so, one of the brackets simply fell off the wall. The wall is hollow, so needs special plugs to ensure they don't just fall off. These are like crocodile clips, but are open, rather than shut when at 'rest'. They close as you put them through the wall, then open up and hold the screw tightly against the plasterboard. Whoever had fitted the radiator had taken the crocodile part off the screw and then put it back on the wrong way round. So when we pulled on the radiator, the bracket came off with it, pulling the closed clip through the drilled hole!

When OH put it back, he swapped the clips round, so the brackets are held on securely.

OH checked and finished all the electric sockets and switches and then took all the furniture from the living room and put it in the garage. Then he collected up some necessary tools and we took him to the train station. He was going south to bring the new householder back to his new house.

When I had finished all the painting, I tidied upstairs. The front bedroom was more or less tidy, but there were still bits all over the floor and some random bits and pieces. I picked up the bits and hoovered the floor. I also put away the spare bit of carpet we are going to use in the walk-in cupboard.

After that, I hoovered the bits of fluff from the new carpet off the bathroom floor and the landing floor. Then turned my attention to the back bedroom. I could have cried! The leak in the corner of the wardrobe has returned and it is damaging all my hard work!! There is a damp patch on the ceiling, two damp patches on the wall, and the corner of the carpet is damp too. The walls will probably need doing again and the carpet has been taken up so as to avoid damage L