To the front of the house, we have an area which is mix of concrete paving and grass. The grassed area, in particular, is a bit of a mess, as it’s where we currently park the cars. We’ve used bamboo plants to screen the garden as much as possible from the road –...
If there’s one thing that is consistent about The Well Room, it's that it is constantly in a state of renovation. The problem with this room has a lot to do with what we now call it – The Well Room. When we bought the house (and for a good few months), we had an...
Our stone house doesn’t have normal staircases. For over eighteen months, we’ve had exposed treads and no handrails. A bit like a big version of a stepladder. We have two of these – one going to the upper floor (the more sturdy set of stairs) and one down into The...
As autumn gives way to winter, we decided recently that our windows are now going to be our focus. How all were going to be sealed and no more draughts would sneak in. Yes, yes – it’s all still ongoing, but as ever, we guesstimated how much seal we’d need. And guess...
We’re finally beginning to tackle the room which we’ve rarely gone into – the indoor cellar. Indoor, because we also have an outdoor cellar. This room sits under the living room, but feels joined to the house because the staircase down, is open. We had thought this...
We’re at the stage in our house renovation, where we can now be quite a bit bolder in terms of decor. We’ve taken on an Istrian stone house, which in parts, is over 200 years old – and possibly more – so there is a wealth of history and tradition attached to it....
For the first year of living in the house, we made do with the bathroom we inherited. OK, we tarted it up a bit – everything painted white, essentially – but it was still quite poorly laid out, with a tiny shower cubicle and not really conducive to a relaxing...
It seems like no time since we were in the depths of winter, with no kitchen, a gaping hole in the wall where the new window was being fitted and heavy falling snow. It’s now mid-summer and although, as I type it’s hammering down with rain, thunder is rumbling all...
Given that work on the kitchen started way back in November, we did cut it a bit fine to greet our first guests last week. Admittedly, the scope of the project grew and grew, but we did think our friends would arrive and we’d still be kitchenless. Thankfully, this...
When we renovated our house in West Didsbury, in 2014, we knew that we wanted a concrete bench. A multi-purpose bench, where we could cook, eat, work and hang out. Our builder had not done one before, we'd not designed before, but between us, we did it... And so when...