The stairs up to the roof terrace, from the first floor, were awful. Just awful. Steep, enclosed and dark. They were so awful in fact, that we gave our builders a bit of a head-scratcher and said we...
Renovation…
In the beginning, our blogs were mainly about destruction, demolition, debris, dirt, dust and sometimes, despair. It wasn’t easy, and sometimes, sitting in our new “home”, surrounded by boxed up belongings and builders’ tools and ladders and half built walls, we did wonder what we had done. But those walls do get built, the tools are finally dispensed with and the familiar belongings find new homes. We’re now able to document the “nice” bits of the reno project – the upcycling, the recycling, the repurposing. Making empty spaces into rooms. Breathing new life back into a house which needed a lot of TLC.
We hope that this journal will provide inspiration if you are embarking on a similar journey. We hope that it will give you the courage to just do it. And we hope that it will give you an unshakeable sense of belief that it can be done. Because it can. And guess what? We’re still doing it. The house may be finished – although we never say never – and so our focus has been on major demolition and construction work at both the front and rear of the house. Want to know all about our renovations?
Open a bottle of wine, curl up on the sofa and come and join us on our journey…
recent renovation blogs
spanish tiles
Our lovely Andalucian townhouse, when we bought it, was full of tiles. But unfortunately, most weren't those beautiful Spanish tiles that we all swoon over. They were mostly patterned, but arranged...
andalucian reno journey #2 : main bathroom
Unlike previous renovations, when we've actually lived in the properties as they were being renovated, this time, we have lived in an apartment, by the sea, a good couple of hours drive away. Each...
andalucian reno journey #1
The renovation - well, I say *renovation*, but what I really mean is demolition - started in earnest a few weeks ago. We are very lucky that we've bagged ourselves a gorgeous apartment to rent, in a...
secret garden reno : update 1
A small, abandoned cottage - in need of much TLC - sits behind our main house. It belonged to one of our neighbours and when he offered to sell it to us, we decided to go for it. The little house,...
garden reno : update 11
After over a year of lockdown and travel restrictions, we've finally been double jabbed and now that we can access the EU vaccination certificate, the prospect of travel is on the horizon. Not...
upstairs bathroom reno : update 4
This rather lovely rustic, wooden A-frame ladder, hinged at the top and held together at the bottom with thick rope, hasn't really been utilised in our house as well as it could have been. It's...
garden reno : update 10
So, the exterior renovation of our house, continues apace. We've largely completed the interior renovation - but we never say never - and so our attention has been turned to the garden area around...
garden reno : update 9
We knew we had to tackle this part of the garden, because it was overgrown, messy, full of stones and rubble from previous renovation works and the trees were literally being strangled by vines and...
garden reno : update 8
I finally feel we're coming to the end of a very long winter. Although we've still got to see February out - and this is month when for the past four years, we've had snowfall in Istria - there are...
it’s a filthy job – but someone’s got to do it…
Ah, Christmas Eve. Snuggled up on the sofa, the woodburner roaring away, lights twinkling, candles flickering, the scent of mulled wine filling the room as we wrap gifts and eat chocolates and watch...
creating a car park…
We've never had a garden big enough to accommodate our cars. In every house we've lived in, parking has always been outside, on the street. Apart from having to usually fight for parking space...
garden reno : update 7
If you're a follower of what we're up to, you might know that we have a very unusual feature in our front garden. We are right next to an abandoned house and one of its walls forms one of our garden...
hello, october…
So, our long, hot - but very strange - summer, has drawn to a close. As in previous years since we've been here, I'm sure we'll still have days which are warm and sunny, but the intense heat of the...
garden reno : update 6
It was back in May that we finally bought a shed and started the job of building it. We made the initial mistake of thinking we'd bought just a shed, like the B&Q one we used to have in our...
garden reno : update 5
For the first time this year, we made the trip to Pula. Normally, we'd by now, be making fairly regular trips to the airport to pick up and drop off visitors, but this is no normal year. Our first...
garden reno : update 4
The garden area at the front of the house has not really been renovated, as such. It's certainly been tidied up and areas of it do look a whole lot better, but apart from the addition of garden...
our little abandoned house of istria…
When we bought our stone house in Istria, we were advised by the sellers that the little abandoned dwelling, to the rear of the property, could be purchased from one of our new neighbours. We were...
the gold room…
I've thought long & hard about adding blogs to the website, in the current climate. It seems too frivolous to be posting about renovations and life-style things and recipes. But, and it is a big...