Here we go…

Hi there again readers how are you today? It was a  pretty miserable Friday the 13th wasn’t it? and today isn’t much better ☹️  OK, SO, I don’t want to bore you all too much with the less exciting parts of this renovation but I do want to hopefully help someone with this part. I’m sure at least half of you have striped wallpaper, even just helping your parents or a friend out for about an hour? 😂 and if the answer is yes then you’ll know how bloody hard, tiring and frustrating it is and if you’re not used to those arm movements then expect to experience dead arms for the next day or two….or three, like I did. Wallpaper scraping will bring those muscles out of hibernation and for me it felt pretty good.

We headed to B&Q; now as a rule I’m not a huge fan of B&Q simply because it seems more expensive than other stores ( being a trades man’s girlfriend doesn’t help, he has me brain washed into where’s the best and not the best haha, anyone who can relate share your experiences in the comments, I’d love to read them : ) ) ; especially for paint on an average day but on the positive side it’s very convenient, opens all the hours of the week and has almost everything you need –> B&Q website The purchase this week was 2 scrapers, scraper 1 which was the one that I’ve always remembered my parents using to scrap that lethal woodchip off the walls and scraper 2 was a more heavy duty ‘looking’ scraper and the moral of the story here is? Buy scraper 2. Both shown below to help you distinguish between the two.

   Scraper 1 – don’t do it to yourself, you’ll regret it, trust me, although they are a cheaper option but for me NOT WORTH THE HEARTACHE 😁 however the smaller version did come in handy later on-I’ll get to that bit later.

Scraper 2 – this is the one you want, trust me, it will make your life a whole lot easier and things will happen quickly 🙂 AND the blades are replaceable for a small cost check out Screw fix – ours broke a couple of times and that’s where we headed 😁 Michael is obsessed with here, I honestly think sometimes he’d rather hang out with a beer and a screwfix catalogue over me 😛

The scraping of the living/dining room began, took us about 3 very stressful nights and 2 long weekend days oh and that was getting ( he might tell you forcing) my very helpful, handsome, obliging younger brother to help us over the weekend 🙂 – if you want the job done quicker muster up a few friends or a sibling but keep their stomach full, that’s the secret to a happy worker, well it is for my brother anyway 😉

Have a good nosey and a laugh at some before and after pictures below,  this way you get a good feel to the work involved.

The first two photos are our living room side of the room …if that makes sense 😊 All photos show that hideous carpet I was describing in “let me introduce you to the house” removed. I’ll see if I have any on my old phone of the carpet because it really is a must see. Especially for you gals and guys.

This side is our dining room side of the room – that’s what we’ve decided anyway – simply because the views are at the front of the house and let’s face it who doesn’t love a good nosey at ” passer byers ” 😂😝

Also please ignore all that junk- my parents did use the house for some storage for a couple of months 😳

Pretty grim, right? Use your imagination people!

A working photo with my lovely brother and I exaggerate my “not forced” brother 🙂 You’ll also notice a few floor boards ripped up, that was Michael checking that there was no rising damp, there wasn’t thankfully, worth a look but.

A little taste of that very romantic, vampire, hell, blood like red paint which showed it’s uninvited face after the wallpaper was peeled off. I’m not a fan of red although I am gradually beginning to like it-bought a red car last year, it’s a start, ok? lol. I do believe it can look fabulous in the right setting, however not in “the house” believe it or believe it not we did scrap all the red paint off the dining room side- it was thicker and easily scraped, the living room side had only one coat of paint and wouldn’t come off easily-it stayed and soon was plastered over. PHEW!

You’ll also notice that we knocked through the original door to the dining room as you’ve probably already guessed there would have been two rooms divided by a wall at one stage. We’re boarding up the living area door, we’ll like it better this way and we think you will too 🙂

Please excuse my not so very lady like language in this snap chat, which I like to use to keep all my nearest and dearest up to date with the renovations but I felt the lovely word helped show our first emotional breakdown in this photo. You’ll also notice a 20year old steamer in the snap, this was pretty useless and I’ve nothing more to say about it lol. A  bucket of warm, soapy water and a heavy duty scraper is your best friend- remember that!

N x