Sorting out the lounge/dining Part 1

We are still building our house. And we will still be building it when Big Miss and the Man Child leave home (which if they are like their parents really is gonna happen very soon).We will still be building when they try to ship us off to an old peoples home too I'd say. 

The offending Wall

There is always something else to do. From simple things like a new paint colour to the larger knock down/build up a wall or two. And when you can do it yourself it isn't a 'yeah if only we could' it is a 'yeah if only we can agree'.


 I have my ideas of what looks good and My Beloved does too. Only once has his idea gained my full approval and the rest of the time he does it anyway, it is his house too I guess, and later whether months or weeks later it is knocked down or painted over.

Notice the cornicing? The floor
is still waiting for tiles... wont be
long though.

This wall for example MUST go. I have half painted it white... Yes half. But have since decided it has to go. I can not fit my big 3 seater and 2 seater lounges and my big table in the space left over because of it. It also hides the fire place and another door which lets in soooo much morning light. 


Trouble is though My Beloved thinks it is a 'good' spot for it.So I have to argue with him OR just buy the tiles for the floor so that he HAS to knock it down (see the trick is to make it seem like it is his idea) and I know once the tiles are here that wall will come down so fast it will surprise even me.


And HOPEFULLY we wont, once the tiles are down build anymore walls in the vicinity of the lounge/dining again... but you never can say never around here!

     What do you mean you don't have built ins?

 We have been living in our 'Owner builder' home for 12yrs. There are many advantages to owner building there are also MANY disadvantages both of which i shall cover another time. The one thing we did not build was the built in cupboards and wardrobes. Actually we didn't build a lot of things straight away.

 Originally when there was only 4 of us I had decided that built ins were ugly and so I had My Beloved knock down the block wall separating two rooms to make it one and was quite happy with those white melamine wardrobes you can buy from just about everyman and his dog these days.

 Having grown up with a Brick & Block Layer as a father, for me everyone built their own homes just like a mechanics daughter assumes all men can fix cars or a rich girl thinks everybody loves her, so I fought hard with My Beloved about everything we did or did not do and early on built ins were 'ridiculous' and 'our house' would be different. ( If only I could go back and slap that younger me with 2 kids senseless!)

 After a few more years and and a few more kids I started to realise that built ins would actually be a really awesome and handy (understatement of the year) household feature. By then though My beloved was working away three weeks a month and on the weekends he was home he was too tired and just wanted to relax and be with family.

 So began my love affair with 'collecting' storage furniture. The term collecting actually makes it sound more than it is. The correct term would have to be hoarding i think. I had so many wardrobes, bookshelves,chests cubes, desks and even milk crates over the years as storage that it is actually quite depressing looking back.

 Family would give us some, or the many garage sales Adam would try so hard to keep me away from also kept me well supplied. Some I even 'had to have' and put on store credit, others i found at the local 'recycling shops' but we all know what it really is... the Dump!! (THE most environmentally friendly way of shopping. It is becoming acceptable, even Home Beautiful magazine had an article and house featured with 'stuff from the dump', the term is re-purposing.)

 12yrs later I have a grand total of 2 built in cupboards (and 3 spaces for the built in wardrobes that may well take another 12yrs to get) in a very basic wood work as My Beloved is not really a woodwork kinda guy! I have the house upside down whilst sorting everything into my plastic tubs and have come to the realisation I need those built ins...A.S.A.P.