too many men in the house again........... the renovation continues

self portrait with 'brighton'

House renovation progresses slowly but surely. Men in the house again..........

The schedule of works goes something like this........

empty rooms and put furniture in storage

rewire whole house

get cracks repaired

get quote for new carpet

get painter in to paint rooms that had cracks; nearly every room in the house.

lay new carpet

Get furniture back.

Today it is the crack repairer and the carpet measurer.

I spoke to a man about his stress at work yesterday; he told me that he can make million pound decisions at work, yet can't make a simple decision about whether to go for a new job. The attempted decision making was making him feel ill.

I felt for him. Daily I make many decisions about other people, yet ask me to choose a paint colour for my hall walls, and I am a mess. I am too embarrassed to tell you how many match pots I have purchased in the last month. All the colours have wonderful names, and the little pots of paint are irresistible, but the proof of the pudding is in the testing.

confused.com

My grand plan was a bright shade of yellow or an airy turquoise for the hall, and other shades for the rooms that are currently devoid of furniture due to the need to repair the large cracks in the walls.

matchpots and curtain hooks

  

So far we have rejected

• custard; too custardy
• sunlight; too dingy.........does not do what it says on the tin
• ivory; too creamy
• rolling fog ; too brown and muddy
• rolling fog mid; can't tell the difference between that and rolling fog
• clay pale; too cold
• white lead; too white
• brighton; fabulous colour in my view, but other half hates it
• gentle sky; too blue and the pictures look weird against it
• natural calico; doesn't match the curtains

rolling fog is rapidly ruled out

Other half doesn't know whether to speak his mind or keep quiet, knowing how these decisions are beginning to affect my health.

Having ruled out all bright colours in favour of calming neutrals, I proposed a splash of colour for the fireplace. OH let slip this week that 'he is not sure about the blue'. I am not sure whether we are ever going to agree about anything related to interior decorating. If he had his way I'd be living in a Victorian melodrama, whereas I would prefer something a touch more contemporary and possibly even 21st century.



Lest you think I am wittering on about some small cracks...........here is the repair in action

the crack

crack with ladder in shades of yellow and blue

mesh repair

The good news is that the crack repairer man is one of the tidiest workmen that I have ever come across.

Last night I came across him washing my floor. I have never before seen this sort of behaviour from a builder. He gets a gold star.

By tomorrow the cracks will be sorted.


The bad news is that the painter can't start work for another month. And my back up painter can't either.

So the tax dodging dodgy man that put all our worldy belongings into a store somewhere between here and the Dartford tunnel gets more cash on a weekly basis, and I do extra work to pay for the privilege.

It might be finished by Christmas.