7 weeks to go....

Will we be able to move in on the estimated date of completion?? who knows, but so far so good although a few challenges along the way.

The windows have returned after being restored by Callaghan's - great job, they have been restoring the frames and re-fitting the windows during the last 3 weeks and finally we can begin to see the house taking shape.

So much happening on-site, the whole house has now been re-plumbed and central heating installed as there was any, each room in the house was previously heated by a variation of stoves.

We are fitting two solid fuel stoves in the two reception rooms and the original marble surrounds are being restored in the process all done by Buckley's.

The garage shed is finished and ready for cladding with larch. This will be a very simple contemporary and modern finish with an 'invisible' door.

As for the external painting, we have decided to keep the house pink for a number of reasons, one being to change the colour we would have to apply for planning which will add more time and we need to get the scaffolding removed. Secondly, I quite like the idea of keeping the pink although I am not a 'pink' girl, but kinda funny with my 2 boys and husband although my eldest thinks it's embarrassing :-)

We are all so excited about nearly being there and ready to move into our house. We left London nearly 2 years ago and have been waiting for this since end of November 2013 when we went sale agreed on the house, but it will all be worth it as we will have a very special home for our little family.

Here's a few pics from the last few weeks of progress

The view up the street from the scaffolding.

Restored windows going back in, frames being fixed painted etc - nearly as new!

My studio taking shape, concrete floor ready for polishing.

What shade of white to choose......

Garage Shed ready for Larch cladding.

Inspecting the roof structure - one of our main challenges......

David would love to add a balcony on top of the house but might have an issue with the conservation department......
 - nice view though on a sunny day!

The ' Challenge' old roof structure cut down and new fitted onto the old one about 10-15 years ago, but now adding uneven pressure on latch and plaster ceiling in boys room causing cracks.... 

A few wires.... from one socket in each room to well many more!. 

En-suite pod in the master bedroom ready for tiling and glazing to go in.

Windows, plumbing and wiring - all happening in the boys room.

Drawing room nearing finish.

Windows, chimney re-pointing, painting, roof inspections all happening on the scaffolding.

Restored window going back in - proper daylight again. 

My 50 shades of grey..... but which one??

Hall

Hall

We have a gorgeous hall in the house. From entering via the front door, you come into the main hall with the original arch which had some patio style doors installed (not originals) which have now been removed. We are planning on installing Crittal style doors in this arch for heat preservation as the staircase is big and very high with a huge window on the 1st landing which is approx. 3m tall so lots of light.

The ceiling of the stair case is beautiful barrel shaped with 3 ceiling roses. At present there is no ceiling lights but I think it would be stunning to hang some very simple bulb design lights from the ceiling rose by the window and a single pendant on ground floor and the top landings.

Below are some pictures of how it looks now as well as some images on the lights I have in mind.

View from top landing

One big window = lots of light

Hall stairs barrel ceiling  & roses

Buster & Punch - Nude 6.0 Lights

&Tradition  - Marble Light Pendants

Basement stairs & guest loo to be re-installed 

Doors gone - ready for new Crittal style doors to go in

Old hall doors - now gone

Bannister details - all original and in good condition

Demolition

The demolition or 'enabling' work as the architects call it is progressing nicely, and various engineers, conservation people and specialist contractors have been visiting to review the next steps ie. restoration and how to go about it in a sensible (economic) way.

All very fascinating, we had a walk round with the team recently and one of the floor boards in the 'Green' room was lifted to see what's underneath.

The Green room is in the oldest part of the house 16th Century and was apparently where the tower of Booterstown Castle was ie. the 4 walls of this room is the remains of the tower, and the rest is under our floor boards = big chunks of stone! This means that in order insulate under the floor, the boards now need to be lifted as impossible to get under the floor as hoped.

So if the budget escalates to much we could always sell off a few stones as historical artefacts :-)

Here's a few pictures from recent visits.

Green Room - under our floors, remains of Booterstown Castle's Tower

Kitchen being stripped back - we found a copper tank & boiler tucked behind the units

Kitchen - many layers of 50-70's wallpaper hidden behind the cupboards.

Patio doors in Hall and plaster boards under stairs - all gone!

The current view from my new basement office.

Basement nearly stripped out and ready for renovation, underfloor heating and polished concrete floor.

View towards to the garden.

Where the stairs will be re-installed to the basement and remainder Laundry Room.

Beautiful stone walls hidden behind the plaster boards - hoping to clean these up.

Basement Guest Room - Stone Walls to be given a good clean and maybe paint.

A few before pictures.....

Front door with original lock and key.

Hall Stairs - gorgeous window = lots of light

Stunning barrel ceiling, all 3 roses in situ.

Corridor/Wall - Into the Green Room

Family Room - big beautiful windows overlooking garden.

Doors into garden from Green Room.

Kitchen - will be getting a full makeover.

Planning Application

Planning application has gone in finally.... Should have an answer in 7-8 weeks. All we are looking to do is knock down the garage and extend parking area and replace with a modern wooden structure/shed. Also, adding a set of doors into the garden from the family room and the all important - Central Heating!