Fabrics and finishes

Voyage Chantal in Mulberry was chosen for the only curtains in the house........

This fabric pear was a Christmastime purchase from Snapdragon. Oak, reflections, glass and textures in the master bedroom.


Below the fluffy mongolian sheepskin cushion sits on top of a lilac cube enhanced by trimmings and embroidered pieces from the Voyage Eden used on the headboard....as lovingly sewn on by our friend.


Bright breezy and beautiful Voyage Eden Multi fabric used on bed headboard.


Sanderson Honesty Victoria Plum in a linen/cotton mix was used on the 1.8m wide blind for the master bedroom.

One year since moving here


It was one year ago this week that we moved from our old house, a Victorian sandstone place, into the caravan here. As we turned the key in the lock it started raining but we laughed as we set out on this journey of housebuilding. I know there are a few people reading this who are just commencing on that journey so I just want to say its so worth it, although unquestionably hard work, and to keep plugging away as you will get there. One year on and we're unpacking our worldly goods which have mainly been stored in one of the outbuildings here. Thankfully no damage has come to them after 12months+ of storage.

The newell caps are one of the snagging items - the design is excellent being square with a shadow band but unfortunately someone at the manufacturer has used indelible pen to mark the house name/contract number on the top. No-one is actually looking to deal with this so we're going to see if a joiner friend has any ideas. I think sanding it off isn't going to work as the pen has absorbed into the wood. Our on-site joiner tried rubbing it down but I think its one of those small items that we will end up sorting out as no-one else is 'taking ownership'!


These pics are of various internal finishes. There are lots of reflective surfaces, black glass and oak on the hall wardrobe illustrating the light coming through the windows in the dining area. The 'flowers on the wind' stickers coming from the velux window are from Pedlars. Door handles from Carlisle Brass. We bought all our velux blinds online at Bumblebee Blinds who seemed competitive and were certainly efficient.

Not quite there yet...

The sensibilities of moving in tomorrow aren't really there as progress has been quite slow since our builder went on holiday last week. He's a very good project manager so I think it would all look a little further advanced if he'd been around. We perhaps 'ought' to wait another week but....the jobs fill the time available and Steve and I need to move in. The kitchen is messy but there isn't much left to do there and we could reasonably use it at the weekend after a good clean. The childrens' bedrooms are being carpetted tomorrow so we'll get their furniture in and blinds fitted on Saturday if possible with a view to that being our first night.

The granite worktop was fitted last weekend, just 2 weeks after templating, and we're very pleased with the result. The team were a very pleasant trio from Estonia and Lithuania. The plastic protective wrap on the doors and drawers is coming away on this photo and together with the general high dust and grime levels doesn't inspire but we reckon on using this kitchen this weekend. The caravan hob is just about adequate and the oven ok only for warming stuff. Last summer it took nephew Tommy Boy nearly an hour to part bake/part burn a pizza. We have managed to cook a good selection of food over the past 9 months, we've even entertained a few times, but a real kitchen is now beckoning.


Here's the wood shed (the biomass store!) which has been constructed from salvage timber, notably the joists from the original house and an oversupply of sarking board.The roof elevation will be approx 2/3 covered by the solar panels.

Latest.....

The patio area around the southwest corner of the house - sunspot for summer days and evenings. It will be topped with black limestone slabs which are due to arrive on Wednesday-ish.
After much delay the American blond oak staircase has arrived but is needing some adaptations by our onsite joiner. The timber is beautiful though and despite the general mess in the house is one of the final landmarks in the building of the house.
The above photo is of the porch area by the front door. We've continued the larch cladding in this area which looks good with the height created by the continuation of the roof line. Jim the electrician is fitting the lights we've bought in the next day or so and this includes one to uplight this area, low energy of course!
Herewith the slate flooring in the family room which attaches to the kitchen/dining. I felt most sorry for the tiler who is trying to lay 82sqm of slate tiles whilst all around are busy with their own trades, typically on Friday this numbered around 12-15 people. At one point he locked the front door so no-one else could come in. The above slating has not been sealed but the bathroom has and the finish looks super. The floor will need resealing every 3-5 years but as this can be done with a mop and bucket it doesn't seem too onerous.

Internal and External Finishes

We have had snow in the early part of this week but this isn't it! Here we're got the roughcasters flinging the wet dash render onto the east elevation. You can see where they completed one area at the end of last week as the mix dries whiter than when it is applied (thankfully otherwise we'd have a magnolia house!). Its a very messy task.

The larch cladding on the SW corner - this is really looking fabulous and we're very pleased with the choice of timber, its profile and the joiner's work. The timber frame company haven't been doing such a good job on the timely supply of the correct quantities of materials but this appears to being resolved after many calls from our builder. The timber itself has come from Russwood who are based in North Perthshire.



Not a great photo because of the light bounce but this is the toile negro tile which we choose for the ground floor bathroom. It looks terrific in place, especially in the shower with a single spot shining down.


one ensuite shower area


paint colour Winter Teal 5 for Finlay's room.......Dulux have done a fine job with that colour matching and shading/colour depth system as its a terrific marketing tool in providing the customer with thousands of options....so all our paint colours are coming from them and the marketing tool has worked!

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