Due in-part to the warm, but wet weather and in-part by the desire to complete the work by the Christmas deadline I set myself, December has been dominated by work to box-in the thermal store and build a cabin bed in the second bedroom.

These subjects have already been pretty well covered elsewhere – I’ve drawn up plans and posted about the initial construction of the cabin bed. I’ll be writing in detail about finishing the cabin bed soon – there are just a few finishing touches to complete. I also hope to put together a set of generic Sketchup plans for building something similar. All-in-all it’s been a really enjoyable process, I’ve found working with timber to build a large, solid fixture to be really satisfying. As I could have predicted ahead of time, the least enjoyable aspect of the build (as anyone who follows me on Twitter where I’ve moaned plenty will already know) has been getting the two sets of wardrobe doors to hang straight and true (and they still don’t – that’s one of the main outstanding tasks).

But doors aside, I (& most importantly my son) are pretty happy with the results – the pirate ship / cabin bed is almost ready to sail. I’ll leave you with an image of the almost completed build…

From Barn Conversion 2011

Beside that I put up some kitchen blinds and salvaged a piece of wood that I’ll use as the basis for a high-level shelf in the kitchen. Pretty poor show really, but Christmas tends to slow down progress…

Happy New Year!

We completed the fencing around the shed in November – the gate latches and catches are all in place. It will certainly be an improvement when the field next gets residents. After much trial and error and eventually giving up only to find it was fixed, I got the satellite dish back into action.

The tile-topped boxing-in in the bathroom (wooden frames, with painted sides and a slate and mosaic tiled top) has stalled. I’ve built all the constituent parts and I now just need to get the impetus up to assemble and finish. The reason for my distraction has been my deviation to the world of wood…

I’ve already written quite alot about my fledgling forays into carpentry. Suffice to say that my first project was to build some shelving to fit in the under-the-stairs area and that came out pretty well even if I do say so myself – under the stairs shelves. The second project, started in the last couple of weeks of the month has been to box in the thermal store and build a cabin bed in the second bedroom. I’ve drawn up plans and made pretty good progress having made a start on the base of the bed and the two large frames that will form the ends of the cabin bed. More on this soon…

In like a bullet this month, no messing about…

My tile-topped boxing-inin the bathroom (wooden frames, with painted sides and a slate and mosaic tiled top) has grown and expanded – it now runs between the sink and toilet, then further across to the ‘other’ side of the toilet. Three square feet of vanity case storage! I just need to finish painting, fixing and smartening them up a bit.

Getting the back-lit mirror working in the ensuite… has been a big failure so far… I’m keeping away from that job for the time being. Grrrrr electrics.

The fencing around the shed in the field is pretty much done, just the fastenings for the gates to complete. I can then fix the now horse proof satellite dish.

I’ve recently turned my hand to carpentry. I’ll be writing further posts on this over coming weeks and months. Suffice to say that my skills are ‘developing’. The first project is to build shelves under the stairs. These will have a dual role, providing storage and boxing in the unsightly underfloor heating manifold.

I’ve also spent quite a bit of time tidying the yard. I’ve shifted a lot of the flag stones that were out there to the garden ready to build my second patio. Much of the left over sand and stone has gone to finish filling the trench that carries the sewage pipe and satellite dish cable from the barn to the field. I’ve also built a temporary log store using a left over sheet of corrugated iron and the remaining bricks that were ‘reclaimed’ from the barn floor. Things are slowly improving out there.

After my post about lots of befores made up of pictures of locations before I started work on them here’s another after…

This photograph is a bit of a cheat… I’m really pleased with the second bedroom now that it’s been painted and had an oak floor and a radiator cover fitted, BUT it’s virtually impossible to take a photograph that does it justice. The shape of the room doesn’t help, the light in the room doesn’t help and the straight lines of the flue, window, radiator cover and curtain rail throw an odd angle or strange perspective into every picture I’ve taken. So, I present a slightly cheaty, mean and moody, edited ‘slice’ of the second bedroom.

The next job in this room is to build the cabin bed that I’ve promised my son. I’ve just had a couple of carpentry and joinery books delivered from Amazon to supplement the old school text book that I found in my fathers house. A couple of jobs to finish and I really need to learn how to use my electric router before I can start.

Second Bedroom

BEFORE

From Barn Conversion 2011

From Barn Conversion 2011

AFTER

From Barn Conversion 2011

With a week in Cornwall and no major pieces of work spurring me on, progress in September has been pretty lack-lustre…

The Juliet balcony is completed, I even finished off the heads of the bolts with small black covers for a neat and tidy job.

I fixed, finished and sealed the skirting boards in the second bedroom, now they just need a coat of paint.

I’m building some short, 12 inch wide ‘platforms’ that I’ll use to box-in the pipework in the bathroom. They are basically wooden frames, with painted wood sides and a slate and mosaic tiled top. I’ve made them so wide so that they can accommodate toiletries, makeup bags and the like and so provide somewhere other the floor to keep such items.

I’ve also finished grouting the rest of the bathroom tiling. I’ve used some sealant from (! amateurism alert !) Homebase for sealing the splashback. It gives a far gentler, less gloss finish than the professional product I’ve been using previously. I prefer the less glossy, thinner finish although it won’t be anything as like as hard-wearing, but should be fine for a splashback.

I’ve also been trying to get the back-lit mirror working in the ensuite… Working with electricity definitely needs to go on my list of ‘leave it to the professionals’ along with plumbing. I have voltage in the cables, but the light won’t come on… already been back to the drawing-board a couple of times and I think another visit is necessary.

With most of the work being done by S we’ve started putting fencing around the shed in the field. This is one of those overdue jobs that has risen to the top of the ‘to-do’ list spurred on by the latest inhabitants of the field – three large and feisty horses with a taste for satellite dish LNBs and banging heads against my slightly flimsy shed doors. Should be finished soon…