It has been an extremely busy first week in our new home, we really wanted to make the most of it. And we did! We have been non-stop working, almost around the clock and we have got so much done. We are really happy with the hard work. I thought I would do some before and after photos to document week 1. I love making our home, it’s a lot of fun.

Day 1 before and after

On day 1 we focussed on the kitchen and stripping Noahs bedroom. We hadn’t anticipated how long it would take to strip Noahs bedroom, we had to take off layer 1 and then wait for an industrial steamer for the rest. The kitchen had 2 coats of white and needed a third.

Day 2 before and after

Today, it was just Hubby and I. We hired an industrial steamer and got Noah’s bedroom stripped and did a coat of white. We then managed to get Isla’s room done too. I also did the final coat in the kitchen. It looked nice and bright when we had finished.

Day 3 before and after

We had a lot of help today to get our jobs done. The bedrooms were all painted. They needed quite a lot of coats. I think we managed 4 coats throughout the day. We also started stripping the living room. The wallpaper was thick with paint from over the years and with all the rooms the top layer came off quite well. However, it left an under layer which would only come off with the steamer. We got there. It took the entire day to strip.

Day 4 before and after

We had a huge heap of help today, 6 adults working to get the living room painted, bedrooms glossed and furniture removal from old property to new. It was a very busy day. The living room had a few coats but still needed one more and glossing – which we left.

Day 5 before and after

I had to go back to work today, but Hubby was off so he worked with my mother-in-law to finish the glossing and painting. Where the radiators had darker colours painted on them it took a couple of coats to finish the gloss work.

Day 6 before and after

Today we finished the living room and I managed to gloss it in the evening. Not ideal, painting in the dark but that was the only time I had to do it. It looked so much better when the woodwork was glossed. It was a browny cream before hand and looked really dirty when we had painted the walls. We also made the children’s beds up so that they could sleep in their rooms. It’s starting to feel like home now. The major renovation today was the bathroom wall. It started off the day as a toilet and shower-room, it finished off as one big room and looks so much better. I cannot wait to get my roll top bath!

Day 7 before and after

We started moving around the furniture so that it was all in place. We moved the sofa into position and we started to sort our wardrobe space out. We have a huge fixed wardrobe, which is really useful but we need to paint it as the doors are a really dark wood. Another job to do!

We have been really lucky to get all of this done in a week. We have had a lot of help with childcare and with the projects too – we wouldn’t have got so much done without it. I have never felt so grateful!

By the end of the week we had a working kitchen, bedrooms and a living room:

Our next steps are to get all the furniture and bits from the other house and finish off tidying up the new house. Then we need to get an electrician and plasterer in for the bathroom and I want to paint the kitchen doors! I would love to know your thoughts on making our home in the comments below.

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