Renovation project - we are invaded by giant blue smurfs!!!!!

Renovation project - we are invaded by giant blue smurfs!!!!!

Well I had thought the sanding was finished, but hey, guess what? It’s not, the floor is finished but now it’s time to do the windows. The windows in this room are double glazed but are still wooden and they have not been painted for many years.

I try the belt sander but it’s difficult to get around the edges and into the nooks and crannies so I have to use sand paper and do it by hand, once I am nearly finished John comes in and says that it would’ve been much easier if we had taken the window off, Oh Really, well I am so glad you have let me know now I have almost finished, how thoughtful of you!!! (Actually I said a lot more but the blog may get banned if I put language like that in it).

The window frames are on a hinge pin system which means you can just lift them off.

John removes the windows for me and I can now use the belt sander this is so much easier. The windows come up really well and are now ready for painting.

Whilst I was busy on the windows John looked at the walls to the top of the stairs, these are currently covered in big flower wall paper. John decides to give everything a coat of white paint. This is really useful as you can then see what really needs doing so we will know if we can just paint the walls or whether we will have to replaster them (this is the royal we, as if they need re plastering then it will be down to John).

The stairs are covered with dust sheets and John puts on a disposable suit, OMG he looks like a giant smurf, it’s so funny, my sides are aching with laughter as I try to take a photo, as you can imagine John is not amused, but I can’t miss this.

He gets going and works really well, as you can see he has really got into the swing of French health and Safety regulations.

The walls look really good when finished and we are not going to have to plaster, just patch up bits of tatty edges where the wall paper has peeled a bit.

When we first looked at the walls I thought they would need stripping and plastering and John tried to convince me that once painted they could look different, I didn’t believe him at the time, but it’s true. It really is a good idea to give a coat of white paint so that you can see just what needs doing.

The most surprising thing about this area is the landing, sense of space is a strange thing, when we bought the house we loved how big and spacious the landing was, when we took the walls down it was amazing but when we put them back up it seemed really small, dark and dingy but now that it is painted the area is really big again, I think I may have yet again another favourite part of the house.