The Upper Floor.

Firstly, to all of you that faithfully come to www.thedunlins.com looking for the next blog, my apologies. No excuses really, other than I am very easily distracted at the moment by all things renovations like kitchens, bathrooms, door knobs, doors for the knobs to go on.... You get my drift?

I just had to start the blog with this photo. When I posted it to my Instagram and Facebook on the day the photo was taken it got loads sarcastic of comments, mainly due to my complete lack of PPE while using a nail gun. If I had really thought about it I may have done things a little differently, but in my defence, we had just arrived on site, and at that exact moment Will our brilliant carpenter was about to lay the last board. When he suggested we nail it down I was so excited I didn't give my attire or footwear a second thought. Nor did I stop to give Tim a chance to be in on the act and have a go with the nail gun! Once I got hold of that gun (again, in my defence, it was my first time), a bit like when you get hold of the karaoke mic, you hang on to it for as long as you can.

It was such a treat to see all the boards go down. Not only did it mean that the next lot of steels could be delivered and installed (safely), it also meant that Tim and I could get up there, walk around safely and start to see what views we would be able to enjoy from our new upper floor.

Laying the boards was one of the tasks that got completed really quickly, unfortunately, I have learnt that slower tasks usually follow. Sort of like those dance steps, "quick, quick, slow"😂

Here is "Himself" keeping, what grass we have left and can still get at, tidy. As I have said before we are fortunate to have been able to keep a good chunk of the original garden. Again, if you look closely you will see that Tim was also so excited about cutting the grass he forgot his safety shoes 😂

Here is a little glimpse of one of the views we will have from our upstairs lounge:

I thought putting the boards on would make the house feel really small again, but really did'nt, in fact it had a really nice feel to it.

If you follow me on instagram @thedunlins, you will have seen how excited I was to have the stone work start around the front entrance. I knew I would love it, but wow, it's even better than I had imagined. It still has to be finished and the cleaned off once the front door, windows are fitted and the scaffolding is down, but I think you will agree, it already stands out beautifully. Ben & Dan from @cornwall_stonemasonary_ltd are a very talented team. Their next task will be the stone around the garage and adjacent walls once the garage is completed.

Kitchen, Utility/Boot Room planning is now well underway. We ordered our Everhot 150i (its very much like an Aga, but made in the UK) some time ago, last year in fact, but could not make up our mind on a colour. After much consideration and what feel like dozens of paint samples we are going for the colour Aubergine, to tie to the kitchen Island that will be painted in Farrow & Ball Paean Black. The units on the perimeter and in the utility will be Farrow & Ball Cornforth White, set off with satin brass and black cabinet furniture and Calacatta Gold Quartz. These 3D's give a little bit of an idea of what it will look like.

Love this shot! I woke up to this on my WhatsApp on the Monday of week 29. It was taken and sent to me by our neighbours Marie & Twydd. Our second lot of steels had clearly arrived 😳

Although it was great to see the steels going up, I was a little worried as it seemed to look more like a bridge than a roof!

The silver bit in the photo below (the galvanised steel) is the dormer and where our 6 metre wide sliding doors out onto the balcony will be. Definitely looks like a bridge from this angle!

The carpenters arrived and we got to see some roof trusses put place. I think you will agree that it is still very difficult to see what the roof will look like. This is the middle section with Dormers at front at back.

Our lovely Trebarwith stone coming along nicely. I know I have said this already, but I am so pleased with the stone, but more importantly the way it has been laid by Ben and Dan from @cornwall_stonemasonary_ltd.

I want to do something a little bit wacky in the smallest room in the house, the Guest Powder Room 😉, so I have been looking at the sinks from The London Basin Company. I love the sink below in particular. It has an oriental feel to it, so I have been browsing wallpapers that might compliment it. Although it might seem a bit early to be thinking about things like this, the lead times for special items can be as long as 12 weeks so it's worth starting early.

We are having underfloor heating downstairs, but need to find some unobtrusive radiators for upstairs. Something low and horizontal to go under the eve's in the bedrooms and long and thin to tuck into the corners of the upstairs lounge and study.

This is the last block wall to be built downstairs. All the other walls were finished ages ago, but this couldn't be done until the steel was in place. The steel has been in for a couple of weeks now, but for some reason Paul was doing anything but getting it built, he kept saying it was for a raining day. Tim ribbed him so much he gave in and built it on a sunny day 🤣

Well that's it for now, until next time.....

Stay safe and happy X