Kitchen Games Room

We finally decided on a kitchen table!  We had been using the Dining Room to eat in but although the table was left to us with the house it felt wrong to use it every day it is so beautiful.

The room off the kitchen was just a dumping ground to begin with because we didn't know what we wanted to do with it.  When we bought our living room suite we moved the old couches through to the kitchen room - it still doesn't really have a name I call it the back kitchen room I am not sure what it should be called.  

It was ok but I didn't like sitting in it and as we use the back door all the time this is the first room everyone sees.  My washing was also in here on rainy days on the airer and it was just an embarressment to me.  The kids were liking it for playing in - Eliza on the xbox or watching tv and Sturrock playing with his cars and toys.  It was also great to use for a sleepover - right next to the kitchen for helping themselves to food though 😟  We also have two budgies and this is where they have free rein so under the couches was very difficult to keep clean of feathers and mess because the couches are so heavy and the gap is very small the hoover doesn't fit underneath.

I woke up one Saturday and we were sitting having breakfast in the room when I told Grant I hate the room so much I want to change it and bin the couches.  He quickly agreed!

We didn't want to spend too much on the room because it would still be used in the same way - somewhere to eat and play.  Ikea online it was!

 Waiting for the delivery of furniture while the couches were gone - this seemed a long few days for Eliza not having a couch to lounge on playing the Switch!

 Grant went away for a week so me and my little helper built the Poangs from Ikea

 He needed a lot of little breaks though!

 Next we built the bookcase - wanted to move a lot of the books out of the bedrooms because with baby number 4 on the way we are having a shift around upstairs too!

 Eliza was a great helper

 The cabinet at the left is a shoe unit because they kept ending up in a heap in this room too.  The Trofast toy storage we have had since our last house but it works great in this room to keep Sturrock's toys together for playing downstairs.   Two comfy Poangs we have not been fighting over yet!

 The essential TV for gaming and watching Friends reruns...

 Our table we got from Great Furniture Trading Co and came with 2 benches and 2 chairs - we went for the bigger table because of our growing famiy and also I look after my nephews two days a week so this gives them all plenty of space to eat.

 I love how the bookcase has made us sit and read more books downstairs - we always read before bed but now we include it more as part of our day.  On top of the bookcase is some of the handmade wooden items I sell through Wairoa Wishes on Facebook or Instagram (Teepee, Clouds, Mountains and Name blocks).  There are rainbows on the photo before at the window also.

I am so happy with how the room has turned out and I use it much more now and want to be in it.  It also helps keep the rest of downstairs tidy because there are homes for everything that used to get left lying around. 

Here are a few pics of when we first moved in and how the room has transformed

                             Still our little helper ❤

Oh my god the sawdust was unreal here when all the work was getting done! 

 The couple who owned the house before us used the room in a similar way.  We closed off a door into the kitchen as there were two (where our tv sits now) and it meant in the kitchen we could fit a fridge freezer.  I am glad we did this - one of those decision you question and it keeps you from sleep!  We couldn't decide which door to keep open but this way works really well for us.  We are waiting on getting new windows fitted this month hopefully then we can decide about whether to get curtains or blinds.  We are lucky the house is really private so we have not had anything for over a year of living here but I think it would finish this room off nicely and be cosy for the winter.  Can picture me sitting feeding the new baby in the Poang reading to Sturrock....dream on!  What I can actually picture is Sturrock demanding me to put the baby down so he has my full attention.  He is a needy little 2 year old whose world will be totally shaken by the arrival of a baby brother or sister!  Wish me luck! 

Downstairs Shower Room

We have recently moved to a house that has two bathrooms.  I only had a downstairs bathroom in my last house.  With everyone's towels and showering accessories strewn everywhere it was difficult to keep on top of daily with the fear that a visitor would need to use the toilet.



Now I have the upstairs bathroom for everyone's cleaning needs and downstairs is way easier to keep organised for that desperate visitor (so far it has not happened but I'm ready for you! ⚥)  There was a shower already installed when we moved into the house and we wanted to keep it as a shower room because it is always handy to have two but so far we have all been using the upstairs bathroom so it's a win for me.  I would rather keep it that way than have to worry that my 7 year old has left shampoo streaks or my teenager's pants are left on the floor (I wouldn't make a surprise visit to my upstaiurs bathroom as you are quite frequently met with underwear 😷)

I am disappointed in my photography and that this is the only picture I seem to have of the 'before' but you get the picture.  Lovely lemon sink, matching toilet to the right hand side and that's the shower you can just see beside the sink.  This is mid destruction of the foam tiles that lined the roof.  The electrician came to see the house to see the work we needed done and he immediately switched the light off in here and told us not to use it again as they were sunken in downlighters that were touching (and heating up) the foam.  I am sure the people who lived here before never had an issue and hopefully Graeme was just being over cautious but we quickly got rid of that ceiling!  🔥🚒

Right under the stairs this little cupboard also has access to the foundations below

You could not make up the story we have about the shower tray.  It honestly took months of back and forth to finally get this blooming thing fitted!  We ordered two shower trays exactly the same for upstairs and downstairs.  With so many tradesmen in the house and deliveries every day the shower trays were signed for and we thought no more about it.   When it came to fitting the upstairs one the plumber realised they were two different tray sizes that had been sent.  I phoned the company and they said they would collect the tray and deliver another one (after a bit of a battle to tell them I had not ordered the wrong tray they had sent the wrong tray).  The next week came the day for collection and delivery - I received the correct sized tray and the boy took the wrong one away.  One day later while I was out a different driver came to the door and said to one of the tradesmen he was there to collect the faulty tray so unknowingly he gave away the correct shower tray to the second driver.  I came home to find out I now had no shower tray!!!!  Again onto the telephone to the company who could not understand what had happened.  Weeks went by with them trying to trace it and me having to phone over and over and explain the story to countless people before they finally sent me the correct tray.  We hid it away from anyone until it was time to be fitted :D That merry day came and lo and behold the bl##dy thing had a massive chunk out of it.  We could not face any more of the hassle so we got it fitted and now live with it :(   

 As it was least of our priorities with having an upstairs bathroom useable it looked a mess for a few months but eventually after the shower tray saga we were ready to get it organised.  We picked tiles from Wickes for the floor and two of the walls

The shower room is under the stairs like a little Harry Potter cupboard :)   My Dad painted the little cupboard white - this looks like the first coat. 

We got some panelling on the roof as it quite a low ceiling for the shower to be under and didn't want it to go mouldy (although I don't plan on anyone routinely using the shower anyway!)

 Shower screen on

 Sink fitted

 Toilet fitted and cupboard second coat of paint

 Finally looking more like a shower room

 Heated towel rail and some Maison du Monde towels

The steps leading down to the shower room from the lobby - we don't have a handrail as we are all used to it but both sets of parents have said we need one.  Do we???  It is quite dangerous...

 Added some finishing touches but it still needs more - going to paint the old tiles on the top of this cupboard white

I just washed and re-hung the little lace curtain that was originally there when we moved in because I really like it in the tiny window.  A Kilner bottle with a little bunch of carnations in it - I have always loved bathroom flowers.  Grant used to be quite offended when he gave me a bunch and I would put them in a vase in the bathroom but they really brighten it up.

 Looking for some bits and pieces to complete the room like a soap dispenser and toilet roll holder but otherwise very happy with the transformation

   

              ^^   BEFORE ^^                                                                   ^^  AFTER  ^^




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