Sorting stuff out

Afternoon ladies.  I'm afraid I have nothing crafty to show you.  Again.  I really do need to sort myself out!  Unfortunately, I haven't got time.  I got up this morning and took 6 rubbish bags of rabbit poo to the tip, then I cleaned out the bunnies and took another 6 bags of rabbit poo to the tip.  I came home and started painting some shelves, then had to sort my husband out as he's locked the car keys in the boot and we don't have a spare set!  Luckily I remember my breakdown insurance had expired... I renewed it 2 days ago!

That's Tiff chewing through the "window" of the cardboard "castle" I'd made for the bunnies.  Anyway, I thought I'd drop in and tell you about the home-sorting challenge I'm involved in and show you some pictures of what I'm working with.  I know it's a bit off topic and I usually write about crafts, but this will have a crafting element to it and to be honest, if I don't publish these pictures, I don't think I'll get round to doing anything about my mess of a home.



Cherry Heart is running Pretty Crafty Home which is all about sorting out your home, getting rid of clutter and adding handmade touches - so it is sort of about craft.  I bought my house 4 years ago, it had been a student house for about 15 years and it showed.  Brown or red carpets through, textured wallpaper that'd been painted over with about 25 coats of GLOSS, chipped and peeling wood-work, brown bathroom suit (yes, brown!), ancient kitchen... 

The plan was always to do it up, but time and money have kind of got in the way.  So far we've only really painted what is now my craft room (because my cousin lived with us for a while and we couldn't ask her to pay rent the state it was in) and my step-daughter's room, and done some work to the living room / dinning room.  Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures of the downstairs as the pictures were on my laptop which was stolen in a burglary about 3 years ago. 

The following photos are of the dining room and living room as it is now.

Originally, there were two rooms downstairs, as is common in Victorian houses (my house was built in 1884) but we knocked through to make one large, light room and added a coat cupboard as Victorian houses lack storage.  Above is the tip of a dining room.  I decided not to clean it up as it will look even better when I show you the "after" pictures!

Bit orange that one.  There is a chimney breast and two alcoves.  We've fitted the alcoves with bookshelves and I've painted the shelves on the left.  I'm currently painting the shelves to the right (just waiting for Mr CA to come home with some more paint before I can continue - after he gets back in the car...), then we'll finish loading them with books.  You can see my little computer desk above which is where I'm sitting now.

This room is painted and has the wallpaper and floor done, all that remains to do is the shelves and the beading.  Then I'll add a touch of homemade.  I'm thinking of painting the furniture white, making curtain tie-backs, chair seat cushions, table cloth etc.  The oven will be in the kitchen when Mr CA gets round to sorting it out...

Here's the view into the living room.

Oh, and the kitchen door needs painting and putting back on its hinges!

The living room is also done bar the beading (I've now been waiting 2 years for Mr CA to do that!).  I'm thinking of painting the coffee table in here, adding a crochet blanket or two, some more cushions...

And some more shelves to the right of the fireplace.  See the fireplace?  It's beautiful, it's made of slate and is divine.  The previous owner had painted it gloss white.  It took weeks to strip it back and I love it.

Definitely room for something hand made here.

I'm thinking the curtains look a little boring - I could embroider them? 

So there we go.  Here is my home at the moment, stay tuned to find out what it turns into.  And no, it wont be next week!