Staircase to Heaven?

Ah, yes, the staircase! 

You may think I have ideas above my station, but I'd always wanted a beautiful stone, winding staircase, with metal balustrading and slender Georgian handrail.  And so that's what we're trying to achieve, although it will be no mean feat if we manage to do it on budget.  The staircase up to the second floor will be in wood, but with the same balustrading to continue the theme through and link both together visually.

Sadly, one of my suppliers, a creative and talented metal craftsman, who was going to do the balustrading for us, has bowed out of the project.  We're therefore relying on one of Steve Osborne's suppliers, to come up with the goods and I do have a concern that they won't be able to come up with exactly what we want. We shall see ... watch this space!

At the moment, a wooden structure has been erected, onto which concrete will be poured to form the stairs and this will then be clad in stone.  Again, another worry I have, having visited a show house built by another local and very well known property developer in the area (no names, in case I get sued!), is that because some of the steps will be curved, the stone will have to be cut to fit and it looked really ugly the way the developer had done it in the show house.  I have voiced my concern to Andy, but he is confident that the supplier will do a good job and that the joins will not be visible.  I use the same stone supplier and they are very good, so will be keeping a close eye on what's going on!

Paul and I visit site on an almost daily basis and every day there is a little more to look at.  With Christmas almost upon us, it feels like such a long time ago that we were decorating our tree in a house that doesn't exist anymore!

Henry steps up to the mark at the end of term!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

It's been a month of decision making for Paul and me.  With only block walls and concrete floors as a guide, it can be difficult to make choices so early on in the build, such as bathroom layouts in the roof, when you're not quite sure what the angle of pitch is going to look like.  It's an endless balancing act, trying to achieve the highest quality in the overall product and design, against the inevitable cost that comes with it.

We've finally chosen our kitchen supplier, after having worked with two different companies on the project.  It's been a tough call between the two, as they are both extremely good quality brands.  Alex Beaugeard, from Mark Wilkinson Kitchens, is my contact there and a designer with creative flair, who I've known for a while.  Alex knew that it has always been a dream of mine to own one of their kitchens.  At the end of the day, however, we decided to go with Extreme Design and my contact, Jamie Harding, as logistically it was perhaps more practical (Steve Osborne is using Extreme Design for the house at the bottom of the garden and one across the road which he is also building).  I'd given both Alex and Jamie the same brief, so the designs were more or less identical - I'm going for a 'New England' look, which I hope will prove both timeless and appropriate in either a modern or more traditional setting.  Jamie is great to work with and extremely enthusiastic about the project.  As a passionate cook, the appliances were as important to me to get right as the kitchen furniture itself and I've opted for Sub-Zero and Wolf products.  As well as looking beautiful, the kitchen will be a real work-horse, so investing in some heavy duty appliances will hopefully pay off.

Other decisions now made include external doors and windows (although the front door supplier has not yet been chosen), which should be installed in January, the audio visual specification (we will get services installed for certain elements we can't afford to do at the moment, but may want to do later, finances permitting) and I'm currently trying to bring our sanitaryware quote down to within budget, which is not proving easy, as the things I like always seem to be too expensive!!

Bricks, Mortar .... and Shortbread!

How do you ensure your builders tackle their work with gusto and do a top notch job?  You bake them copious quantities of shortbread, flapjacks, triple chocolate muffins, carrot cake, lemon drizzle cake ...

Spaghetti Junction!

The electricians were first through the door and are now most of the way through their first fix. I popped up to London to visit John Cullen in the King's Road in London for some lighting inspiration. It's a great showroom to visit, where you can see different scene settings and the staff are extremely helpful. I took away some samples to show the head electrician on our project.  Choosing the right fittings and the positioning of them is key. One of my pet hates is seeing 'runway' lighting strips in ceilings. So many new builds seem to have this and often it's overkill. Lighting should be there to create mood and drama, as well as provide good ambient and task lighting. 

Two very good books on lighting, which I've pored over are The Lighting Bible and Perfect Lighting.  Both of these contain great ideas and recipes for lighting different  scenes and objects and are well illustrated.


Even choosing the right sockets and light switches has been important to me, as I wanted to find something elegant, that would stand the test of time and not be too commercial looking.  Do you go with chrome/brass with black or white inserts?  I decided on white inserts, as most of the flex from table lamps will be white and they will blend in better with the wall colour.  However, if you were going with dark coloured walls, then black may be the way to go. I would prefer to go with the screwless plates, but this would blow the budget, so will have to bite the bullet on that one.

The plumbers and carpenters are also working their way through now.

That's Life!

Well, it's been a long time since my last blog and so much has happened. Apologies for the delay, dear reader (if there is anyone still out there who hasn't lost the will to live, waiting for an update!). I'm afraid day to day life has got somewhat in the way of my literary ambitions.

I came down with a bad chest infection, which lasted a good three weeks and have been trying to play catch up with clients ever since, in the run up to Christmas. Seems everyone wants furniture/curtains/blinds, etc. in before the festive season, so work has been pretty manic recently.


However, thanks in no small way to Jon, our Site Manager, I'm back on track with bits and pieces to report re progress on the build.

Externally, the house is looking good, but we are assured that there is still a long way to go and things will only get busier. The majority of the brickwork is now completed and the timber roof structure is up. The roofers have insulated between the rafters and the breathable felt membrane has been fixed down with batten. This is an important stage to have reached for the builders, because we are now dry inside (hooray! just looking out the window as I write, I don't think I've ever seen so much snow!). Work has therefore been able to commence internally.