{quotable thursdays}

my goodness it's been a month! I've had two huge publication deadlines along with a move and renos and redecorating and ...
I'm just about to meet the last of the two deadlines today and I can't quite underline how exhausted I feel!
The only words I have for my ability to get through this month are:

{Mandela}

Phew! I can't believe I actually made it through. Of course, now work will pick up again and get super busy and I still have renovations to do on the house...but like the little train, I think I can, I think I can!

{onwards!}

Any plans for the bank holiday weekend? I think I'll likely be finding myself painting the hall!

pics to come!

xx

L

{quotable thursdays}

I can't believe it's been a week since I moved into the house!
It has been a busy time trying to unpack and get settled, but it's starting to feel like a home--my home! Today the rest of my appliances arrived, so I'm now with fridge, washing machine & dishwasher...life is starting to feel like normal!
Lots of decorating and more renovating to do, but all in time!

{an empty room is awaiting a story!}

I have a feeling this house has a lot of stories to tell and there will be many more to come!

Here is my past week in pictures: 

{moving in and still needing to paint & remove some under carpet boards!}

{starting to feel at home!}

& finally some unpacking and getting settled... Built-in bookshelves and cabinets etc to come, so this is good enough for now! Please ignore the temporary bookshelves made out of boxes and covered with table cloths...or the plaster that needs painting due to some damp being fixed (which has to wait 4 weeks to dry)... picture rails also have to go up before I can hang many pics!

 Let's just remind ourselves what the lounge originally looked like!:

The bedroom still needs some unpacking and decorating, but it's getting there:

 & again, this is the before:

and finally, the sunroom which is now my (very messy study), has had a complete transformation. The last of the stripes to go! 

BEFORE: 

stay tuned for more!
x
L

{quotable thursdays-moving day}

{change}

While growing up, we'd pack up our things every three years, and sail around the world for a year. It was a fantastic childhood but it meant that my life was never sedentary, but rather nomadic. When I graduated from high school & went on to an undergraduate degree, I would spend the academic term in Vancouver and then pack up my apartment and move back to Victoria to work for the summer and live with my parents. After undergrad, I moved to London for a year for my MA. Following that I was in Montreal for 1.5 years where I began my PhD, I then moved to Italy for 9 months, then Vancouver for 3 years to write up & finish my dissertation & start my first teaching job (where I lived in two apartments & two houses). I then moved to upstate New York for a year, then to Vermont for just under two years, and then ended up in this flat in London for just over two years. All in all I can count 13 flats in my life!

But now? I'm moving again. The difference is I've bought a property! I have a feeling that I won't be in the house for the rest of my life, but I have a feeling it'll probably be longer than three years. Wow! to live somewhere longer than three years. I can't imagine it!

{unfortunately I don't look so glamorous. But Simla does!}

So today is moving day... & off I go on a new adventure. I always get a bit emotional when I move. You reflect on the life that you've lived in that place.You become aware that your daily activities will now become memories of that place--the corner store you buy your milk, your walk home from the tube, bus, or what-have-you...your local grocery store. The strangers you often see regularly in the 'hood.
Farewell North London, I'm excited about building a new life in Leighton Buzzard!
xx
L

{new house-the beginnings!}

Hello blog readers!

Since I got the keys to the new house I've spent three days frantically painting, pulling up carpets & doing as much as I can do before I move in. I've taken a couple of days off of work, but I have two big publication deadlines looming, so it's all a bit crazy! I'm looking forward to blogging about all the renos and you joining me through this process!
After an initial stage of being overwhelmed, things are starting to come together, bit by bit...and I can start to see the future finished product. Of course this will be months, years even. But getting rid of some of the horrid stripes and removing the ugly carpet has already started to transform things!
Here are a few pics from the last week.
So I decided to tackle the bedroom first...
This is what it looked like when the previous owners lived in it--purple stripes and the bed was covering up the darling fireplace...

{how the owners had it previously}

Next I ripped up the carpet off the stairs and had to remove a million staples! Walls will DEFINITELY need to be painted, but all in time....

 I'll likely leave the wood at the centre and re-paint the sides of the steps.

& then the kitchen required an eradication of the red...the tiles still need to go and the cabinets need repainting and the hardware needs to be changed, but again, all in time!

{this is how the previous owners had the kitchen}

{painted walls white...much more needs to be done!}

Then the lounge...well the stripes had to go! how many coats does it take to remove stripes? only time will tell...

{as the owners had it}

 

I had to remove the carpet, and then all the carpet grippers, and then underlay, and under that were these boards...but finally, got down to the wood!

{hard at work!}

{gorgeous floor boards that just need some TLC. Eventually I'll open up this fireplace again}

{pile of carpets growing & growing...}

{early morning view from the guest bedroom}

& I finally took a break and went for a walk along the canal to the charming local pub!

{The Globe Inn--lovely seats outside on the canal in the summer months, charming cozy fireplaces inside in the winter. so very oldy worldly}

Until next time! (& by that time, I'll likely be moved in!)

xo, 

L

{quotable thursdays}

Hello Blogland!
I've been busy with painting and pulling up carpets! That's right, last week I got the keys to my new house and have started transforming someone else's house into my home!

{beautiful words from Morris}

Here are a few pics from the last week:

{got the keys!}

{the previous owners left me a bottle of prosecco to celebrate!}

& then I got to work! In the master bedroom, I painted the walls, pulled up the carpet (floors still need sanding & varnishing), replaced the lamp & curtains...

{BEFORE}

& VOILA: 

{AFTER!}

Certainly a lot more to do, but it's a start!

until next time, 

L