Toni has suggested that I do a "renovation diary", and as I don't really have anything much to write about, I may as well.
We have had three "tasks" we have assigned ourselves to complete in the next few months. The first one was installing a new toilet. The existing one was old and tired, the cistern leaked, and we just didn't like it. So we purchased a toilet, which came highly recommended from Q's work mate (he had just bought and installed it and raved about it). We were told it was a piece of cake to install, so we decided to do it ourselves. I did a bit of research about installing toilets, and realised that the standout of our existing toilet was probably further from the wall than what the new one required. We decided to put the toilet together and just see what happens. As it turns out, there was a 40mm difference. The workmate reckoned we could just fudge it and make it work. We realised it would be too difficult, so decided to get a plumber to move the pipes around. We installed the toilet (and when I say "we" I mean "Q"). It's fantastic, and I realise that I must sound like a loser getting so excited over a toilet, but the old one was just so horrible. So that's one item checked off our list.
Old toilet
New toilet
The second task is to remove the horrible pink wallpaper and wood panelling in the lounge and paint. We are well aware that this will probably not be simple, as the gib under the wall paper might not be good enough to paint over. But we'll have to wait and see till the wallpaper is off, and we might have to spend a bit of money stopping and prepping etc. We plan to have it done by the end of the year so we've got plenty of time to do a good job. Last weekend we bought ourselves a "paper tiger" each, which you roll over the walls and it puts holes in the wallpaper, which means the wallpaper remover solution can seep into the holes and make it easier to get off (hopefully). So we've started doing that, and well it looks pretty bad. But things are going to get worse before they get better, so we just have to deal with it!
Here's a pic of what the wallpaper looks like after being "tigered".
The third item on the list is to pull out all the gardens and demolish garden-related objects so we have a blank canvas. As the weather hasn't been very good, we haven't had much opportunity do do much, but as spring approached hopefully we can get out there and finish it.
