Elephants eating Humble Pie: Wk 9 – Day Five

It hasn’t escaped me that when I get back to London there are two rather dirty jobs awaiting me….those dreaded banisters and doors. I think I had forgotten them for a while as the focus turned more positively to what was being done rather than what was definitely not. When O and I departed for our extended refuge away we left walls battered and scarred following days subjected to instruments of wallpaper cruelty. The ones we’ll return to will bear no evidence of this and will instead look radiantly teracotta-ed. The builders were still very much ruling the roost as we left but they will have forgotten all about wastes, chimneys and the steels needed to support these and instead will be sipping mojitos on sunbeds in Mexico. The patio was in its very early stages, the earth sliced back and stone anticipatingly stacked and now, as you saw this week, its very much in situ. Those doors however – abandoned midway through a blow torching session as nursery collection time was nigh – remain untouched. The banister, aborted mid paint removal for probably the same reason may well still be cellophane wrapped – a procedure recommended for 24 hours after the first application. Its been 700. A layer of the stripper will need to be applied to first remove the cellophane before I can resume tackling the paint. I fully expect them both to turn to me, eyebrows raised, and say “my turn is when?”.

The trick will be to be elusive in my reply. Realistically the banister will remain in its packaging and the doors awaiting a bloody good sand until we sort the floor sealing, mist coating and painting. As I gorge on humble pie having grossly underestimated C, the kitchen floor is lying ready for its first coat of hardwax oil as is the snug. Which means that in order to be prepared for the kitchen arrival at the end of next week both S an I will need to get busy with our respective paintbrushes…me on the walls and him on the floors. So despite already having started the procrastination and not yet even being onsite, perhaps, come next week, I should make a promise to embark on those two unsightly elephants cluttering up the room. Ill be answerable to you…

Until I’m home and can crack on and do..I’m choosing to fill my headspace embarking on some ‘virtual’ moodboarding of the lounge. This morning samples of wallpaper, paint and carpet were ordered and I spent the day….or rather a number of hours in the car when I wasn’t brought to a standstill having near-missed a daredevil duck, contemplating how it all might come together. I’ve said before that I’ve always felt ill at ease in our lounge, a feeling which started to change for the better as we stripped away the nicotine-stained wall coverings. My goal is to transform it fully into a room where S and I can retreat as a couple at the end of a long day, away from the hullabaloo of family life. That’s a big ask…and it’s a project I know I can get wrong but Im hopeful…

Arne Jacobson wallpaper – sample ordered –

as above

David Hicks ‘Hexagons’