Finally ready for moving day….

Yes, it’s finally here. Now if we can just find the TIME to cart everything from the old (indoor) craft room to the new one… and do I call it a “craft cabin”, “craft cottage”, “craft studio”, or (on impulse) the “crafthaus”? We painted it early this week and thank goodness the weather has cooperated. It’s been dry and sunny, with just slightly warmer weather.

There is still a lot of work to do. I want some hanging baskets, container plants on the decking, landscaping around it, curtains inside, etc. The window and door trim was supposed to be a sort of russet/cedar/reddish colour but it looks brown with a little red. At this stage, however, I’m not too bothered. I just want to get IN it! The furniture from Ikea is coming next week, but in the meantime I want to get everything in it and sorted, ready to put away when the new stuff arrives. Overall, I’m a happy bunny!

Our kitchen also is almost done. We still have to get the walls tiled and painted, but overall we’re very happy with it. The only glitch was that our clothes dryer wouldn’t fit in the space provided, due to the tiling and the anti-cracking mat under the tiles. It’s not ideal, but we’re going to put the dryer in the garage for now and we’ve ordered another cabinet to put in the space. I’m not sure why two people should need so much storage space but we certainly do. It’s very sad, isn’t it???

This is one of my favourite additions… a slide-out pantry. Then next to it we have a traditional one. I’m not sure if it’s properly called a “larder” in the UK, but we would say “pantry” in the  U.S.

and fridge/freezer

It’s just so nice to be able to cook in the kitchen again! I never thought I’d ever get tired of eating out, but eventually (after nearly three weeks of it!) we did. On the few occasions we tried to cook at home in the microwave, we had to wash dishes in the bathtub! Not ideal!

So next week, we’re getting all the windows and doors replaced, and I hope also the kitchen tiled and painted. Then my stress level should return to normal. I’ve come to believe that if a couple can get through a remodelling without killing each other or getting a divorce, they can get through about anything. My poor husband must be a saint for putting up with me.

So then, perhaps soon I actually get back to blogging about crafting. I sure hope so as the creative urge is driving me up the wall.

Oh, the wait is killing me!!

Yes, I haven’t been able to start on the inside of the craft cabin yet. Our kitchen is nearly finished, to the point we have been putting our kitchen goods and food away all weekend. We don’t have as much extra storage as we thought we would, but it still looks good. The tiler has finished and now we are expecting the kitchen company to return tomorrow to put in the plinths and the stove, the builder to put in the skirting boards, and then we have to decide on wall tiles. The tile man suggests we wait until the window company replaces the large kitchen window before we do the wall tiles, so the kitchen won’t be COMPLETELY finished for awhile.

Now the cabin, which I shall refer to from hereon as “the studio”, is going to be painted tomorrow…. barring any unforeseen disasters like rain. I’m sooooooo ready to start moving my stash in and “nesting”. I’ve ordered two Expedit shelves from Ikea, along with a few more goodies, like the Ikea trolley below for all my tools:

(this one belongs to designer Heidi Swapp) so when that arrives (next week), work will begin in earnest. Saturday my two friends, Andrea and Diane, got to see it in its naked glory. Just wait, friends, and it will be truly a thing of beauty. Probably not until the end of October, however. I still have a lot to do, like curtains for one thing. I’ve been saving photos of other craft rooms on the Internet for inspiration, mostly from Pinterest and Houzz. Here’s my current favourite:

Unfortunately, I have no idea where this picture originated so if it’s yours, Dear Reader, please let me know.

Saturday I drove from here in the Kent hinterlands into London for the “Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show” at Alexandra Palace, with my friends Andrea and Diane (mentioned previously). We met up with another friend, Margaret, who had come on the train. We also had a quick word with our friend, Barbara, who was demonstrating for a craft company, and I got to see a good friend, Glen (AKA “Art Angel” on UK Scrappers), who is always so nice and friendly. I hadn’t been in a couple years so I really enjoyed it, despite all the complaints I heard. I spent plenty (three figures!) and got a couple of bargains. Mostly it was standard prices, but I love seeing everything first hand. It beats ordering online!

So, it’s all happening now…… watch this space, please. Thanks for stopping by.

It’s Here….

My new craft cabin is finally here. I still have to paint it with a preservative paint, build some steps for the decking, bury the electric cable, and build a path through the garden, but it’s up and it’s fab!!!

It was not without pain, however (see the story below). The cabin arrived on Wednesday, delivered by two young men who set about erecting it.

The dimensions are 5 metres by 4 metres, a pretty good size! The two men worked (loosely) all day until about 5pm. When they left, they said “See you tomorrow.”  Well, tomorrow came and no one showed up. After a few desperate phone calls to the cabin company, a couple of new guys showed up about mid-day. The story was that the original two had both called in sick. Hmmm. Unlikely, I thought, but by the end of the day we had SIX guys working on it. They left about 6pm and said they’d be back early the next day. This was supposed to be a two-day job, but I thought they’d surely finish it by the next morning. That was Thursday.

Friday morning came and again, no one appeared. Finally the electrician showed up and said he didn’t know where everyone was but that he’d carry on as he had experience building the cabins as well as the electrics. Loads of excuses and apologies from the company, but it didn’t help us and it didn’t help poor Andy! The poor guy worked from about 9:30am to 7:30pm, totally alone and in the rain. Bless him…. he finished most of it and left it at least watertight for the weekend.

Andy, the electrician, on the roof!

Then Monday, same story, same song. Only Andy until about 4pm when one other person came, soon followed by another. Finally, about 7pm, it was done. Here’s the final cabin (still to be painted, etc. of course):

Of course we have to wait for three days of no rain to let it dry out before we can paint ………. not sure when THAT will happen, however. This IS England in the Autumn, after all!

Now I have to move all my craft room out there, order some new shelves, make curtains, and then I can play! I’ll take some photos of the interior when I get all that done.