The one about the living room

Hiya! Come on in, sit on one of these squidgy white sofas and I'll tell you the story of how this room went from looking like this....

....to this.....

 It all started one evening in March 2011 about four months after we had moved in to this little place of ours, our very first home. Husband had arrived home from work, dinner was done and dusted and the small people were asleep in their beds, when we decided that it would be a good idea to crack up a few tiles, just for shits and giggles. 

No, not really for shits and giggles because nobody in their right mind starts knocking up tiles just for fun. It was actually because we had planned to get started on it on the following weekend and we were clueless as to how to tackle the job....so it was really more of reconnaissance mission. 

After an hour and a half of chipping away with a chisel and hammer and getting nowhere fast, we decided that that was the chump way of doing it, packed up our tools and proceeded to look for better options.

If ever find yourself needing to smash up two layers of tiles covering a large area, let me tell you, your better options are quite simply an electric chisel, a sledgehammer and a shovel or two.

It also helps to be a little pissed off. And trust me, once you've been showered with a million pieces of flying tile debris, you'll be plenty pissed off.

Once we were finished pulling up the tiles and removing them to the dump, we thought the hard part was over. DIY renovating just sounds so much easier when you watch a YouTube video or ask the guy at Bunnings, you know? When it came to scraping the tile glue up we were advised to get a scraping tool and do it manually. Tried it, decided it sucked, hired a grinder from Coates Hire  instead....which sucked marginally less.

Then came the tiling. Which I can only describe as repetitive and time consuming. We just did it until it was done. 

 And then, that really was the worst of it over with. We could start on the redecorating process, which as I said in my post about our lounge room  really is a process. I painted this room in Dulux Fair Bianca, with half strength on the trims about two years ago and we added a white blind and curtains to the window about six months after that. The furniture has been changed around a few times in here because I just couldn't get it how I wanted it and I finally just this past weekend got my long awaited second Ektorp sofa from Ikea to complete the room.

 So I think this is how it's going to stay for a goodly long while now ;)

With our cute little fireplace that I can't wait to snuggle in front of in a few months time...

and our DIY window-mirror

 and the beetle-brown piano that I have come to love just the way it is after years of longing to slop white paint all over it

 decorated with bits and pieces that I have collected from here and there and things I've made from this and that.

 And all the things I love whether they go together or not, that make this little brick and tile house of ours a home.

The end. 

Cas x