Self_Build_Dreamers

Ikea hack! The PAX system…

Something I’ve been SO excited to put together, is my dressing room! Who wouldn’t?! And I decided to go with the Ikea PAX system.

If you’re not familiar with this, it is a modular system, with lots of different internal options, and can be designed to suit your requirements. It can be a lot of fun playing around with layouts!

Luckily, given that we have a self build, we were able to position the stud wall to suit the size of the carcasses, rather than have to use a trim to give a more bespoke feel…lucky!

The carcasses were pretty straight forward to put together too…flat pack situation with instructions!

And I came across a great blog post with some hack ideas! One being to use wallpaper on the back panels….

I decided to go with this one from B&Q…as I have terrazzo tiles in my ensuite, I figured it would work well!

Adds a little interest to them, when the draws are open….

Plus white plastic covers for all the little holes…I really hate the holes ha! Straight away, it looked finished, once I covered them up…

It took an absolute age though! Just to give you an idea, I used about 1200 of the little things!

Another hack was the vertical trims, between the wardrobes, again from B&Q. And we simply cut them to size and glued them to the frame, clamping for an hour or so, to keep in place while drying…

My all time favourite hack though, is the coving! Oh my goodness! It really finished off the wardrobes, again giving them a bespoke feel….

And these, again, were from B&Q, and we simply cut them down to size, and again glued to the frame. The trickiest part were the cuts on the display wardrobes….as you can see below they’re on an angle so take your time at this stage to get the cut just right…

Backing up abit, I did have some head scratching when it came to the back panels of my display wardrobes…do I go wallpaper again? And then I came across a company that could cut glass to size, and so we decided to go with this option.

Straight forward to install too, again, glued to the panels, and reminds me of a boutique shop!

Another important element was, of course, lighting! And I decided to go with spotlights above the wardrobes, and LED lights inside some of the draws…

The spotlights were pretty straight forward, given that they are above the wardrobes. Remember! To have available sockets and electric connections available, if you want to add these elements to your dressing room.

I also went with these downlights below, in the ceiling, ideal for lighting up specific areas…

And a couple of wall lights…

And the last bespoke element? The dressing table topper! We had this piece made to fit the space, and then used the Nordli draws from Ikea. Cool hey!!

I will also go for some bespoke perspex pieces in the draws to store makeup….watch this space for another blog post!

And there you have it! My dressing room is good to go! Rather than an island, I decided to go with an ottoman and a little table! It’s working really well for getting ready…

Check out our YouTube for more details….

Caz and Andy x

Selfbuilddreamers

We’ve moved in!

Okay, so it’s been some time since I last blogged! We’ve had some ups and down since March, and this has been put on the back foot, as they say…

And, as you can imagine, lots of house things have been going on since, and we’ve now moved in! Yay! Still a long to do list, as well as the demolition of our old house and then lots of landscaping; But it is nice to be in and have the occasional break!

Given that we now have two pups, we’ve certainly been kept on our toes, but Charlie, Darcey and Monty haven’t taken long to settle in; It must be strange for them though, being able to see their old house ha!

And the open plan kitchen/diner is pretty much done at the back of the house, other than finishing touches and furniture! Table mats pending! Can you spot the dog?!

This post is short but sweet, stay tuned though for more updates, from dressing room hacks, to lots of other DIY projects and finishing touches! Along with demolition time!

Then onwards and upwards to the gardening……

Caz and Andy x

Selfbuilddreamers

House update!!

Well, we are getting there with the kitchen and flooring. But for the last couple of months, our focus has been on the ensuites, hence the lack of updates!

Excitingly, they will feature on a channel 5 TV programme called Dream Kitchens and Bathrooms! Which means we haven’t been able to share any updates, unfortunately, but as our episode will be on on the 29th March, all will be revealed soon..as they say!

But enough of that! What else has been going on? Well, we are a little closer to the black metal balustrades being made, once we receive the revised drawings. And we love this detailing on the stairs, following the line of the steps. Watch this space for more details when we have them in place…

And some very cool sockets to tie in nicely with the exposed brick wall! Love these, it’s all about the details as they say.

Plus lots more flooring and this time upstairs. We are actually having the same flooring upstairs,as we have downstairs, aside from the ensuites. It’ll look fab in the bedrooms with the odd rug, too!

And lots of Crittall…these ones are for Andy’s ensuite…love the reeded glass!

And this showerscreen is in the guest ensuite. Love the floor to ceiling detail!!

Plus the heat pump is almost up and running! Almost, just waiting on the plumber to do the last bits.

Kitchen wise, we now have the worktops, and these are so gorgeous from Foresso Watch this space for more details once its all fitted! Needless to say, we love it!

Next up, finishing the kitchen, setting up the utility so that we can order the worktops, and more flooring!

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x

House shenanigans update!

Well..there’s been lots of bits and pieces going on in the last few weeks from kitchen layout to digging to the odd purchase!

And Andys laid out the kitchen island and fitted the doors now, wow these look fab from Naked Kitchens

Plus the kitchen layout is pretty much in place…watch this space for more…and we can now order our worktops! Hopefully they’ll be here in the next few weeks…worktop post pending!

Also, this India Yellow by Farrow and Ball looks fab against the blue kitchen…LOVE!

And the solar panels are now up and running. We just need some sun now….it doesn’t look likely anytime soon!

More painting shenanigans..it really is never ending when it comes to painting, and I’ll have all the upstairs skirting boards to do soon..joy!

Plus I’m a little in love with this chair! And it’s so comfy! I think it’ll probably live in the open plan kitchen area as a nice TV chair…but we just need a nice foot rest too!

And the digger has been back! This time the water connection and drainage..

Plus lots more plumbing, the heat pump should be up and running next week fingers crossed!

Watch out for hidden door shenanigans too…Andy took a very retrained speedy visit to Ikea to pick up this mirror…

And that’s it for the last few weeks, week 91 should see more plumbing plus ensuite layouts and more kitchen related things!!

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x

Week 87 – We have a kitchen!

Yaassssss! We do indeed have a kitchen and utility! Woop! Andy picked them up on Friday and what a road trip. A 5 hour round trip in total, but it’s all home now and ready for fitting! And definitely one to start in week 88!

It’s really filled the back room. I didn’t think we’d ordered this much, ha! Looking forward to seeing it take shape now. Andy is actually off for a few days, so he can crack on with the layout.

Plus Andy’s uncle made the concrete base ready for the heat pump, and this should be fitted in week 88! Watch this space.

And the Crittall is starting to take shape, these being the showerscreens eek!!

Also, finally, I have decided on a greenery wall for my dressing room! I have ordered so many samples over the past two years and struggled to find something that looked real! But this one is perfect! It’s a good mix of different materials, plus the little pops of colour will give it a tropical vibe! Look out for a step by step when we install..

And this wall will be the one, together with a neon sign and a secret mirror door!!

Well, that’s it for another week? Next week should be a busy one with Andy fitting the kitchen, the plumber installing the heat pump, and the electrician finishing off!!

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x

Week 86 – Second fix almost complete plus Crittall samples!

Wow, another milestone…we have light upstairs! And Eddie, the electrician, is almost done! Maybe just a few more days than we are good to go.

And the cinema room really is taking shape; these small diamond spotlights are SO twinkly!! And the lightsaber wall lights finish it off a treat! Great advice from Claire at Luxplan with regards to lighting, we hadn’t come across these before.

We just need the wood flooring laid, a big sofa, a big screen and some black shutters!! Easy right?!

Andy was a little unsure about the “peacock” style lights but these look so cute in the living room and give off a nice splay of light, definitely for show though!

Plus, the Tom Raffield Skipper pendant is looking good in the living room…

And alongside the peacock wall lights…

Also, the big ball lights in the bedroom look great! Just what we wanted, and we’ve ordered our bed too! We were going to go with a four poster, but I really think we need to show off these pendant lights, so we’ve gone for the Oliver bed from Feather & Black in pink! We decided to go a little daring, and it should look great with the Green Smoke walls and Setting Plaster ceiling…(Farrow and Ball paint colours)

And the lights are up in the guest bedroom too, how cool are these? More lightsabers!

Plus the guest ensuite is ready for grouting now, and we’ll get this done in week 87.

And, as promised, steel finishes samples, for all things crittall! As mentioned in our last post, we’ll be having this in numerous places. We quickly decided to go with the matte finish for everything!

If we were living in a period property, we might have been swayed more towards the LAQ, STOVAX, or PATINA… a little bit more rustic, but I think matte will be better for us.

And that’s it for another week! Week 87 will be a busy one, with the second fix pretty much wrapped up, and the plumber back to sort out the heat pump. As well as the kitchen delivery! Oh my goodness, I’m so excited for that! Watch this space.

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x

Week 85 – Tiling DIY! Plus more decision making…

More DIY-ING this week, and this time in the form of tiling! But first, some more decisions with regards to the stairs and, more importantly, the detailing!

Having decided to go with a black metal balustrade, we were still a little up in the air as to how it should be fixed to the stairs. I luckily came across this detailing on good old pinterest!

As we want to show off some of the concrete along with wooden treads, something like this will work well and add a bit of interest to the shape of the stairs. We just need to wait for some quotes to come in, and then we should be good to go!

Plus some more lights…we have two of these bedside lights…something a little different right!?

And Andy fitted the guest ensuite tap and shower bits…its still hard to believe that we have finished items going in…

All things crittall have also been ordered now; we just need to decide on the finishes…and are just waiting on samples. Funnily, I didn’t realise that there were so many options. I think we’ll probably go for something in between powder coated and worn. Once they’ve arrived, I’ll share some pics and the decision-making process!

And last but not least, tiling! Andy’s really enjoyed laying the floor tiles. It took a little prepwork and head scratching, but they are looking goooodddd…just the grouting to do at some point this week! Check out our YouTube below for more details…

And that’s it for another week. Week 86 will see some drainage shenanigans, getting ready for the heat pump set up plus fingers crossed the upstairs lights should all be up and running!

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x

Week 84 – More underfloor..this time upstairs!

A busy week for us with underfloor installation and touch-up paint jobs!

It looks so much tidier now that the overlay panels are down!! Unlike downstairs in which the underfloor piping was stapled down and a screed applied, the upstairs is somewhat quicker, using the panels and positioning the pipes. All in it took about two days to set it all up. These are the 18mm thick Polypipe Overlay panels and the floor can be fixed directly on top of them.

And I can’t wait to get all the upstairs lights up; that’ll really clear the floor space!

And Andy will be setting up the manifold for the underfloor in week 85…

Plus tile ordering…and how funny is this point of reference image! If you can’t picture the tile size…

Watch this space for more details, namely floor tiles in my ensuite.

Also!!! So so so excited to have booked in all things Crittall! And luckily the fabricator has had a cancellation, and so he can crack on with ours now. Yay! We will be having multiple Crittall doors from a divider to sliding doors, to shower screens. He just needs to measure up and we also need to decide on a finish…watch this space!

And another trip to B & Q…shocker!! This time for tile adhesive and grout…hopefully we’ll be able to crack on with tiling in week 85.

Well that’s it for another week, we should have another busy one coming up. Fingers crossed the electrician can finish off the lights upstairs!!

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x

Week 83 – Microcement! Plus underfloor heating, flooring and more samples..

Happy new year!! We’ve certainly had a busy one, and are edging closer to the finishing touches!

And, I thought we were pretty much done with light decisions…no such luck ha! We actually recently changed our minds when it came to the living room ceiling light…we were going to go with a large vertigo pendant light HOWEVER it looks so much better in situ on the landing, and as the living room is a pretty standard ceiling height, it probably would have looked a little crazy in there!

These samples are from Tom Raffield and we really like the look of the oak. It should look great with the engineered oak flooring and inchyra blue walls…

The undulating loops of timber look so cool don’t they! Definitely need to get this ordered soon…

And more flooring this week..its looking good in the open plan area, with the big windows and the bifolds.

Look at that flush threshold ha!

Plus the living room too..I’m loving the Inchyra Blue on the ceiling!

These knee pads are getting a run for their money!

I absolutely love this floor; it’s beautiful! The mixture of tones and textures works so well.

Plus underfloor heating panels upstairs, this isn’t taking long to lay at all, Andy had already done half the upstairs in one afternoon…

And more coving panels upstairs in our bedroom. Look out for more details soon, when the LED lights go up!

The plasterer has also been at ours all week, microcementing the guest ensuite and parts of the other ensuites as well. He needed to do 4 coats in total, as well as a waterproof sealant. Needless to say, we’re very happy with the finish! We really wanted a concrete look, plus it should be pretty low maintenance, too! Watch this space for more when the taps, etc. go in!

I’m glad we didn’t try to do this ourselves as you can tell it really is a skill, and takes lots of time..

And that’s it for another week! Week 84 should see more underfloor heating, and more lights yay!!

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x

Week 81 and 82 – Happy Christmas!

Well, we certainly had a busy couple of weeks with flooring and lights! Eddie, the electrician, set up some of the circuits, and as I drove up to the house from work, it was so strange seeing light and so exciting!! Plus we have been able to take the scaffolding down, now that updown lights in the vaulted areas are up. Yay!

Just need to sand the stairs soon and add the wood treads…watch this space!

It still feels so strange having light ha! Can’t get used to the house being a house.

Sp pleased we kept the double height in the hallway, it is looking fabulous!

Plus, more foresso deliveries, as mentioned here These plywood worktop options are so beautiful and should work well with the blue cupboard doors in the kitchen and the yellow in the utility….

And another hat light….or Vertigo pendant light. We had originally wanted to go with multiple pendant lights in the hallway, but I think this works so much better and will go well with the black metal balustrade…

Plus, we have light outside!! These antique brass up down lights are so nice!! And tie in well with the door furniture.

Plus Andy has been busy with the flooring, heading into the open plan kitchen area now and wow its beautiful!

And the large table we won on an auction, is actually an okay size for the space….we thought we may have to sell it ha! But it fits well…we just need some nice chairs to go with it!

It was so strange setting up the table, and being able to eat in the new house on Christmas day! We were so giddy as you can imagine…

And I set up my new chair from Bombinate…although it does look a bit lonely in the open plan area!!

And that’s it for another two weeks! We should get the downstairs flooring done between Christmas and New year plus skirting boards. Oh! And the plasterer is back to microcement the ensuites….look out for more info.

Selfbuilddreamers

Caz and Andy x