This is our new front door. Pretty cool, huh? It's ludicrously heavy and hard to open and the key to it looks like it comes from a different century but it's all ours. Well, partly ours and mostly the bank's. But let's call it ours for now.
The Puddleduck family are getting ready for a renovation project. Something I've always secretly hankered for (Mr Puddleduck can confirm my desperate desire to create 'projects' in other houses). Mr Puddleduck does not share my general excitement about projects. Yet he fell just as much in love with this place and its potential as I did - in fact, possibly more so in the beginning. The result? Something first time renovators probably should run screaming away from.
The front door does look ok. Now for the rest of it ...
This is currently the home of the third bedroom and the only bathroom in the house. We're turning it into the kitchen. It's attached to the large open plan living space upstairs and opens onto the upstairs courtyard (*makes note to call it roof terrace so as to sound fancier*).
This is Puddleduck in what will become her bedroom. It's currently a massive room at the front of the house that we'll split in two. It will adjoin the downstairs living area and the internal courtyard.
Do I sound suitably casual writing all of this? I'm trying hard. I mean the more I say or write it the less daunting it will become, right?
Enormous thanks to my talented and visionary friend Ms M for helping us get our heads around how to make the most of such a quirky and exciting space! Had we been left to our own devices who knows what we would have ended up with.
Good heavens I have overused the word 'space' in this post. I apologise and blame new found addiction to interiors mags.
Not that I often get the time for reflection, but when I do it is generally when I am struck by the sheer joy and abandon toddlers are capable of. I mean they throw their entire self at everything they do. We're renovating at the moment and Puddleduck has embraced it with her usual enthusiasm.
Even when the job is something as boring as unscrewing tables and shelves from walls she loves it. We spent the afternoon last Saturday unscrewing while she sang songs about her new house and her new tools and how Daddy goes 'bang bang bang' on the walls.
I think we're going to need all this gorgeous enthusiasm to get us through the project. I'd also like to borrow some of this for the rest of my life. To be able to embrace new things, boring things and challenging things with the 'full steam ahead' approach of a toddler would be a wonderful gift.
