Yesterday when I picked Grant up from work we headed over to Topps Tiles to look for bathroom and kitchen tiles and bathroom flooring. We didn't like their laminate tiles but we did fall totally in love with a bathroom tile. It was a bit wince-inducing at £1.89 per tile - it means we'll have to do the tiling ourselves rather than hire a tiler as there'll be no room in the budget for one. We've tiled before and it's not difficult, it was just the hassle factor.
I've no picture of the tile as they didn't have a sample and will have to order them in should we purchase them. They are large, very subtly mottle in shades of ivory and very pale brown, kind of limestone looking but glossy. Trust me, they're gorgeous. We are thinking of using them in the kitchen as well, although I think a smaller version (which I think they did have) might work better.
After Topps Tiles we were off to B&Q to look at their flooring. Originally we'd planned on using a wood-effect vinyl sheeting, but after laying the laminate flooring in the boys' bedrooms (and plan to lay the same in ours) I realised that the different "wood" style of the vinyl would look odd as you stand on the landing, as you'd be able to see all four floors. Grant was over vinyl anyway, and we moved onto laminate tiles. We were looking for a natural style "tile" but I wasn't keen on the grout lines and also some looked more fake than others. We did like a stone-look laminate tile at B&Q, which didn't have grout lines between the tiles, but it was too yellowy, especially after choosing a cool-toned wall tile. In the end we surprised ourselves by choosing a dark charcoal slate-effect tile - it will look like this.
We also found a wood-effect Venetian blind for the dining room at B&Q marked down to £5! The size we needed usually goes for £75 - we snapped it up even though it's a lighter brown than we'd planned. Hey, for a fiver you can't be picky! Here are the B&Q goodies:
After B&Q we had a look at Homebase for tiles, in case we could find something just as nice for cheaper, but they hardly had anything. We had a bite to eat at KFC then it was off to Leyland (about 25 minutes away) to collect a mirror.
I had hung these three pictures above the table in the dining room but they reflected the lounge window and all you could see was the glare on the glass. So I took the glass out but then I couldn't enjoy the pictures because every time I looked at them it bugged me that there was no glass in the frame. I took them down and we discussed hanging a canvas there, but they are pretty expensive and we already want to get a second one of Daniel to go with the one of Noah that we have, for above our bed. The wall stayed bare for a while until I had a brainwave - if anything hung there reflects the window, why not use that to our advantage and hang a big mirror there to reflect the light into the dining room, which can be quite gloomy? Genius. So we looked around for a mirror, intending to buy one with a dark leather or wood frame. We were looking at £60 upwards, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to be the first to claim one offered on Freecycle!
We drove through to Leyland to collect it and it is absolutely the perfect size and shape! it has an ornate gilt frame which doesn't quite go with our decor, so I'll be spray-painting the frame dark brown so it looks more like carved wood. I love freebies!!
As we were leaving the lady's house after loading the mirror into the car, we smelt a suspicious stench wafting from Noah. We drove around the corner and stopped to change his nappy. As I lifted him out of the car seat, Grant yelled, "He's leaking" and sure enough, hot smelly runny poo was dripping down his leg, down my leg and onto my sandal and the pavement, eeeuw! Worst part: I only had one single baby wipe left. What a palaver ... we just had to laugh as we stripped Noah's shorts and nappy off on the side of the road, rinsed him with water from my water bottle, cleaned him as best we could with the baby wipe, put his nappy back on and then tried to clean my pants and my sandal with the spare pair of Noah's shorts I had in my bag. Then I had to sit the whole way home with the smell wafting from my trousers.
Anyway, once the boys were in bed Grant and I watched an episode of CSI on DVD then hung the mirror - it is so perfect for the space! The gold just does not fit in the room though, so the paint will have to happen.
After another episode of CSI it was off to bed.
Today Grant is off at a combined first-aid and radio-use police training course so it's just me and boys all day. I've already hung five pictures in Daniel's room, drilled holes for and hung five picture ledges for his dinosaurs, tied his chest of drawers to the wall so they can't tip over, and tacked an extension lead half way around our bedroom along the skirting board and around the door, so that we can have sockets behind the bed rather than across the room.
I've almost finished decorating Daniel's room and I'm so excited with how it's turned out! Daniel loves it too, which is what really matters. I promise I'll post pictures the minute I'm done. I still have to frame and hang a dinosaur poster and tidy up in there - hopefully I'll get that done today. Right now, I'm going to spend some time with Daniel while Noah sleeps.
