DIY Project Diary – Week 30

My arms are killing me. I spent the last 7 days painting, painting and painting… I covered the walls with a textured paint that is supposed to be used to achieve a Mediterranean rustic look. Instead of painting this with a strong colour, I decided to paint it with satin white paint. The effect is really quite interesting – the walls have some texture (rather than looking flat) but they are not rough and chalky. The silky finish of the paint makes the walls look subtle and they bounce the light back into the space. The room looks much bigger.  It took some time because I needed at least three coats of paint, plus I also had to paint the ceiling..

Then we had to make a bench and a day-bed – across one the wall beneath the window. We used long round-edged 3" x 2" timbers. First we lowered the radiator under the window – it is now behind and underneath the bench. Then we made three supporting trestles on top of which the timber pieces are resting with an inch or so gap between them. The legs are arranged to take the weight of the bench and to fit storage boxes between them.  The structure was ready by the end of the day – it was ready to paint. I was going to paint it white but was running out of paint, so I thinned the remaining paint with water and rubbed it into the wood with a piece of muslin. This is called whitewashing. It looked quite nice, so I decided to leave it as it was and just finished it off with varnish. I added a futon mattress, covered it with some linen, and scattered around a few cushions… The front of the daybed is covered with linen, so the storage boxes are not visible.

I thought this daybed was quite a good idea – an easy DIY job and a cheap solution for a guest bedroom (or kids’ bedroom!)  – it is not only space saving but provides a lot of storage.  It’s also a good solution for a double-functioning room. The daybed can be used during the day as a sofa – but it can also be used as a bed when required.  

Anyway, the room was ready by the time our friend arrived. The carpet layer came this week and put down the new carpet over the staircase. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to finish the entrance hallway – we have to do it after our friend leaves. But there isn’t much to do anymore! Perhaps only another week’s work.

We also wanted to add a little extension for a utility room and second loo – but we decided to leave this project (together with the garden) until next year. Just to have the house finished will be great!