Delayed Decorating

I’d say that I’m a pretty organised person but when it’s come to getting the house done up in time for baby’s arrival, things are way behind.

In all fairness, we thought we were on track.  This was the plan….

• Decorate master bedroom
• Dan and I move out of current bedroom (the nursery-to-be) and into master bedroom
• Decorate nursery 

It sounded like a relatively straightforward process so we didn’t begin stripping the walls in the master bedroom until June, feeling totally confident we would have everything wrapped before Sep.

How we wish we kicked off this process a little earlier…

As soon as we began, Dan discovered a leak leading from the chimney stack which had subsequently rotted the wall plate and three of the beams that support the roof. This was actually an old leak that had happened years before we moved in but it didn’t get picked up by the surveyor when we moved in.

To cut a very long (and very boring) story short, it took over two months to find a trustworthy contractor that would carry out the work of installing new lead flashing around the base of the chimney and replace the rotting timber in the loft. So only now are we finally in a position to plaster the master bedroom – 27 days before baby is due.

Luckily, I’m quite relaxed and haven’t gotten stressed over it. I mean, baby will be sleeping in our room at the start anyway so the nursery isn't super urgent.

However, I can’t deny that it would be nice to walk into the nursery and see it all decorated so Dan and I can get more excited for baby’s arrival. There is also no point setting up the cot, rocking chair, changing unit, etc until the room is freshly painted and carpeted (oh, and insulated).  I want to be able to do things like wash little outfits and store them in cupboards but nothing is prepared.

Anyway, the good news is that our decorator has been booked to get started on baby’s nursery – the same day it’s due.