The Pig Yard

Our House

"Is A Very Nice House with two cats in the yard..." (Crosby,Stills & Nash)

We moved in at the end of January 1997 and we have made steady progress to finish the house and garden. Although much effort has gone into removing crumbling barns and this is illustrated on the Garden page. We continue to decorate and change the house as time and money allows.
Click to see full image The hall was dark and unwelcoming when we first moved in. We added several large mirrors and light paint work. This has made the entrance brighter and inviting.
The long corridor was covered in dark red carpet. We have laid IKEA laminated flooring which reflects a lot of light and with the magnolia walls gives a much less oppressive feel. Click to see full image
Click to see full image This is the fireplace in the summer room. The carpet has been replaced and an additional sofa has been added for everyone's comfort.
The dining room paper was bought shortly after we moved in but we did not get round to decorate until Autumn 1999. As it turned out we did not have enough paper for the last wall. We were surprised to find that the paper was still available in B&Q. However it was not quite an exact match but only the most observant person would notice and only our closest friends would be rude enough to comment. Click to see full image
The Summer room has been decorated in light colours to reflect as much light as possible. We migrate into this room when the temperature starts to rise and the central heating can be turned off. We use the open fire for background heating when its looking miserable outside or the normal summer temperatures fail to be met.
Jane's idea of a bright guest bedroom with a beach hut theme has come together very well. New curtains have added to the complete redecoration. Click to see full image

The library was a difficult room to decorate because it has so much furniture in it. Before laying the carpet in one half Steve decided to lay power cables in under floor channels so that sockets could be set in the floor for table lamps.

While this was going on the furniture was piled high down one end of the room. The new blue carpet is wonderful.
The other half of the room was covered in laminate wood and Steve took a day off to finish this off without interruption. It took a little while longer to finish off the join between the carpet and the wood because it was difficult to get hold of the right fittings.
Although we decorated the entrance hall in 1997 we did not continue the painting upstairs on the landing which was a serious mistake because five years on it became difficult to match the colours. In the end we painted one end of the landing in one shade of yellow and then a lighter shade towards our bedroom. Carpeting this area was difficult because dark colours would be prone to fading under the Velux windows. The grey carpet is light and yet should not show the dirt too much.
February 2005 - After eighteen months waiting for a new window in the summer room to match the gothic windows in the library we at long last had them fitted. In the end it all happened very quickly - a few phone calls and days later the room is transformed. Next we needed to get the radiator moved and the old French windows installed so that we could walk straight from the summer room onto the patio.
March 2005 - We have finally got around to decorating the upstairs family bathroom. We still have two bedrooms that we've avoided decorating and we might be able to put that off for another twelve months if we're really clever. People get the impression that we are really industrious but we know people who have only been living in their homes half as long as us and have decorated each room twice.
July 2005 - Eventually the French windows were installed - see above. Previously when we opened the doors we walked out into the yard but now we step out onto the Patio which is far better. It also makes the summer room even lighter.
We needed to do some cleaning up, painting and decorating before it was all back to normal. Of course the curtains that used to hang in the window no longer fitted. At least we didn't have to move the water butt which would have required us completely resetting the guttering so that it drained at the other end of this part of the building.