One of the things that folks really love about their colonies is gardens. It’s so rare to have one in the city centre, and so valuable – particularly in 2020! Most colonies have their gardens right up to the door – or, in the case of most uppers, up to your downstairs neighbour’s windows! Ours are a bit different… Because we don’t have external stairs … Continue reading Teeing off in the green
Happy new year! As 2021 kicks off, it feels like a moment to think about new life… I’ve always enjoyed houseplants, but over the past few years I’ve actually managed to mostly not kill them! I feel like this house has a nice mix of some light but also some darkness, plus I’ve been away lots and so they’ve benefited from benign neglect! The houseplant … Continue reading Planting the seed
Over the years I’ve owned this wee house I’ve tried a LOT of things. Ripped out walls, put kitchens in most corners, added stairs everywhere. Of course, ripping out and restoring lathe and plaster walls gets old quickly, so I did it on Google SketchUp. Very quickly in my efforts, it became clear that the big limitation in this house is stairs to the attic. … Continue reading Stairways to heaven?
As we get further into December, it’s time for something colourful and festive! From a young age, my parents and I disagreed on matters of taste. Their home, magnolia paint and olive-drab carpets – as one of the great philosophers of our time might have said, ‘why, oh why, oh why?’ (Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Gill, Disney et al, 1966). One … Continue reading Kitsch in?
Since you met the Christmas tree last week, I thought it might be interesting to look at the space where it’s sitting. By far my biggest space is the living room. It’s the centre of the place as it stands – it has the fire! Over the years, I’ve tried it quite a few different ways, with a few sets of furnitures. It feels like … Continue reading Arrange and rewind…
Come and knock on our door… I realised the other day that it’s been a LONG time since I properly did Christmas here. In 2014, when I got the house, I bought a tree in a pot. It turns out those are mostly a bad idea if you actually want it to live and so it duly died. (My parents do have one, which they’ve … Continue reading Tree’s company too
Not a literal teacup, of course – but sometimes my kitchen feels about as much use as a chocolate teapot. It’s a SMALL room. Like, tiny. I’ve watched YouTube vids where folks say ‘oooh, this is the tiniest kitchen you ever saw’ and it’s 2-3 times the size of mine. For many years I thought to myself, ‘I can make this work’. ‘It’s not too … Continue reading Cooking up a storm in a teacup
Planning permission has been granted – huzzah! Although I gather there’s still some conversation with building control folks about sound travelling…ach weel, details. Another check-box on the road 🙂 Next, it’s time to get the structural engineers in to see what we’ll need. I haven’t yet shared my detailed plans, of course, but suffice it to say some walls are coming out. In fact, only … Continue reading HOT OFF THE PRESS…
Ah, Google – font of all knowledge, knower of facts, provider of links and images and wisdom. Give us the vision to see beyond the 2D, into the third dimension! I’ve had a bit of a play with 3D modelling before – bits of Blender and Anim8or. I managed a few wee things, but I would always just about get the hang of it before … Continue reading Sketching it Up
(Thanks to the good folks at Mov8 for letting me use these images!) So, where did we begin? Well I got my paws on this place nearly 7 years ago…how time flies! It was an interesting experience getting it. The previous owners were in New Zealand – through my shady connections I had managed to pick up a few key details about the place (the … Continue reading Before we began…
The Model Dweller 