Flutterbymama

Kitchen layout programmes

So I’ve been trying to design the layout of our new kitchen/dining space which integrates with the garden room. After years of Ikea not being Mac friendly I finally discovered that they have done something about it. So without hesitation I got stuck in…yay this is great, I thought…not so bloody fast. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great for figuring out whether their kitchens will work in your space and even better it tots up the final cost of everything for you, so no nasty surprises when you order it but damn it’s fiddly. I just can’t seem to move anything anymore…arghhh and I thought sketchup was a pig! (I’ve actually got the hang of sketchup and by god it’s my preferred tool of choice. As it goes though I’m now confident that an Ikea kitchen WILL work in our house, the question now is…do I/we want an Ikea kitchen? I know of only one person who has one and says it’s ok but after 10/20 years will they still say the same? Anyone have any advice? On the other side I really don’t want to spend £15,000 + on a kitchen as we only want a simple looking one and nothing too now that screams I’m a shiny, bright, NEW, expensive kitchen. I want clean and new but character and lived in. In effect the units are secondary to everything else, if that makes any sense. These are my inspiration pics which show the feel I want.

This a screen grab of the Ikea self kitchen planner. I gave up in the end as I just couldn’t move anything…I may try again later.

These are my sketchup files…

Garden room, made from outhouses. Kitchen behind.

Kitchen area with existing table and addition of utility room.

The kitchen and dining table will still be in the old space just with new everything and we’ll have additional space beyond so we can actually see the garden from the end of the house. The house has a lovely long garden but it was just lacking in the view from the house. This is the reason we’ve gone to all this trouble and these were the conditions of buying the house. The garden will be transformed at a later stage but at least we can finally use the garden as intended. I have visions of watching Lucas play outside and I can be cooking and watching him. At the moment I have to be outside when he’s outside and it just means I can’t get on with ‘stuff’. It’ll be good for rainy days too as I can be with him inside whilst he plays but again I can be getting on with stuff and he won’t be in harms way when the oven is on and I’m cooking and washing. It really is going to transform the way we live in this house. I’m just so excited and can’t wait to start using it. Just another 4 weeks or so to go…

I love you!

Happy 6/8 years to my Wonderful husband…

I just had to post that it’s our 6 year anniversary since we married and it’s also our 8 year anniversary since we ‘hooked’ up together. I’ve know Ste since we were 16/17 and started on the same college course. There was definitely no interest from either party at college as we had very separate ideals. The spark came some 15 years later when I returned from University in Edinburgh and met up with an old friend, who also did the same college course with us, and found the two of them had become friends and business partners. There was definitely a mutual interest but it took some time for things to happen but eventually it did. Ever since that day we’ve not been apart. Never being the one for wanting marriage it wasn’t really on the cards until one day we were talking to friends who were getting married and made us think, I did say I always wanted to be married amongst the butterflies with bare feet and a floaty dress…yes I can be a softie, contrary to how I come across. Some weeks later Ste asked me when he took me to the butterfly house in Lancaster, we cried and I obviously said yes. But how are we going to do it? I don’t like wedding dresses, I don’t like being the centre of attention, I’m NOT walking down an aisle with people staring at me…IT JUST ISN’T ME! So let’s do it OUR way.

So, 2 years to the day, we did it. It was a Tuesday and it was the best day. Very relaxed. We did the legal bit and then had a big celebration with our closest friends and family and hired out an exclusive restaurant for the evening and treated our dearest friends and family to a wonderful feast (I can’t stand wedding meals as they are always cold and mass produced). We had choices from a fab menu and lots of champagne. We bought retro gifts for our guests, which we made special boxes for, and had no seating plan. We wanted people to feel at ease and the gift boxes were an ice breaker, and it took the attention away from us. It’s a day I’ll never forget.

Happy Anniversary Honey Bunny…I love you! x

This is my anniversary present from Ste…he knows I’ve loved them for such a long time and now I have my very own…thanks sweetie. x

Outhouse knock through…

I’m a mixture of nerves and excitement at the moment. We are having our outhouse, which were used as a temporary shed for the last 2 1/2 years, knocked through so we can have a garden living room and a view to the garden from our kitchen. The previous post shows photos of our existing kitchen. Here are some photos of what the outhouses look like…

I will also post images of my sketchup model too, which will give an idea as to what we want to do.

Old fire in outhouse, formerly known as 'THE SHED'

Roof of old 'shed'. You can see the underside of the roof tiles.

Door & window of 'shed'.

Door to the 'garden toilet'. Not a nice place so mainly used as storage.

Very back end of house and outhouses. The opening was the coal store as far as I can gather.

The sloping roof on the outhouses and the very end of the rest of the 2 storey house.

The kitchen and rear of the 2 storey section of the house.

It’s Christmas!

I just have to share an image, or few, of our new Christmas tree! It’s just so fab. We ordered it back in September from a visit to the local park. Our park is great because it has a small courtyard which houses small craft companies as well as the usual park kind of stuff. We have bought a small number of items from this little wood craft shop in the past and we always have a wander in whenever we get to that side of the park. John, the owner, is a lovely man and a very creative craftsman. We saw a rather large version of our tree hanging in his shop and just decided we had to order one. The cost was more than a ‘real’ tree but for the past few years we have had living trees. They are delivered to your door in a pot and collected in the New Year to live out the year till the following Xmas, when it may well go off to another foster family. I loved the idea that, even though they were expensive for the relatively small size, they weren’t being chopped down to die and then get thrown in a skip. I’ve only ever had 4 of the type that you pick up and get rid of after Christmas and always felt a pang of guilt. So, now we have a tree made from driftwood found locally on beaches that we can take down and put up again every year until it totally falls apart, which I hope, is in many years to come!

We also bought these decorations from the same chap…lovely aren’t they?!

The duck and heart decs are from Ikea.

The colourful balls are from B&Q and Tesco.

The very special sparkly star was made by Lucas.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a very happy festive period!

Chester Zoo

What a madly hectic few days. It was our 5th wedding anniversary yesterday! (Ste:- Love you more than words can say.) We decided on a family day at the zoo. What a beautiful day…picnic on the grass by the colourful flowers and just time together, the 3 of us, enjoying, playing and laughing.

There was an element of animal noises too created by the 3 of us and the animals…have you ever heard a lion roar in person?…goose bumps all round.

For the 3 days prior to yesterday was a haze of sanding, priming, filling and painting floorboards. Lucas will have a new bedroom in a few days and had to make the most of Ste’s day off. Lucas at chilminders and also, over the weekend, Lucas stayed at nana’s. It’s really quite hard trying to decorate when looking after a demanding 2 year old boy…but I love him for it! He really is looking forward to having his new room as we keep taking him in there and playing with him and dancing to 6 music on digital radio…’more dance daddy, more dancing mummy’, very cute.

These are just a small number of images taken on our family day. Bedroom revamp images to come very soon.

A day with my boy

I woke up this morning and the sun was gloriously flashing through the blinds. I decided that I was going to just have a fun day with my little boy, as from tomorrow we will be sorting out his new bedroom. We decided a picnic on the park would be required. Here are just some of the photographs that I took early on.