Well, there's no going back now . . .

We've started decorating our lounge and it's going to be a BIG job! Our lounge and dining room are one big room separated by a fireplace in the middle. The fireplace has an enormous hearth that juts out at least two feet - it takes up a lot of space. Or I should say - it did.

Here's the picture before.

And this is what we've done to it so far. It wasn't as big a job as Mark feared. He thought it would be solid concrete under the tiles, but it turned out to be cement and a lot of rubble! Of course he had a little helper in the shape of Edward who really enjoyed hitting the concrete with his own hammer - he was actually quite helpful.

The hardest part was taking the final layer of cement off - lots of drilling and banging (bit noisy whilst I was trying to make cards!!), but it didn't take too long to get rid of it.

On Wednesday Mark put down some levelling compound to bring the hearth area up to the depth of the rest of the floor. I did mention that Sophie our 17 year old cat was likely to walk across it whilst it was wet, an idea that Mark pooh poohed. Well guess who was right! Yes we now have a rather delicate set of paw prints set in the concrete now!

The plan for the rest of the decorating is to cover up the chimney breast and fireplace, lay a wood floor (Easter holidays oh joy!) and to paint the walls and freshen up the skirting boards and door frames. I'm not good with decorating - low boredom threshold, and a bit slapdash if the truth be told. Luckily Mark has booked some holiday - perhaps I shall just keep him supplied with tea and food.

And look what came today!! Brand new sofas - hurrah. Our old ones had seen better days, the leather was worn and tatty and permanently covered by a throw because I was so ashamed of the state they were in. I'm so happy! I know we really should have decorated first, but we had to seize the moment. We decided to have black ones so that we can change the colour scheme of the room if we want to and they will still match.

So, I'm going to be very busy packing all my books and CDs and ALL my craft things into boxes, not to mention glasses and best crockery. It's going to be a nightmare clearing the room - I have a lot of clutter (much to Mark's annoyance) so there are going to be quite a lot of boxes!

I'll keep you posted on the progress. Wish me luck!!

M x