Getting there...

As promised, a proper stylised kitchen shoot. Not a washing up sponge in sight!

The 'faux' cottage window is velcroed in place and I've tiled under the new window sill.

These are handmade tiles with irregular edges. I'm really pleased with them.

Did you see my new love?

 

Vintage greengrocers scales found at the flea market for a squillionth of what they sell for on eBay.

Gotta have a crate...

I gave up on brick wallpaper. It was too gloomy. I donated it to my daughters school for artwork backdrops.

Despite the hanging of this...

...single drop of paper being THE. MOST. DIFFICULT. DIY manoevre I have ever undertaken. It took an hour and I sooo nearly wept. Once it was up I tried to love it. But I had to admit that I made a mistake.

Bye bye wallpaper. Hello tongue and groove.

I absolutely love it. It's bright and white and country looking. This entire wall cost £6.99. It's dead cheap and so much fun to do. Unlike wallpaper.

The vintage signage backsplash...

 

 We're still working on the shop. At least we can have photos now. Proper photos taken by my husband. Mine are awful. I tried so hard and I cannot get the horizon straight. 

See? I get seasick flicking through them. My husband is a photographer so I'm very lucky.

So what's next for this really slow epic kitchen makeover? Why that will be the pantry door...

Elf sized. I want to make one of these...

 

I've already taken it outside and ripped the front off...

But I wasn't expecting to find that it was constructed from haystacks!

Instead of timber batons the door contains straw batons.

Rather odd and flammable I would have thought for a kitchen!

Oh and there's still the other end of the kitchen to tackle, the lighting and that floor!

Don't worry. I'll pace myself.

Last chance to beg for your votes!

It worked...

So where we we? Ah yes, the ongoing saga of the kitchen window. Would you like to see how it's turning out so far?

 

Rather cunningly styled, I think you'll agree, with some washing up sponges and a pile of freshly washed dishes. It just goes to illustrate how much enjoyment I can now get from washing up whilst gazing out of my pretend cottage window.

I'll remind you of the before...

The frame I made outside the recess was painted and looks a lot better, although it would show up more if I had a colour on the wall.

I made a window frame type thing with thin wooden moulding for the inside of the recess. I found this tutorial on youtube very helpful. I had it bookmarked as I planned to make new garage windows with it but it came in really handy for this project aswell. I didn't use one of those nail guns. They scare me. And my timber was much thinner than his.

 If you do want to try this at home kids, here's what you DON'T want to do. My first attempt that ended in failure prototype was constructed with mitred corners.

Don't even think about it.

The frame had no rigidity and a butt joint is a far better option (as per the video)

I printed out a photo of my window and drew all over it to make sure my spacing looked right.

Once the frame was built and painted I set to work on the curtain. I'll remind you of my inspiration...

source

I set about chopping up a holey vintage lace tablecloth, made a channel at the top and held it up with one of those extending springy poles.

I like the way the lace curtain hides the ugly opener.
Now in this picture the frame is just propped against the window so I still need to secure it somehow in a way that makes it easily removable for cleaning. I'm thinking velcro. And I still need to tile under the sink. I have a vast array of tiles to choose from as I'm always picking boxes up at the boot sale for a few quid in hopes that they might actually fit somewhere.

But so far, so good I think. I can't wait to finish the job and stage it all properly for a big reveal.

Back soon!

I am shameless.

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