DAY 23....

Is it normal that one can get excited over the fact that the loo is attached AND it flushes? Probably not...

The bath tap was also installed today, as was the radiator/towel warmer.

Holes where drilled in my lovely dropped ceiling. Problem being the size of the holes - only 7.4cm diam. Workmen's hands were too big to get through to reach the wires so who ended up balancing on the ladder doing it? Moi!

The missing tiles were meant to arrive today or tomorrow but of course they are still sitting in the warehouse somewhere in Sassuolo (northern Italy). After many phone calls we managed to arrange for a delivery for Tuesday, which was the best they could do.

Today I also ordered the wood and mdf for the washing machine cupboard. I'm getting it all cut to size so it will be ready next week sometime. I'm going to wait until the bathroom is completely finished before I start on the bathroom cabinet as I'm still not sure how big I want it.

I'm not quite sure what will be going on tomorrow, maybe some tiling in the kitchen?!

p.s. 6 more sleeps.... :D

DAY 22....

Seven more sleeps until the kitchen arrives!!

Today I bought the downlights from Leroy Merlin as the dropped ceiling is up and ready! I just have to decide exactly where I want them as tomorrow morning Stefano will install them.

I was also looking for the small pendant lights but with not much luck! I didn't see any that i liked at Leroy Merlin or Ikea. I then went to a "snobby light shop" to get some ideas but they were waaay too expensive (very lovely but unjustifiably expensive!!). Then in a "normal light shop" I saw some very similar to these ones in the pic below, maybe they were even smaller (7cm diametre) which is good, but... they're not that cheap either and I'd have to order them - 15 days! Actually I don't really know how much to expect to pay for proper lights as I've always had cheap Ikea ones!


Here's a sneak preview of the loo! I had to warn the kids not to use it as it's just resting there!!

DAY 7....

I can't believe it's already day 7!! I really don't know how you others survive full house renovations that go on and on for months or even years! This is about all I can handle!

I like to complain but really I'm enjoying the process, just not the noise and ALL the mess involved. The bathroom is off a little hall way (don't know if it qualifies as a hallway as it's only about 2m long!), as are our and the boys' bedrooms. As much as I clean up at the end of everyday and keep the bedroom doors closed there's always a layer of dust everywhere.

This morning the concealed cistern for the loo has been installed. I went with the cheaper one, the Valsir, as I have to contain the costs.... Here it is with all my new water pipes.

And here's a quick pic of the tap/door handle with a pen to show you how big it is!!!!!

DAY 6....

Well things do seem to be getting better!

Can't be bothered writing much about it as it's ever so boring but this -

is now this -

....and there was no need to break anyone's (apart from mine that is) ceiling or walls! We decided to change the pipe and the bendy part only. The vertical pipe can be reached from below when/if the neighbours from below want/need to change it!

So now Alessandro and Stefano are back to doing MY bathroom!

Today I went and picked up the tap for the shower and got a surprise! The lever is huge!!! It kind of reminds me of a door handle! It's lovely and it feels very solid and well made but I repeat, it's huge!!! This particular tap wasn't on display at the showroom so was chosen looking at a little pic in a catalogue. Will take a pic later...

In the meantime I have to decide about how to flush my new loo. In the shower room we installed a concealed Geberit cistern. Today Alessandro brought over a similar one made by Valsir. Internally they are pratically the same and he has used both brands successfully in the past. The only difference can be seen in the photo below. Top one is the Valsir and bottom one is my Geberit in the shower room. Opinions? (BTW top one is about €30 cheaper....)

LOO ROLL HOLDER....

This is what we are so lucky to have at the moment.


This is what I put in the small bathroom, nice and simple (and cheap), Sagan from Ikea.

And I'd like somthing like this for the new bathroom. This is Duo from Blomus but I think I need to find something a little bit less expensive!!

THE LOO...

The current loo and matching bidet are of course brown! I think the previous owners chose brown as they weren't too keen on cleaning, I mean why else would you want a poop coloured toilet!! Ewh!!

Yet once again I drove the man, (Sandro) down at Valentini showroom, crazy. You don't just rush into these things do you? You lie and jump on a mattress before buying it, you try clothes on before buying them, so why shoudn't you go round the showroom and sit on all the toilets numerous times before buying one??

Seriously though, Sandro has been very helpful and patient with me! It's just that I know what I want and after living with the brown bathroom from hell for over 6 years, I'm not going to settle for any old loo! Oh, I can also be quite choosy and fussy too! :-D

Anyway, apart from being comfortable, one of the main things was that it had to be easy to clean with no hidden nooks and crannies - you see I share this house with 3 males, two of which are still learning to aim properly!! >:-(

Oh, and it has to be beautiful, yes toilets can be beautiful!

Well the toilet and matching bidet have already been chosen and ordered and are on their merry way to my house. They should arrive in just over a week!

In the end I went with the back to wall Link toilet and bidet from Flaminia.

What could be more easy to clean than these!!


Here's a little reminder of current loo! The white toilet seat was our addition! The original one was... wait for it.... brown and made of wood!!!