Bathroom &

I am afraid all these images are taken with my phone, since it is always around and convenient.

Some leave much to be desired.

We bought a bunch of Ranarp Ikea lamps for the hall
and the staircase, some of them are up and running.

I would have preferred something fancier, but we're on a budget right now.
And these are quite nice I think.

Finally!! the roof guys brought and installed the attic windows.
These windows are Fakro (a Polish company) and they're neat.

Typical Belgian skies.

We're not sure what to do with the brick wall.
The attic is so much brighter.

The bathroom tiles arrived and we picked them up.
Winckelmans stoneware (grès) tiles, we chose 10 cm
hexagons in pearl grey, with green accents to
complement these antique tiles of the same material. 

I have finished the branch chandelier I started a long time ago. I don't remember if I posted about it. Inspired by images found on Pinterest, particularly this one. We gathered the branches around the perimeter of Pim's parent's garden. I will take better images once it hangs in the bedroom and explain the process.

Branch chandelier in progress

Painting in the bedroom is nearly finished
and we started placing the moldings.

I am actually glad they are foam instead
of plaster, I don't want to imagine how difficult
 to place plaster would have been, especially on
 such wonky angles.

The bathtub has been waiting outside for a long time, wrapped.
We finally made some space to bring it in.

We've mainly been working in the bathroom. Once it is finished, we'll probably move in.

All the pipes, drains and water outlets are installed, so is the electricity, and the insulation + plasterboards (these green ones are especial for bathrooms and kitchens) are up.

Now remains, in this order:

• Removing the floorboards
• Reinforcing the beams with steel (to strengthen and straighten the floor in order to tile)
• Placing OSB boards over the floor, with inset for antique tile trim (which are thicker)
• Tiling the floor
• Waterproofing around the shower walls & floor
• Installing the shower tray
• Tiling the wall
• Installing the shower glass screen
• Installing faucets, bath and washbasin, & toilet if we have bought one by then!
• Fixing plasterboard joins and paint over non-tiled areas

So it is a lot of work and it may take longer than we anticipate.

Removing floorboards.

These are the steel beam reinforcements.

I've been washing the oil residue and painting the steel, on the side that will be exposed after installing, with a rust resistant paint before we place them. They'll be glued (to avoid movement and create a sort of more rigid composite material) and screwed to the existing wooden beams. That's whet the holes are for. After researching the most efficient way to reinforce and straighten the floor for tiling, Pim made a technical drawing and had these custom made out of plate steel.

Paint

Since we need to start painting behind radiators before we place them, even though generally speaking it is too early to start painting the walls, we have chosen and bought some more paint. We chose two shades of green (dark and light, dark for the ceiling, I'm having some sort of little obsession here) for the knitting and library rooms. Once we got home and I marked the pots of paint, I was happy to see I got quite a match with the younger and older leaves of the nasturtium growing between the concrete cracks:

Dulux Indian Ivy 5

Dulux Indian Ivy 2

A medallion for the bedroom primed white (will stay white)

Wide moulding for the bedroom primed white (will stay white)

Aïda priming the bathroom ceiling (some green mixed with the primer)

Bathroom

Bathroom. The ceiling is a lichen/sage green, but I figured a
primer in  the general direction of green would be good enough,
especially since we only got a litre of paint.

We thinned the paint with a little water,
and we had just a little left over that will
come in handy for retouches.
The green primer certainly helped.

Priming the bedroom ceiling with primer mixed with some dark taupe paint.

Priming the entryway ceiling with the same mix.
 I actually like this shade so will probably give
another layer of this mix for the last layer.

Laying central heating pipes and isolation in the knitting room.

Plasterboard attached to polyurethane (Eurothane  G)
for thermal isolation and finishing, plus a layer of
 rockwool (partywall) behind it for sound insulation.

Windowsill

Brackets for the radiator

Radiators

3 are up!

Living room

Entryway

Bedroom

It is a boost for our self esteem :)

Radiators & hall

Yesterday Pim's father finished the cement work between the bricks on the living room window, Pim fitted the insulation inside the mantel where the bedroom radiator will go, and worked on the channel for the living room's radiator pipes. We also laid the pipes down into the room.
And me, well it never seems like I do much ;) I spray painted some plastic pieces for the radiators, started fixing the living room doors which have been destroyed by a dog (more on that later, I guess) and primed the moldings in the hall:

So pretty

The corbels were painted orange, so I gave them two layers of primer. These colours to the right are for the entryway. Now, I still can't decide if I paint the medallion the same grey than the rest of the hall ceiling, or the creamy of the wall and corbels. We're extending the upper molding from the corbels around this ceiling portion to divide ceiling and bit of upper wall (around 15 cm) from the rest of the wall. The medallion also has a similar simple molding around it which I think would help divide the colours. I'm afraid the dark grey would obscure the subtle details. I am also afraid that painting the molding a different colour could look a little crappy.

Beautiful brass and wood thermostatic tap in place.
The radiators are still wrapped in foil to protect them.

Space for the wood (the radiator, which is very heavy,
will be screwed to it) carved out of the insulation.

Measuring and cutting insulation.

Fitting into the mantel. We also put an horizontal
piece on the top, since the marble was bare there.

Spray painted protective plastic bits. Looking much better!

Enlarging the channel for the lower curve of the pipe (living room radiator)