If anyone really wants to delve back into MY BLOG, MY PAST, then just type KITCHEN into the search box and there appears to be ten pages of references to previous posts .. including this one, that is
http://restlessinfrance.blogspot.fr/2015/09/kitchen-past-present-with-future-not.html
posted in September 2015.....
I'll give it a rest now and try to post on some other things I have done or seen during this year when I did not have time or inclination to post!
Writing and finding photos takes so much time ... but it is done!
THE END of Renovation
Tomorrow the end of August 2016!
Is it time to wind up many ends and start a new beginning?
WE shall see what we shall see!
Time will tell.
See the proverb on my heading.
Doors and windows may be closed .. and then opened.. and closed and opened!
Showing posts with label Renovation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Renovation. Show all posts
Tuesday 30 August 2016
Monday 29 August 2016
The Kitchen 4 of 4
Oh MY .. I had truly forgotten the despair that was in this room when I chose to purchase this house in 2010! The first two photos are of the kitchen built in 1985 before I moved in. Interesting they had a window bench! The next photos are of the chaos of renovation happening in the first four weeks. I was instructed to remove all wallpaper in the house as my first task!
I now know that the then extraction unit used the trap door access to the attic. Probably it was a ladder to a very rough living space in the attic!
ALL GONE!
ALL GONE!
Sunday 28 August 2016
The Kitchen 3 of 4
WELL... what happened to this sequence of postings I had prepared earlier in 'good Blue Peter style', WAS THAT I decided I didn't want pics I had previously uploaded because they still showed cardboard on the floor. Lazy posting and not showing attention to detail, I thought! Hence, I took this posting OFF published ... well... time has passed...here is one of the offending pics.. but note the turquoise.. See below.
The climate got hot hot hot with highs of 38C in my courtyard and 26C in my darkened house even with opening and closing doors and shutters and letting the warm breeze blow in... and I did not wish to be glued to my computer! There ARE other tasks to do!
So to end the saga of 15 months in the planning and renovating:
I like to sit on the new window seat with or without the windows open! So does BigFeet the cat! It also appears to be a fly, moth, butterfly graveyard -aways has been. I suppose because of the light!
It's an outdoor garden table and chairs... with my heavy cotton 1970's Liberty fabric, Bauhaus design by Sarah Campbell and Susan Collier used as a tablecloth.
I have come to like the floating curve of the extraction unit against straight lines; the silver against the white and black. My friend eventually found the correct height to position it! He did growl at screw holding devices for plasterboard!
I use one of my Sri Lankan fabric prints of frangipane flowers as a cover for the black glass induction hob to remind me not to put anything on it - to protect it!
The oven is superb... the oven door is so welcoming and a joy to use but as aforesaid cakes have been crumbly and roastie casseroles are done to perfection. I tried a tart one time but the pastry wasn't quite cooked. More trials are necessary!
I like the fact that the horizontal shelf works on the level chosen. It was well thought out and measured and glided along from the level of the top of the oven and suits my short height. I like the black, white, grey with pops of colour, as in the vases of replica Sweetpeas and Suffolk poppies. Now, some of my beautiful jugs are along the shelf; influenced by a postcard my daughter sent me but in my attic I have several more jugs!
I have been trying the colour turquoise as a splashback! Scroll up to look at the first photo.
After much deliberation my mind has altered as it does! I thought about the multi-coloured tile I found in the style of Mondrian, this one made as a coaster by a young English woman near Limoges..... BUT... it could be too overwhelming...? The jury is still out! If they were larger squares and I had some control over the colours and positioning of shapes etc then perhaps... My friend I suggested I learn how to do it. I would but "the attic stuff" requests me to sort and rationalise what to keep and what to lose!
so then... prevarication being my middle name .. started to move back to something neutral, discerning, tasteful, yet artistic which must protect the painted plasterboard!
I had the idea of putting the leftover floor tiles as one row... but not necessarily repeating behind the sink and induction hob with perhaps a sheet of transparent tempered glass above the row of tiles. No, not that!
So.. until I find something that I feel confident about then the tiles propped up serve as some protection for the wall. I am looking forward to one day browsing in a FIRED EARTH shop!
The nine tile repeat pattern for the floor ... fun to lay eh? as each
tile was orientated exactly and in relation to the others in the rows
upon the floor! Each tile had small 'taches' / stains in the making which helped the process! Very good meditation now they are laid!
At the moment I have not yet emptied the two IKEA trolleys of cutlery and mugs.. into the drawers. One trolley is to be furbished with breakfast things for when I do B&B! The other was to have fruit and veg but in this weather fruit and veg are kept in 'le buanderie derriere la cuisine' or in the fridge, if not in a bowl or basket in the house!
In the 'awkward corner' are two stone pots: one for wooden spoons and the other for metal/plastic utensils plus the wood container for SHARP knives.
My friend made the wine rack with the 15cm space that IKEA and SCHMIDT planning tools would not allow. Both kept saying that I could not have what I wanted!!!!!! My friend is a true artisan!
The climate got hot hot hot with highs of 38C in my courtyard and 26C in my darkened house even with opening and closing doors and shutters and letting the warm breeze blow in... and I did not wish to be glued to my computer! There ARE other tasks to do!
(here, as I type, I come to wax lyrical, expressing my repetitive daydream ..
all I need for the dream to become true are: white lace curtains wafting in a slight breeze against French windows and white walls, a white baby grand placed before and to one side with me playing something delicately, classically peaceful, whilst summer stills the air with aromas of roses, lemons, rosemary, all against the backdrop of mountains - then I shall be in heaven!)Wake up woman .. it's the KITCHEN of MY LIFETIME we are supposed to be presenting!
So to end the saga of 15 months in the planning and renovating:
I like to sit on the new window seat with or without the windows open! So does BigFeet the cat! It also appears to be a fly, moth, butterfly graveyard -aways has been. I suppose because of the light!
It's an outdoor garden table and chairs... with my heavy cotton 1970's Liberty fabric, Bauhaus design by Sarah Campbell and Susan Collier used as a tablecloth.
The oven is superb... the oven door is so welcoming and a joy to use but as aforesaid cakes have been crumbly and roastie casseroles are done to perfection. I tried a tart one time but the pastry wasn't quite cooked. More trials are necessary!
I like the fact that the horizontal shelf works on the level chosen. It was well thought out and measured and glided along from the level of the top of the oven and suits my short height. I like the black, white, grey with pops of colour, as in the vases of replica Sweetpeas and Suffolk poppies. Now, some of my beautiful jugs are along the shelf; influenced by a postcard my daughter sent me but in my attic I have several more jugs!
I have been trying the colour turquoise as a splashback! Scroll up to look at the first photo.
After much deliberation my mind has altered as it does! I thought about the multi-coloured tile I found in the style of Mondrian, this one made as a coaster by a young English woman near Limoges..... BUT... it could be too overwhelming...? The jury is still out! If they were larger squares and I had some control over the colours and positioning of shapes etc then perhaps... My friend I suggested I learn how to do it. I would but "the attic stuff" requests me to sort and rationalise what to keep and what to lose!
I had the idea of putting the leftover floor tiles as one row... but not necessarily repeating behind the sink and induction hob with perhaps a sheet of transparent tempered glass above the row of tiles. No, not that!
So.. until I find something that I feel confident about then the tiles propped up serve as some protection for the wall. I am looking forward to one day browsing in a FIRED EARTH shop!
Small digression here:
A bedspread featuring camels is on the door window as it is long enough to drape both sides of the window for privacy for the next living room, used as a bedroom. The second of the two same doorways links the middle living room to the end bedroom or study - 'The small room', as I call it, I am led to understand it was the original kitchen.
I don't know how to put a more permanent curtain on these door windows for privacy as the window has a curved top which is what I would like to see! Maybe small decorative panels painted in each of the six windows but how to place them? Any ideas or seamstresses most welcome!
Perhaps next year, the fridge will be replaced with a French larder fridge above a small freezer and then where does one put the micro-four combi (temporary here). It was a gift and works perfectly well if not BIG! I like it! I have come to enjoy using it for some cooking and also it does defrost. However, I DO LIKE a real oven!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE:
MY FRENCH CUISINE
Thank you to one who has been a special friend!
Monday 22 August 2016
The Kitchen 2 of 4
Ah the kitchen ... the cuisine! A summing up!
What a mammoth task, taking about 15 months and more out of my life.
Taking out the good parts of a fited kitchen and upcycling the cupboards for laundry / larder room setting took 2+ months. Continuing that room and preparing four walls, a beamed ceiling and a floor took 2+ months. Some months to recover from exhaustion. Some months to fathom out the measured plan, as opposed to what the kitchen fitting sales shops want you to have! Some months visiting shops and seraching internet to find 'the look' when a number of looks appeal. Some months angsting about the budget. Some months finding the electricians and plumbers to arrive to give estimates and then to do the work when I NEED them to do it - this is also affected by French Holidays. Some months whilst my helper went to warmer climes for the winter. Maybe that covers it!
I can't believe how much energy I wasted in the last 15 months without a kitchen at all. At first with only the exterior building sink and cold water whilst hot water was carried there in buckets. In desperation after three months or so, the dishwasher saved HOURS! Later the 35 year old oven died the day before my friend left. Down to the dechetterie it did go! Without an oven and a proper hob, I made do with fierce gas burners on a two-ringed camp stove, a cheap slow cooker, an electric steamer ( sold for 5e each at the Spring Brocante!). It was a road to burned meals as I dashed 'twixt the cold atelier subject with outdoor wind, le grand salon and the laundry/ larder room. I survived!
The existence of a proper kitchen has lifted years from my shoulders. Freedom seems to have arrived but the honeymoon is almost over as I gradually get used to it. Every morning I thank the fitter!
The kitchen isn't completely finished.
Ideas to do:
'Coffrage' - a cupboard around the electricity meter would be good. Planned was a shelf above the door and window to mask the pipes but I can't see the point! Just another thing to clean!
The major thing that I cannot decide upon is the backsplash or do I mean splashback - 'un credence' in French.
Bright or neutral?
Tiles or glass or something else? I went off the idea of glass as too ultra modern! It would be easy to keep clean. The snag would be measuring exactly for the plugs PLUS tempered glass is expensive in France!
I explored a few hand made tiles from Provence and Brittany but have not found what I was seeking.. as if I really know? FIRED EARTH have some Parisian themed tiles at amazing expense I cannot afford! Would love to see them in REALITY though!
Next year I hope to buy a French larder fridge freezer if I am still here! Meanwhile my 14 year Bosch larder fridge soldiers on, even though two of the trays have had to be repaired. The French freezer is good but oh so noisy even though A+.
Maybe a mirror on the wall above the radiator .. and / or a shelf for cookbooks.
Maybe one or two selected photos on the bare walls towards the laundry room.
H'm.. will have to plan carefully as when the plasterboard receives the screw holders if, in the wrong place they are a nuisance to make good.
REALLY the positive is that:
I LOVE the white, black and grey.
I love the new floor -exceptionally nice and inexpensive. This is in keeping with the age of the village farmhouse. So glad to have steered clear of wood, lookslikewood and other ideas!
I love the drawer concept.
My friend modified the IKEA drawers to fit. We took back their rubbish plinthes twice.. first white, then black but they were slubby brown! My friend made his own in wood, having to modify the awful IKEA legs of the furniture!
IKEA is not bad, in fact LOVE IT and HATE IT. The fitting of it though does require careful attention but one done means the next are easier! We had to watch a few videos to get ideas on e.g. how to release the drawers once fitted!!!
I wish I'd known how many IKEA videos there are once one starts to enter key words! These would have been helpful in the planning stage but might have taken longer.
I detest the amount of cardboard, paper instructions, leaflets and surplus parts accrued. At one time I started to weigh each material but eventually got bored. Some cardboard and packaging board was usefully recycled. Some packaging materials were saved for the Arts Group. Anyone for IKEA parts (???), which I might recycle back to IKEA as a protest!
IKEA were excellent on delivery and true to their word on exchange and replacement. Never accept 'un avoir' unless you wish to purchase further products. I forgot to use 160e one day such is the experience that the feeling of "phwew let me out of here" at the cash desk lulls one into forgetfulness! I discovered this when I got home! In order to get a refund I had to return, but that was six weeks later (one has a year to use an avoir), buy something using the AVOIR, and take it immediately back to the desk for a refund to my bank account. They did not tell me that. I had to work it out when the nice man and the nice supervisor manager said NO to a refund and NO towards the monthly payments. At least I think there were ten visits of a three hour return journey each time in the deliberating, planning, buying, returning stages. Hwoopee all done!
It has been a saga that I am very glad to see the back of and to be able to sit in my kitchen and view the world of my courtyard! Maybe little birds will return to "Le Petit Oiseau".
The oven seems to do a fine roast or braise in a closed casserole but two cakes were crumbly and dry. So I must TEST a recipe that has been successful in the past to determine how this new FANDANGO Neff oven works. I highly recommend the 'escamotable' door which opens and glides into the oven so one does not have to reach around the door.
The hob is a dream to clean but salt or sugar would scratch the surface, so I am careful! It's like cooking by numbers! I already miss fierce wokking of onions, garlic, veg for a stir fry!
So pics .. of the MAGAZINE look and some as the kitchen is in ACTION... tomorrow!
Such a tease this is!
What a mammoth task, taking about 15 months and more out of my life.
Taking out the good parts of a fited kitchen and upcycling the cupboards for laundry / larder room setting took 2+ months. Continuing that room and preparing four walls, a beamed ceiling and a floor took 2+ months. Some months to recover from exhaustion. Some months to fathom out the measured plan, as opposed to what the kitchen fitting sales shops want you to have! Some months visiting shops and seraching internet to find 'the look' when a number of looks appeal. Some months angsting about the budget. Some months finding the electricians and plumbers to arrive to give estimates and then to do the work when I NEED them to do it - this is also affected by French Holidays. Some months whilst my helper went to warmer climes for the winter. Maybe that covers it!
I can't believe how much energy I wasted in the last 15 months without a kitchen at all. At first with only the exterior building sink and cold water whilst hot water was carried there in buckets. In desperation after three months or so, the dishwasher saved HOURS! Later the 35 year old oven died the day before my friend left. Down to the dechetterie it did go! Without an oven and a proper hob, I made do with fierce gas burners on a two-ringed camp stove, a cheap slow cooker, an electric steamer ( sold for 5e each at the Spring Brocante!). It was a road to burned meals as I dashed 'twixt the cold atelier subject with outdoor wind, le grand salon and the laundry/ larder room. I survived!
The existence of a proper kitchen has lifted years from my shoulders. Freedom seems to have arrived but the honeymoon is almost over as I gradually get used to it. Every morning I thank the fitter!
The kitchen isn't completely finished.
Ideas to do:
'Coffrage' - a cupboard around the electricity meter would be good. Planned was a shelf above the door and window to mask the pipes but I can't see the point! Just another thing to clean!
The major thing that I cannot decide upon is the backsplash or do I mean splashback - 'un credence' in French.
Bright or neutral?
Tiles or glass or something else? I went off the idea of glass as too ultra modern! It would be easy to keep clean. The snag would be measuring exactly for the plugs PLUS tempered glass is expensive in France!
I explored a few hand made tiles from Provence and Brittany but have not found what I was seeking.. as if I really know? FIRED EARTH have some Parisian themed tiles at amazing expense I cannot afford! Would love to see them in REALITY though!
Next year I hope to buy a French larder fridge freezer if I am still here! Meanwhile my 14 year Bosch larder fridge soldiers on, even though two of the trays have had to be repaired. The French freezer is good but oh so noisy even though A+.
Maybe a mirror on the wall above the radiator .. and / or a shelf for cookbooks.
Maybe one or two selected photos on the bare walls towards the laundry room.
H'm.. will have to plan carefully as when the plasterboard receives the screw holders if, in the wrong place they are a nuisance to make good.
REALLY the positive is that:
I LOVE the white, black and grey.
I love the new floor -exceptionally nice and inexpensive. This is in keeping with the age of the village farmhouse. So glad to have steered clear of wood, lookslikewood and other ideas!
I love the drawer concept.
My friend modified the IKEA drawers to fit. We took back their rubbish plinthes twice.. first white, then black but they were slubby brown! My friend made his own in wood, having to modify the awful IKEA legs of the furniture!
IKEA is not bad, in fact LOVE IT and HATE IT. The fitting of it though does require careful attention but one done means the next are easier! We had to watch a few videos to get ideas on e.g. how to release the drawers once fitted!!!
I wish I'd known how many IKEA videos there are once one starts to enter key words! These would have been helpful in the planning stage but might have taken longer.
I detest the amount of cardboard, paper instructions, leaflets and surplus parts accrued. At one time I started to weigh each material but eventually got bored. Some cardboard and packaging board was usefully recycled. Some packaging materials were saved for the Arts Group. Anyone for IKEA parts (???), which I might recycle back to IKEA as a protest!
IKEA were excellent on delivery and true to their word on exchange and replacement. Never accept 'un avoir' unless you wish to purchase further products. I forgot to use 160e one day such is the experience that the feeling of "phwew let me out of here" at the cash desk lulls one into forgetfulness! I discovered this when I got home! In order to get a refund I had to return, but that was six weeks later (one has a year to use an avoir), buy something using the AVOIR, and take it immediately back to the desk for a refund to my bank account. They did not tell me that. I had to work it out when the nice man and the nice supervisor manager said NO to a refund and NO towards the monthly payments. At least I think there were ten visits of a three hour return journey each time in the deliberating, planning, buying, returning stages. Hwoopee all done!
It has been a saga that I am very glad to see the back of and to be able to sit in my kitchen and view the world of my courtyard! Maybe little birds will return to "Le Petit Oiseau".
The oven seems to do a fine roast or braise in a closed casserole but two cakes were crumbly and dry. So I must TEST a recipe that has been successful in the past to determine how this new FANDANGO Neff oven works. I highly recommend the 'escamotable' door which opens and glides into the oven so one does not have to reach around the door.
The hob is a dream to clean but salt or sugar would scratch the surface, so I am careful! It's like cooking by numbers! I already miss fierce wokking of onions, garlic, veg for a stir fry!
So pics .. of the MAGAZINE look and some as the kitchen is in ACTION... tomorrow!
Such a tease this is!
Sunday 21 August 2016
The Kitchen 1 of 4
Ah...the kitchen.. la cuisine. I keep you in waiting!
Before I comment, I would like to publicly thank my erstwhile and yet existing friend for all his skills, talents, labour, patience, fortitude, irritation, frustration, anger, guilt, commitment, display of concern or love or friendship or whatever one wants to call the inter relationship between two people who try to understand each other...
and ALL THE REST,
and honour him with Knighthood!
For rescuing me so many times!
For hanging about for six years
even though he had decided that we were not to be a couple anymore (MY DISBELIEF EVEN THOUGH I KNEW!).
In those six years, appearing from time to time, and for months on end to work with me, and for me, to get the renovation finished, he persevered on the house that I had bought in 2010.
a) as a project we could do together to save our relationship
b) knowing yet not even daring to think or acknowledge that by having my son involved at the beginning it would not work
c) not acknowledging my repeated fears and intuition between 2003 and 2006.
d) as a bolt hole to have somewhere to stay that was mine and yet still be a couple!
How I was blinkered and naive!
LOVE is blind!
I would also like to apologise for all my mental and emotional breakdowns which have caused me to write poetry and prose on this blog and to pour my heart out in anguish!
Also to friends and family who have supported me, protected me, done their best to advise me, endured me and my complications of heart and mind!
Fans, friends and family have waited to see the kitchen photos. Some had private pics some time ago! When those who do not live in France will ever come is not of consequence any more!
Tomorrow!
Before I comment, I would like to publicly thank my erstwhile and yet existing friend for all his skills, talents, labour, patience, fortitude, irritation, frustration, anger, guilt, commitment, display of concern or love or friendship or whatever one wants to call the inter relationship between two people who try to understand each other...
and ALL THE REST,
and honour him with Knighthood!
For rescuing me so many times!
For hanging about for six years
even though he had decided that we were not to be a couple anymore (MY DISBELIEF EVEN THOUGH I KNEW!).
In those six years, appearing from time to time, and for months on end to work with me, and for me, to get the renovation finished, he persevered on the house that I had bought in 2010.
a) as a project we could do together to save our relationship
b) knowing yet not even daring to think or acknowledge that by having my son involved at the beginning it would not work
c) not acknowledging my repeated fears and intuition between 2003 and 2006.
d) as a bolt hole to have somewhere to stay that was mine and yet still be a couple!
How I was blinkered and naive!
LOVE is blind!
I would also like to apologise for all my mental and emotional breakdowns which have caused me to write poetry and prose on this blog and to pour my heart out in anguish!
Also to friends and family who have supported me, protected me, done their best to advise me, endured me and my complications of heart and mind!
Fans, friends and family have waited to see the kitchen photos. Some had private pics some time ago! When those who do not live in France will ever come is not of consequence any more!
Tomorrow!
Thursday 12 May 2016
The Kitchen: Where was I? Where am I? 5 of 5
The magic day arrived when we started to lay tiles not eggs!
END OF UPDATE - It has taken me seven hours on Sunday 8th May in between gardening and domestics to writ, edit and complete these last five postings for scheduled publishing.
It is evidently not as warm here as in England but yesterday was gloriously sunny. Warmth in any country, wherever we live makes all the difference to well-being!
Thank you.
YIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
What a beautiful floor it is!!!!!!
With thanks on my bended knees in homage I thank my friend for sticking with me for the past six years.
I truly never thought I would ever see the kitchen make this moment!!!
I thought I would have given up but NO, I have stayed the course despite the trauma.
Tears pour out suddenly as I write this last sentence!
Looking back, seeing the distance, seeing the then and the now as daily I walk across that floor, I am in seventh heaven. But I do come down to earth every minute of every day whilst considering thoughts and feelings about "what am I doing here?" "what is my purpose?" etc.
The tears have stopped. That's how fast they arrive and disappear. Six years ago I was crying all day!
A big sigh!
Well done him! I am grateful that we are still friends and that we have a better understanding of each other. I THINK.
Life is so short.
I am tired of trauma, stress and being alone. I am tired of renovation but still have plans and thoughts for my house. If only this.....and only that!!!
I
What a beautiful floor it is!!!!!!
With thanks on my bended knees in homage I thank my friend for sticking with me for the past six years.
I truly never thought I would ever see the kitchen make this moment!!!
I thought I would have given up but NO, I have stayed the course despite the trauma.
Tears pour out suddenly as I write this last sentence!
Looking back, seeing the distance, seeing the then and the now as daily I walk across that floor, I am in seventh heaven. But I do come down to earth every minute of every day whilst considering thoughts and feelings about "what am I doing here?" "what is my purpose?" etc.
The tears have stopped. That's how fast they arrive and disappear. Six years ago I was crying all day!
A big sigh!
Well done him! I am grateful that we are still friends and that we have a better understanding of each other. I THINK.
Life is so short.
I am tired of trauma, stress and being alone. I am tired of renovation but still have plans and thoughts for my house. If only this.....and only that!!!
I
END OF UPDATE - It has taken me seven hours on Sunday 8th May in between gardening and domestics to writ, edit and complete these last five postings for scheduled publishing.
It is evidently not as warm here as in England but yesterday was gloriously sunny. Warmth in any country, wherever we live makes all the difference to well-being!
Thank you.
Wednesday 11 May 2016
The Kitchen: Where was I? Where am I? 4 of 5
FLAWED / FLOORED
After his adventures in the South of France my friend was collected at a bus stop not far from Leroy Merlin and as this is an hour from home I suggested we go to look at the flooring choice dilemma!
PART ONE: The Choice
It was weird because the final choice was something I had looked at last November but discounted the idea as too busy! I am drawn to this antique style. I am not sure if this precise one was there then but it certainly was when I went with a female friend in February. My eye was attracted but not the mind because I was trying to choose between REAL wood flooring and ceramic tiles that looked like wood. Somehow, the cost of real wood seemed obscene for a kitchen and modern-look-like-wood ceramic tiles seemed to not tick my box!! Why have false when one could have the real thing?
Having described my thoughts/ choices, we started to look at other options. Other tiles, Vinyl, Stratifiée etc..
When I showed him this, there was an IMMEDIATE, exclamation of "YES".
And so I came to purchase 16m2 of this lovely carrelage suitable for exterior and interior but also kitchens.
In case the link disappears the tiles are:
Carrelage gris & blanc effet terre cuite Villa l.20 x L.20 cm by ARTENS.
To my surprise I realised that grey was indeed going to look good with an almost white kitchen!
Pattern in a plain kitchen was good.
19th century French Provincial style appealed and though a little highbrow I thought it would suit the character of my house! VOILA!
Angst resolved.
I found this website after I had bought the tiles.
Lovely photos and a little history.
One cannot afford the real thing!
PART TWO: Opening boxes
Whilst the electrician and plumber were in the kitchen room we opened the boxes of tiles.
Not knowing the plan we decided to sort the 12 mixed boxes into piles of the same pattern. Each box contained 36 tiles.
Ah, it appears that the each box contains a different number of each of the NINE tiles that make the pattern.
After opening all boxes, each pile of one pattern was not the same height... hence oh oh oh!
Each pile counted between 41 tiles in one of the nine patterns and 51 of another.
See in the photo the nine piles of tiles all at different heights!
At the very end of the tiling exercise of laying the kitchen floor, there were no more tiles of the pattern which we had the least of.
At one time I was convinced we would need to order another box...but with careful planning at the cutting stage, the last of the least fitted a corner where I shall see it every day! Just to remind me!
We also tiled to the back linear wall under the cabinets because I absolutely hate unseen things being skimped on. I like to know it is clean and tidy behind the plinths. Also if ever the cabinets have to be removed it will still show a level floor!
Next, we laid the nine in a square according to the model on Leroymerlin website.
Then we laid three more sets making a 6 x6 tiled square with the 3 x 3 square four times repeated.
Did we like that?
We re-arranged with always the lightest coloured one in the centre, whereupon we discovered that each tile has its own orientation!!!!!! GOSH!
Then we could see other patterns. For example one could see a 4 x 4 pattern within this!
Then one could see diagonal patterns. Oh help!!!!!! Too busy!
That took at least two hours!
PART THREE: Skirting board cut.
At some point in the kitchen renovation process, my friend sawed out with an adapted tool, a small gap off the base of the skirting board. I held the vacuum cleaner to collect the dust, scoured out the muck, 3 buttons. screws and a 1ct coin!
PART FOUR: Laying floor tiles
After the artisans departed we started to think about where to start.
Into the grand salon...
the external doorway
I started to pile the tiles in sets in the correct orientation to make it easier to pass to the tiler on the other side of the straight edge and to ensure the tiles stayed correct. Easier said than done! It was good team work! Though I am not strong enough to use the electric tool that mixes the adhesive - the one like a food mixer!
PART SIX: A halt in the proceedings!
We discovered the problem with the adhesive! HALT whilst we took a day out to change the sacks of glue!!!!!
When I phoned Leroy Merlin they asked for the bar code and without question said I should return it.
Various things then occurred to me and the detective in me emerged.
The system for dating building products of a powdery nature has changed. There used to be a date of fabrication which means it then has a certain shelf life. Now... the bags contain the date by which to use making it much easier to work out the age of the product whilst it is in the shop! Here is the jointing powder barcode with DLU - date de l''utilsation.
Here, the adhesive we bought with date of fabrication.
It should be OK but when we opened it, the powder was lumpy, not the correct powdery texture suggesting that it has been stored badly either in the store or in transit. BIT RISKY TO USE!
When we got to the shop we noticed that the new packets have the DLU ...
h'mmmmm only one month later in the shop than when I bought mine!
Here are the old bags on promotion! We smell a rat!
I asked for a reimbursement for the inconvenience of travel and a waste of a day's work when the problem with the adhesive was clearly not my fault. I asked after I had seen that the same bags that we'd bought only four weeks prior were being sold 'promotion'. They were within the correct date... but clearly I think LRM knew the problem! I suggested to LRM that I thought the regs had changed and was this true. They confirmed. I also suggested that in this case the product has been stored badly or damaged in transit. They said that it was possble! When they finally understood WHY we had bought the sacks back for exchange and not re-inbursement, they seemed to 'be aware" saying that they would remove all the sacks from promotion. I think they knew they had been sussed although I never returned to see if they kept them off sale!
I was offered 6e to cover the cost of a two hour return journey and petrol costs for 100km When I said that was an insult expecially as I have spent a lot of money with them over the last six years and more I was then offered 15e which I had to accept ... of course all three or four store staff wished me a good day and off they sped asap!!!!!!!
It was ome satisfaction but 'fait attention' one has to be cautious with large companies and stand one's ground!
I am glad my friend was with me otherwise I don't think I would have received any refund.
He verified as an artisan that the goods were not good and well done him as he kept patiently quiet, did not get upset and left it all to me!
After his adventures in the South of France my friend was collected at a bus stop not far from Leroy Merlin and as this is an hour from home I suggested we go to look at the flooring choice dilemma!
PART ONE: The Choice
It was weird because the final choice was something I had looked at last November but discounted the idea as too busy! I am drawn to this antique style. I am not sure if this precise one was there then but it certainly was when I went with a female friend in February. My eye was attracted but not the mind because I was trying to choose between REAL wood flooring and ceramic tiles that looked like wood. Somehow, the cost of real wood seemed obscene for a kitchen and modern-look-like-wood ceramic tiles seemed to not tick my box!! Why have false when one could have the real thing?
Having described my thoughts/ choices, we started to look at other options. Other tiles, Vinyl, Stratifiée etc..
When I showed him this, there was an IMMEDIATE, exclamation of "YES".
And so I came to purchase 16m2 of this lovely carrelage suitable for exterior and interior but also kitchens.
In case the link disappears the tiles are:
Carrelage gris & blanc effet terre cuite Villa l.20 x L.20 cm by ARTENS.
To my surprise I realised that grey was indeed going to look good with an almost white kitchen!
Pattern in a plain kitchen was good.
19th century French Provincial style appealed and though a little highbrow I thought it would suit the character of my house! VOILA!
Angst resolved.
I found this website after I had bought the tiles.
Lovely photos and a little history.
One cannot afford the real thing!
PART TWO: Opening boxes
Whilst the electrician and plumber were in the kitchen room we opened the boxes of tiles.
Not knowing the plan we decided to sort the 12 mixed boxes into piles of the same pattern. Each box contained 36 tiles.
Ah, it appears that the each box contains a different number of each of the NINE tiles that make the pattern.
After opening all boxes, each pile of one pattern was not the same height... hence oh oh oh!
Each pile counted between 41 tiles in one of the nine patterns and 51 of another.
See in the photo the nine piles of tiles all at different heights!
At the very end of the tiling exercise of laying the kitchen floor, there were no more tiles of the pattern which we had the least of.
At one time I was convinced we would need to order another box...but with careful planning at the cutting stage, the last of the least fitted a corner where I shall see it every day! Just to remind me!
We also tiled to the back linear wall under the cabinets because I absolutely hate unseen things being skimped on. I like to know it is clean and tidy behind the plinths. Also if ever the cabinets have to be removed it will still show a level floor!
Then we laid three more sets making a 6 x6 tiled square with the 3 x 3 square four times repeated.
Did we like that?
We re-arranged with always the lightest coloured one in the centre, whereupon we discovered that each tile has its own orientation!!!!!! GOSH!
Then we could see other patterns. For example one could see a 4 x 4 pattern within this!
Then one could see diagonal patterns. Oh help!!!!!! Too busy!
That took at least two hours!
PART THREE: Skirting board cut.
At some point in the kitchen renovation process, my friend sawed out with an adapted tool, a small gap off the base of the skirting board. I held the vacuum cleaner to collect the dust, scoured out the muck, 3 buttons. screws and a 1ct coin!
We had to do this or else the tiles would not have slid under the walls.
On another day he made a cover board to access the water pipes if ever necessary. A clever thinking man! I have loved him and not just for his practical skills! I probably still do love the man I met! People change. He has changed and so have I! We just didn't manage to maintain the togetherness.
PART FOUR: Laying floor tiles
After the artisans departed we started to think about where to start.
First of all find mid centre. We again checked the floor level. We found each straight line between the passage ways. Four door ways.. so how to centralise the pattern...
and as we progressed the nine pattern changed! Finally, the plan was decided so we lay the pattern without glueing to see an effect!
Into the grand salon...
into le petit salon called Oval Room
PART SIX: A halt in the proceedings!
When I phoned Leroy Merlin they asked for the bar code and without question said I should return it.
Various things then occurred to me and the detective in me emerged.
The system for dating building products of a powdery nature has changed. There used to be a date of fabrication which means it then has a certain shelf life. Now... the bags contain the date by which to use making it much easier to work out the age of the product whilst it is in the shop! Here is the jointing powder barcode with DLU - date de l''utilsation.
It should be OK but when we opened it, the powder was lumpy, not the correct powdery texture suggesting that it has been stored badly either in the store or in transit. BIT RISKY TO USE!
When we got to the shop we noticed that the new packets have the DLU ...
h'mmmmm only one month later in the shop than when I bought mine!
I asked for a reimbursement for the inconvenience of travel and a waste of a day's work when the problem with the adhesive was clearly not my fault. I asked after I had seen that the same bags that we'd bought only four weeks prior were being sold 'promotion'. They were within the correct date... but clearly I think LRM knew the problem! I suggested to LRM that I thought the regs had changed and was this true. They confirmed. I also suggested that in this case the product has been stored badly or damaged in transit. They said that it was possble! When they finally understood WHY we had bought the sacks back for exchange and not re-inbursement, they seemed to 'be aware" saying that they would remove all the sacks from promotion. I think they knew they had been sussed although I never returned to see if they kept them off sale!
I was offered 6e to cover the cost of a two hour return journey and petrol costs for 100km When I said that was an insult expecially as I have spent a lot of money with them over the last six years and more I was then offered 15e which I had to accept ... of course all three or four store staff wished me a good day and off they sped asap!!!!!!!
It was ome satisfaction but 'fait attention' one has to be cautious with large companies and stand one's ground!
I am glad my friend was with me otherwise I don't think I would have received any refund.
He verified as an artisan that the goods were not good and well done him as he kept patiently quiet, did not get upset and left it all to me!
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