Flushed with success (ok, that's a bad one!)

Who knew you can change the sound of your toilet filling up after you flush it?! I'm stupidly excited about this. The new toilet didn't have the 'gubbins' it was supposed to in the cistern - and the replacement that was provided was er, 'insert a suitable toilet word for rubbish'.
This inlet valve (from your local DIY superstore - the plumbing bit, yes I never go there either!) fills the cistern so much more quietly than the usual one (useful in an en-suite or loo near your bedroom). I'm so impressed!!! It actually makes the toilet sound more expensive (well, car manufacturers spend a lot of time working on how the shutting the doors sounds.....so I'm not THAT weird.........

Another 50 shades of grey....

When I bought the crackle-glazed grey bathroom tiles, I knew matching a paint with them would be challenging. I love grey. I think it's got an understated elegance. It's so often used in the set for 1940's-50's films and looks stunning. A great backdrop for showing off other colours. Trying to match greys however - is a different matter, some are pink-y based, some are blue-y. It was an issue I'd already come across picking the fabrics for this quilt (opposite), trying to match the plain fabric with the printed branches. It takes great care and viewing in a variety of lights (daylight, artificial light, even different times of day). 

After very careful perusal of the colour swatches I invested in a paint tester, fairly confident in my choice. How wrong was I?! Five tester pots later....(this is getting expensive - why didn't I just settle on 'cream')...and my bathroom walls now resemble one of my patchwork quilts. I have to say, reading 50 Shades of Grey was much more enjoyable than watching paint dry! 

A day on the tiles...

I've bought some lovely Laura Ashley (who's sponsoring the textile group I'm involved in setting up at The Maltings) grey tiles. I bought them for £8 sq metre instead of the full price of over £30! I love a bargain.



Laura Ashley photo - not my bathroom.

I braced myself to lift them from the trolley into my car, aware that a chap was watching me. To my surprise he quickly stepped up and offered his help (chivalry is not dead!).

"Cor these are heavy!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth as he lifted them.
I thought, 'Yeah I know' a) I'm stronger than I look b) I'm not stupid - that's why I accepted your help mate!

Any one know a good bender?

Project bathroom is under way. I'm finally feeling confident that the leaks (numerous volumes and sources) have been sorted.

Half of the floor had to be removed after one leak.

Confident enough to replace the grey-green bathroom suite - who ever thought that was a good idea?! - with a shiny white one. I'm sooooo looking forward to a lovely bathroom to relax in - although that is a long way off as I'm too tight/too much of a control freak to get trades involved!

After dusting off the DIY manual I came across this little gem of advice 'it is not easy to bend 22mm pipe over your knee. You are advised to hire a professional bender.' I wonder where I could find one of those......