Meanwhile, Across Town... Another House Renovation, Part I

When we last saw Granny she was waving a fond farewell to her home of 40-odd years in Bristol and moving down to Somerset to live with us while her new bungy was renovated.

Here she is on the day she got the keys to her new place on the 23rd of March.

Setting foot inside for the first time as its owner,

with her able assistant (and Buzz Lightyear.)

The bungy has required quite a lot of work over the past few months, and I've taken a lot of photos documenting the progress, hence I've divided this renovation update into more than one post.

Here's the living/dining room during March and April. See that archway? Well, wave bye-bye because a couple of days later it was gone, gone, gone.

That's better - much more open.

Oh, and see that window at the end? Wave bye bye, because very soon it was gone, gone, gone.

It was also bye bye to the plug-in fireplace.

Soon replaced by a fence panel. Not sure why.

And here's the kitchen. The door at the end went straight into the garage, with another door out into the garden.

However, we came up with the idea of building a wall to the right to create a utility room off of the kitchen, while retaining enough space in the garage for Mum to drive her car in, should she wish to.

The builders brought the floor level up in this area and now it's a really handy space and also a much more pleasant way for Mum to access the garden (ie she doesn't have to step down into the garage and then back up and out.)

Here's the little cloakroom, to the left of the front door.

Nice shot of open loo seat, courtesy of the builders.

This is the front bedroom. The first shot is actually from one of the viewings we had before Mum bought the house. I only took a few photos that day as I felt a bit self-conscious snapping away with the estate agent there.

And a couple of weeks later, with new windows. Although Mum has stuck with the brown frames externally, in order to match with the other houses in the area, internally she's chosen white frames to make the place much lighter.

This is the corridor between the two bedrooms, with the bathroom to the left and the living room to the right.

 And here's Mum's bedroom, at the back of the house. The first few shots were taken on viewing day.

And with new windows; the white frames make such a difference.

Here's the bathroom. I wish I'd taken some 'before' shots. The bath sat under the window (you can just see the marks on the floor) with the toilet next to it and the sink tucked up in the corner to the other side of the toilet. All that remains in this photo is the waste pipe. Nice.

 And finally, here's the back garden on the day Mum got the keys on the 23rd of March.

 Say bye bye to the green stuff.

One week later, the digger arrived and the stripping out began.

 Fast forward another couple of weeks and the hardcore arrived.

 And the sand.

And within four weeks the garden had been transformed: Mum now has a low-maintenance back garden with a large patio to sit out on (should the sun ever shine) and an area of gravel for plant pots plus her shed. I know it wouldn't be everyone's ideal back garden, but it's great for Mum; plus she still has a bed around the edges where she can plant flowers, shrubs and even some veggies, and there's a lawn and flower beds at the front of the bungy to keep her busy too.

 Here's part of the aforementioned front garden that will keep Mum's green fingers busy.

Tune in tomorrow for more 'Across Town' renovations.