When my alarm went off this morning, I couldn’t even work out what day it was for a few seconds. Then I remembered that Vanessa the decorator was coming round at 9am and Tescos were also delivering my shopping around that time. Having pressed the snooze button a few times, I was 30 mins behind schedule.

That didn’t stop me doing my morning stretches – the short version only takes around 3 mins 😊. I quickly got ready and cleared out the rest of the utility room. It looked so much better and bigger with nothing in it.

Fixing the broken utility room door

We never seem to be able to do anything, without something needing fixing; however, my husband and I are getting better at working together on tackling these sorts of tasks. As we always leave the pocket door open in the utility room, we’d forgotten that it needed fixing, which is one of the reasons why we stopped closing it a year or so ago. It was only brought to our attention today because Vanessa needed to paint one side of it and it kept scraping on the bottom part as she moved the door.

I called my husband in and he said that he’d have to take off the architrave around the door. I must admit, when he asked me to get him a hammer and chisel, I did get a bit worried that we’d end up with a broken door frame (but that’s just me not really understanding how it all fits together). I really must have more faith in him 😊.

Fast forward an hour and the door was fixed. Once he’d taken off the top and right architraves (yes, they came off in whole pieces luckily!), it was really obvious what the problem was.

This pocket door and a few others downstairs were fitted around three years ago, and at the time I never really took the time to think about how they worked. Not being my area of expertise, it was just like magic to me that it just opened and closed into the wall 😀. There are basically just two screws and some brackets attached to the top of the door which slide along the rail of the metal frame. Quite simple when you think about it.

It took my husband a few goes to adjust it just right, but he did it. The architrave now needs to be put back but there’s no rush as Vanessa won’t be painting the kitchen side of the door until a few weeks’ time.

We realised half way through the day that once she’d painted the other side of the door, she’d have to exit the utility room out the side door. Luckily she can just walk round and come in through the back door.

It made me smile later on when she’d gone when I remembered that I needed peas and Yorkshire puddings for the roast dinner I was cooking, and then I remembered that I had to do one more lot of washing. I basically had to go out of the house three times to get the utility room. I didn’t realise how many things I use it for in just one evening.

It gave me the opportunity to take a few photos of her brilliant work (before and after photos below). It was so cold today and she was working in such a small space, that the back door kept getting condensation. As it was wet she was only able to do an undercoat on the door. It still looks better than before though. She’ll do the gloss paint next weekend when she’s back to decorate the lounge.

Utility room decorating complete

I do like the utility room being clear. I’m hoping that I can keep it like that. Judging by the state of my dining room which currently displays the utility room’s contents, I think I will have a lot of sorting and decluttering to do if I don’t want to put it all back!

Other progress & family time

I spent some of the day pottering about in the dining room sorting out the tons of recycling by the back door, putting washing away, and helping my youngest get her room back to normal after yesterday’s decorating. She still has to be careful not to touch the gloss paint and the room needs to be kept aired, but she was fine with that and was happy to get her room back. It looks so clear and tidy now with nothing on the windowsill or desk… yet!

After a Skype with my lovely mum and dad and then a roast chicken dinner, we spent the evening as a family cuddled up on the sofa watching a film. I fell asleep and missed most of it!

Hope you’ve all had an enjoyable weekend.

Until tomorrow

Sandra