I have no idea where the time goes, I have the blog mainly written but we have been so busy I have just not had time to put up posts, but as of today, the resurrection of our old manor house will go back to a regular update and tomorrow I will let you know what has been keeping me so busy besides the renovation.
This is going to be such an exciting week, the walls are going to be put in place in the main front room. We will finally see what the rooms will look like.
We have deliberated so much on this aspect as the ceilings are so high, the doors are so big and a thousand other what ifs.
One option that John really liked was to put a false ceiling in and have a mezzanine on top of the rooms, I was not struck on this idea as the mezzanine would not have been high enough for people to use, but John wanted to see the entire ceiling as the wood is so beautiful.
But after many discussions of varying pitch and colourful words, we have decided not to have the mezzanine, we will put the walls in place and see what it looks like.
If we don´t like it we can always take them down and start again. This is the best bit of working in a space that has had nothing done, you can literally do what ever you want.
It takes a couple of days for all of the frame to go up, but it is starting to look like the mezzanine is not needed.
The next part to go up is the plaster board, this will be the real test, are the rooms going to look small and poky, will it work, how big does the corridor need to be, so many questions and no answers until it is all done.
Only one side of the frame is plaster boarded as we need to add all of the electrics but it looks good, the ceilings are not too high, the rooms are not too small, Oh My Goodness I feel like Goldilocks, it is just perfect, but luckily no bears are going to return home.
The room works and now we have the outline of 3 bedrooms a bathroom, a hallway and a large vestibule, and now that we have the doors the same as the ones upstairs, this floor really will mirror the upstairs floor and will look like it has always been there.
The only potential problem is how sturdy the walls will be as they are very high, this is not really a problem as we can add built in wardrobes to the walls and use shelves as cross braces, this will make all of the walls very sturdy.
Obviously this is not one days work, and has taken some time to get to this stage.

Top tips
- Do not have set ideas, have an outline, but the house will let you know what it needs
- Do not be afraid of getting it wrong, you can start again
- Do not balance with one foot on scaffolding and one foot on a ladder!
- Never throw anything away until you are finished (see below)
- Do not get conned into buying expensive accessories. we made our own feet for the scaffolding so that it did not scratch the floor. very simple and very safe (as long as you use the same size pieces of wood (see below)

You are both working very hard. X
LikeLike
Wow, what a lovely ceiling height. I know you intend to be there long-term but if you ever sell such a major feature
LikeLike
So impressed, just don’t let him fall and stopped the process—amazing
LikeLike
I personally appreciate you sharing the whole renovation process step by step, overwhelming as it is, it will be all worth it and I must say it’s looking wonderful! I love the floors, oh my dear Jenny I can’t wait to see the end result. Cheers to you both and will be waiting for the next updated blog.
LikeLike
When will we get the next instalment.
LikeLike
It is so understandable that you are overwhelmed and consumed with your projects with the home. It is a major transformation and I trust that it will be worth the wait and effort. My husband and I would love to visit when the time is right, tho I know the invitation is not quite out there, perhaps when we visit the mainland we can meet for coffee or drinks. We also have a home in Terceira, Azores, tho now it is a vacation hom, but God willing it will be our retirement home in a short few years! We live in U.S. and would love to have some ex-pats to visit us sometime. Our best to you both…..keep up the good work!
LikeLike
thanks everybody, and so sorry i have not been blogging as regularly as i should but i am now back on it
LikeLike