Trades and design

Something you don’t realise before you begin a project like this is how hard it is to find the builders. I interviewed dozens of electricians, plumbers, roofers etc. When you find one you like, they’d ghost you because they had too much work on and you’d have to start all over again...And lets not mention the fact that when the prospective trades arrived to me carrying ABC, I was often patronised by being asked whether my husband would be able to discuss further. Of which I simply replied " don't let the door hit you on the way out" or expletives to that effect! While I was trying to pin down all trades, Cookie was sketching ideas for rooms and covering the walls with mood boards and ideas so we could articulate what we wanted. In the end it took us the best part of 2 months to finally find all the trades we needed and the serious work could begin... During those 2 months we watched an episode of George Clarke’s #oldhousenewhome and thought ‘we should be on that show’. I filled in the application that night but never really thought our project would actually be chosen. Initially, we discussed the renovation of the kitchen and a bedroom as we romanticized gradually restoring each room ourselves. It took us a few days to realise that taking turns on the nursing chair for comfort and dodging open floorboards that we needed to put this house back together as quickly as possible.