We get by with a little help from...mum....

I think the frustration with our lack of swift progress due to repeatedly getting home and favouring the sofa instead of wall sanding (i am more guilty of this) had taken its toll on my mum. She came over one saturday morning armed with pots of delightful things such as wall filler and sanding blocks. We then, as a trio, set about filling in all the cracks and holes in the walls of the bedroom.

Most people would have favoured calling in the professionals and whacking up some plaster and then just painting is as soon as it was dry. Oh no not us!! still holding onto the dream of the rustic country look we felt that the slightly rough finish of filling and sanding it ourselves would be 'simply charming!'

 Turns out there were bloody hundreds of holes and cracks and missing bit of plaster. I think I can safely Dave hated this job. He would much rather be knocking something down and creating destruction than delicately filling in holes (apparently). We laboured away using the ready made filler and making some putty of our own for the larger holes. Mum very kindly set us on the right path and helped us get the techniques...although I failed miserably at the professional plastering action so she has to take over or we would have eded up with some odd lumps on the wall.

After our day of filling in holes I was blessed with another day off work and so took it upon myself to sand down the walls from top to bottom. Needless to say this was knackering. I had a tool that had a handle and a flat surface about the size of a brick which I masterfully (in my opinion!) strapped a piece of sand paper to. I then spent the best part of 3 hours rubbing down the walls and covering myself in a fine powder. (so much so I could no longer tell the time on my watch) After this i made up a mixture of PVA and water and painted this on the walls to seal it al in. This was a fairly simple process and it dried so quickly that the affect was instant. Within a short time the walls were ready for their first coat of paint (drum roll please!)

 This was a very successful day and it was really wonderful to finally be able to see what the room might look like soon.

Even though the professional painter who came to do the finishing coats of paint couldn't really handle the rough walls and occasional bumps in the smooth walls - we like it as it will be a reminder of some of our own effort. Having said that we have now decided to just re-plaster the rest of the house and have given up on any attempt to maintain the 'rustic' look of the walls....although this might change as the budget diminishes!