I can finally hang up my overalls and put tools in the garage because I have finished my flat! Three months of scraping and painting and drilling, I think I underestimated how much I had to do and how exhausting it would be. Anyhow I aimed to finish it in September and I just about did.

It feels more like home now. It is very white, I think that white walls help me mentally in some way, I do struggle to cope sometimes (as we all do) and my surroundings effect me a lot. So, it is nice to have a bright clean place to live in, as I work from home too, I will see a lot of these walls!

My children liked the way it looked when we moved in but I wasn't so keen on the blue and cream gloss tiles and cupboards from the previous owner, so I painted them...

It is a small kitchen but I just about squeezed in a table for us.

I put up a few extra shelves and I changed the cupboard handles to brass ones and put up some lights.

I made a (very small) utility area behind the door!

I hid the ugly orange oven plug switch with a picture - cards from Gemma Koomen

I have much less space here than in our old house, when I moved I had to be really careful about only taking things I really love using or looking at. I also cut down on clothes for us three and only have the minimum, so now I have less washing and clothes to put away. We only have three of everything in the kitchen so less washing up too! If you visit, bring your own mug/plate/towel/fork.

That was a joke, I have some extras hidden away.

Some boring jobs were to sand down the window frames and repaint them, same with the cupboard doors.

These were gloss laminate, I sanded them (and filled the holes left by the old handles) and used Dulux Trade Supergrip Primer (Also used this on the tiles) I used a special topcoat for laminate cupboards and a tile paint using a smooth roller. I re-grouted and sealed the tiles after painting.

These are the before pictures

I'm so pleased that the first thing I did when I left my old life was buy a good drill, because I have drilled 24 holes in this bathroom. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, in fact it might be my favourite room.

If you are interested about all the minor details, read on...

So, lots to do in this tiny bathroom compared to the other rooms which mainly involved stripping wallpaper and painting. Of course ideally I would have stripped out the whole thing and started again (and hired professionals to do it), but as I had only £300 to spend, that was not going to happen, so I had to use what was already there like all the fittings and the wall tiles.

When I moved in I was disappointed there was no shower, even though I am more of a bath person, it's nice to have a shower too. I go swimming in the sea a lot lately (which is doing me so much good!), so it is very handy. I realised there is nowhere to install a shower (not that I can afford a plumber right now) or a shower screen because of where the window is. Luckily the mixer tap has a shower hose outlet on the bottom, I found a fixed shower head that can be attached via hose to the mixer tap. I attached it to the side wall and angled the shower a bit. Then I couldn't find a shower curtain rail to fit with the window and the ceiling light. Finally I found one which I cut to fit. I didn't fancy drilling into that false Artexed ceiling, so it is fixed to the wall instead (as this one is designed for). That bloody shower rail is the most expensive thing in the bathroom! I found a white one so that it would be more subtle and not obscure the window too much (I love the window).

Not much storage space in this small room, but I made use of behind the door with these vintage pegs and a small white metal locker that I already had.

I had a different mirror for in here, but used this one instead as it fitted better (I was going to use it in the kid's room). It was my Grandmother's mirror, and now I do my hair bun in it just like she did.

I got rid of the white tiles here because they were awkwardly fit (see below). Oh my god they would not come off that wall, I though the whole building was going to fall down when I prised them off. In fact one came off with the the plasterboard too, so I had to repair that and let dry for a few days.

I decided that one big tile might look better than the smaller tiles I had for here. I found a pack of five tiles from B&Q that I liked the stone effect. Strangely fitting one big tile was more tricky than fitting lots of little tiles mainly because if the wall is not completely flat, it won't sit flush to the wall. Nothing is completely flat or straight in this building. Anyways I think I managed to get it to look okay. My brother trimmed it for me at his boat building workshop as I didn't have the tools to do this.

I also wired in a new light which I love!

I painted everything in this room except the ceiling. I also replaced the door handle, and added a lock (for when I'm hiding from the children).

...I put up a little wooden shelf too, I collected the seaweed from my local beach. Subconsciously I seem to have co-ordinated all the colours in that seaweed in the bathroom!

The floor has recently installed grey textured vinyl flooring. I don't have a budget to replace the flooring, and bare floorboards are tricky in wet bathrooms. Instead I painted it with a specialist paint for plastics and laminate floors. I used four coats and let it dry 24 hours in between. Then I sealed around the edges to make it water tight. The bathroom is effectively now a wet room. I like the white floor, living with my son, now I know what I am stepping in.

I removed the old internal glazing of this window which I thought was ugly and also annoying because the window is the only ventilation. The frame for it is still there so it can be put back in easily if needed. Personally I'd rather have a cold draughty bathroom than a mouldy one.

I also pained the woodwork and added a brass window pull. It's funny what those tiny details can do for a room.

I try and keep kids toys hidden when not in use so that I can have a peaceful bath and imagine that I'm in some luxury spa or something.

Although I had a very tight budget and saved a lot of money doing it all myself, my logic is that I splash out on other luxuries, so I bought myself some Aesop hand wash and a big natural sponge, and some nice soap for the kids too. 

Some before and after pics...

My children have begun a habit of rushing in after their dad drops them off and finding out what room looks different each week. I was mid way through the bathroom painting last week and they loved it already. My daughter had a very long shower and shut the door for the first time. I think she will love it even more tomorrow when she sees it, I will buy her some face packs and bubble bath too.