Bits & Bobs

In the last few days we haven't really done very much (DIY or otherwise!), but I have managed to get a couple of little jobs done, which is good because it's satisfying to cross them off our DIY list and pretend that they took a lot more effort than they actually did.

First up was the bath panel.  For about two years (maybe more) our bath has been panelless (sp?).  The existing cheapo plastic bath panel fell over one too many times and was consigned to the spare room, while we ummed and aahed (and then completely forgot) about getting a new panel.  After a long while of living with this fetching view:

we thought it was about time we did something to hide the rubble/cobwebs.

Neither of us liked the look of the old panel, plus it stuck out so everytime we got out of the bath it was hard to miss hitting your leg on it, so we knew we didn't want something like that. 

We went online and found a panel that we liked the look of from Wickes, only problem being it costs £44.99, quite a bit more than we wanted to pay.

 Picture from http://www.wickes.co.uk/

So instead we decided to make our own.  We bought two moisture resistant MDF woodgrain-effect wall panels from Homebase for just under £20.

Kevin then cut them to size and over the last couple of days I've primed, painted and varnished them.  I primed them first because they're going in the bathroom, which obviously gets steamy regularly (not to mention Kevin's crazy splashing in the shower, who knows what he does in there :-\ ) and we didn't want to take any chances with the paint peeling.  I used a quick dry all purpose primer and undercoat from B&Q.

Then three coats of the satin-finish Crown paint in Milk White (the same as we've used for all the other woodwork in the flat so far):

followed by one coat of Homebase quick drying varnish for interior use.  Some of the reviews on the Homebase website had said that the varnish had discoloured paintwork, leaving it yellowed, so before varnishing our panels I did a small test piece on a left over bit of board.

Varnish on the left, just paint on the right

Luckily there was no colour difference and the finish is only a teeny bit shinier than the paint finish, so you can't really even tell it's been varnished.  Result!

Now all that's left is to leave them to dry for at least 5 days (to make sure they're completely dry) and then Kevin will attach them to the bath.  I'll almost be sad to see the cobwebs go... almost.

The other wee jobby I've managed to do is to fill and paint the bits of wall around the doorways in our living room.  The walls in the living room aren't in a very good state, so I filled and sanded them as well as I could (bear in mind I was balanced precariously on a chair for most of said sanding) and then (after the filler had dried) got to painting.

I won't post a picture because you've already seen the colours we're using, and the walls I've done are really so tiny you can hardly notice them, but it still feels good to get stuff done!

Kevin's been quite busy today using some scary heavy duty machinery, I'm sure he'll update you soon (if I have to stand over him while he types) and his post will be way  more exciting than just a bit of painting (think nearly losing fingers and setting things on fire, or at least smelling like it)...