22 Kingsborough Gardens

Welcome to our blog, documenting the trials and tribulations of a seemingly never ending renovation!

Who are we? Kate and Steve, a young-ish(!) couple who thought it would be a fantastic idea to buy a flat which needed lots of work (and by lots, I mean that everything needed fixed). 'Who wants to buy a pristine flat where everything is done and furnished, yet not necessarily to our taste?', we thought. Paying for fixtures and fittings only to rip them out in favour if something more pleasing? That would just be idiotic.

Our flat at 22 Kingsborough Gardens was purchased back in June 2012. The former home of prolific Glasgow artist Louise Gibson Annand, the property had hardly been touched since the building was converted into flats in the 1950's. 

That meant a beastly project involving the installation of gas central heating, removal of dry rot, complete re-wiring, refurbishment and replacement of the original sash windows, knocking down walls, fitting new kitchen and bathrooms- the list is by no means exhaustive! And of course, full redecoration. The easy bit. The fun bit. Right? Wrong. In retrospect, the idea of moving into a ready made home seems somewhat less idiotic.

A bit late to the party, I am the first to admit that it would have been fun to document the progress of the building work along the way. In reality, we've been living in cluttered rooms amongst clouds of dust and piles of rubble for the best part of a year and maintaining a blog along the way may have proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of my sanity.

That said, there's still a mountain to climb in order to get the flat finished and looking how we envisage it. It seems like it will never be truly finished but we are doing what we can as and when funds allow. So with that in mind, I'll be using this blog as a before and after showcase, giving you an insight into what we've done, how we did it, documenting the stages of the development and offering nuggets of advice along the way. Additionally, and most importantly, we'll be charting the progress from the flat's current state as a cosy habitable home to (with a bit of luck) a full on culmination of my interior design ideas and using the blog as a forum to share the results of our hard work and DIY projects.

We hope you enjoy reading :-)