The front room, or living room, is still a work in progress. It’s been pretty usable since after the second trip in 2004, but it still has areas of plaster to be repaired. The night storage heater that had been installed shortly before we bought the flat was too heavy for the floorboards, and actually caused the wall to sag. Since we’re not often there during the coldest months we dismantled it, and will just pay more to use on demand heaters.

As with all the rooms this one was an aesthetic disaster, with barely-there carpet and peeling paint.

Demolishing the cabinets was something achievable during my first reconnoitering trip of November 2003, along with ditching the carpet. Right from the very first days I was appreciative of the Council tip/recycling centre in Keith

A visit to the Falconry Centre on the outskirts of Huntley turned up a shed full of sofas, one of which was delivered by a team which included a lad who had rented the attic room in the building years earlier! This gave us something to sit on during the April 2004 trip, and an extra obstacle to move around as I installed laminate flooring.

For now the living room is livable enough, and the remaining wall repairs will wait awhile