Both in 2017 and 2018, my focus word is simplify. I’m sure I was supposed to pick another one but as I hadn’t finished what I hoped to, it became my word for this year too.
Every year, I’ve always struggled with resolutions. At school, we’d often have that task in English where we had to write our resolutions and it would do often be a pointless exercise. My resolutions would fail either because they are unquantifiable or have been unenforceable. So often I wouldn’t bother but maybe they just needed to be simplified. Make them into attainable goals with quantifiable results.
We’ve been in this house almost nine years now and so through wear and tear some bits of the house have needed to be redecorated and things like that.
While the boys were away in Malawi last year, I worked on decorating the bathroom. It made the most sense while there was just me in the house rather than when the house is full.
Some of it was easier said than done. Chris and I had already chosen the paint so thankfully I didn’t have to do that and risk getting it wrong. When I opened it though I wanted to paint it the purple not the grey! Actually it was just where it needed stirring a bit. Then it was about getting the paint on the wall. Without removing the toilet and the sink, I had to lean and stretch all over the place which I’m sure probably broke a bunch of health and safety rules!
It seemed simple enough. Grab a brush or a roller and go for it. Then I got round to the radiator and actually it wasn’t that simple. I ended up calling Dad to see if he could take the radiator off the wall for me so I could paint behind it.
Well, I was getting there. It probably took me longer than it should of because I was doing bits in the bathroom then going off to other bits in the rest of the house while I had the chance. 
When the boys got back, most of the paint work was done but some bits still needed finishing also we still needed to replace the bathroom unit (in the above photo) and the flooring.
Fast forward to earlier this year, we finally got the flooring sorted and a new unit.
Chris decided we’d get the Vilto unit from Ikea. I wasn’t so keen on the idea of open shelves but was willing to give it a go. This also helped with the task of Simplifying because it meant we couldn’t have too many bottles on the shelves. In the end I’ve added some storage boxes, to store shampoo, shower gels etc in but they in turn do make it look tidier. Since I discovered Mrs Hinch and the #hincharmy, I’ve added a further two drawers/boxes on the top shelf to store the cleaning materials and Chris/Our Sidekick’s shaving stuff rather than them both mixing together and escaping across the shelf. This definitely makes it easier just to grab what I need to clean or to tidy the shelves again.
I thought we were there and that we were finished on the bathroom but then we had an issue with the sink. There’d been a puddle appearing across the bathroom floor but we’d figured it was Jaxon playing with the water. However, when it happened again on a day that Jaxon hadn’t been playing with water in the sink we knew there might be a problem. Chris was out on the Saturday evening so I took a screwdriver to the sink and figured out where the problem was.
Because it was around 9.30pm by the time I’d figured out the issue I told the boys not to use the sink. Chris decided we needed a sign too in case any of us forgot. Once Jaxon got over the change of routine, he thought it was kind of novel washing his hands in the bath after going to the toilet.
Following church, Chris and I set about taking the sink apart again to double check what we needed. I’m glad we did because actually it was the metal bit that connects the waste pipe to the sink that had corroded and was leaking into the pedestal and then onto the floor. We went to Wickes, to get a new part and also got some sealant to re-seal the bath while we were at it. While I pulled off the old sealant Chris worked on the sink. At one point Jaxon was watching cartoons on the iPad sat on the landing so that we could keep an eye on him at the same time.
So it took a while because of how it all worked out but now our bathroom is complete. I’m sure we’ll find some bits we need to change over time but hopefully they are little bits and pieces rather than big projects. Onto the next room now…
