Bathroom

I'm sharing this little item with you now because I'm so pleased with the way it turned out I just can't wait until the rest of the Bathroom is done before letting you see it.

A bit of background first.    Spouse and I are great ones for doing the Stately Homes thing and I buy and keep every single guide book from every property we have been to - five box files, in fact.   They're very handy for going through when hunting for inspiration and I did that recently when looking for bathroom ideas for Netherton.

Pouring through the guide book for Erddig, Wrexham, UK I came across a photo of a 19th Century portable shower.   Well, it had to be done and this is my version.

According to the guide book, the process involved in having a shower was as follows -

"It worked by releasing hot water from the cylindrical tank above, supported on pipes painted to imitate bamboo.   The water was then recirculated by use of the hand-pump".*

I used a variety of bits including kebab sticks, plastic pots and a cardboard container.  

The tap was purchased from Sussex Crafts and is just perfect for the job.

The reason it has found a place in an early 20th Century bathroom is because it was discovered, by Netherton's owners, in the attic and was considered far too nice a piece to have hidden away.

There wont be much more bathroom progress for a little while as I've got the furniture to paint but work is almost finished in the Hall so that's what you'll be seeing next - hopefully!

* Erddig guide book - National Trust, with thanks for their permission to use the relevant quote.

The "Other Room"

I deliberately didn't mention the third space in the Upper Hall in my last post - next to the Servant's Corridor/Housemaid's Closet - because I wanted to give this next room a post of it's own.

What could be so different about this room, you may be asking?    Well, I decided (just for fun and to make things a bit more interesting) I decided Netherton should boast it's own Strong Room.

First of all, it had to have a security gate.

It's made from (I think) a laser cut framework and painted with my favourite Metalcote paint.

The walls were shelved and green baize was applied (to protect the silver of course).   

I had been collecting various bits that I thought may be suitable for storage in this space for quite some time but the most impressive item just has to be the silver Monteith given to me at Christmas by my sister, Valerie and made by Stephen J Randall.

Other "valuable" items stored here comprise a variety of plates, dishes, cloches, decanters and candlesticks.

I bought the cutlery box ages ago at one of the Miniaturas and have been holding onto it for this very purpose since then.

Other items of interest - and which will not be seen anywhere else - are the Honours of Scotland.     Yes, you may all think they are at this present time housed in Edinburgh Castle but they're actually here, in Netherton!

The Stone of Destiny, upon which all Kings of Scotland were crowned, and which had originally been kept at Westminster since the 13th Century, was stolen and brought to Scotland in 1950, then sent back to Westminster and has since been returned to Scotland again in 1996 where it is on display in Edinburgh Castle.     Or is it?  

Netherton also has the privilege of housing the Scottish Honours (Crown Jewels).

The chest of drawers will eventually hold jewellery and important documents.

And finally, the completed Upper Hall (by day and by night) -

* You can read more about the Honours in an earlier blog post here Honours

At last, an update!

I've been a terribly bad blogger of late, reading posted updates of all your blogs and telling myself I'll post comments later and of course later didn't come.   I'm trying to catch up and will do so eventually but suffice to say you're all doing great things and I will comment - honest!

I've not been idle in the mini department.   My problem lay in trying to decorate a space at the top of Netherton - definitely the wrong way to do it as I had to work on the room below first in order to get the lighting fitted underneath the flooring above.   What a palaver that was in terms of waiting on deliveries, waiting on inspiration and making time to deal with it all, especially as I was itching to see a result.

Do you remember me showing you this?  

It sits below the Upper Hall, like this -

As you can see, the top space is slightly bigger than the one underneath so I decided to create a family bathroom in the lower space and had great ideas for the space above.    It was the flooring on this space above that was holding up proceedings as I couldn't lay it because I didn't have the lighting for the bathroom.    In order to get the lighting in place, I had to decorate the room first as it would have been a tad awkward putting paper in place with a light fitting dangling down!   Of course if I was going to paper, I had to paint and if I had to paint I would be as well fitting cornices and trim, etc.   See........a palaver!

I'm pleased to say that all that is behind me now and I can now show you the fruits of my labours - well, at least some of them.   Here is the decorated bathroom.    I have the suite but it needs a bit work and I have all the accessories to get and that will be my next project (after finishing the main Hall!) but it does at least let me get on with the rooms I started and really need to work on.

The "tiling" was purchased from Jennifers of Walsall on my trip to the York Fair in November and the lighting is by Ray Storey.   The flooring was purchased from an online seller.

You may recall, in an earlier post, I was going to do "something else" in the space above the bathroom well, that something else was to divide it into three.

This would give me a Housemaid's Closet, a Servant's Passage and "another room".

First, the Housemaid's Closet.

Here, we have the benefit of a hot water heater, all the Housemaid's necessities are to hand, cloths are drying on the little rack, there's a slop bucket under the sink, the keys to various rooms are on a nearby hook and her mop and bucket stand ready for use.   Her pinny hangs on the back of the door and there's also a clock to make sure she doesn't take too long over any job.

Moving through the door to the Servant's Corridor........

This is a very plain space providing no distractions.   Once I'd finished it I then decided some sort of surface was called for, useful for laying things on while attending to other matters so I came up with this.   A half round fold down table.

It's not really a fold down table as I couldn't work out how to deal with the bracket and at the same time enable it to move sideways in order for the flap to drop.   At the moment it's there by sheer luck and I think I'll fix it in place because how often will I be moving the thing up and down?    Never!