recent blogs

window seat storage

window seat storage

Although we have a lot of space in our renovated house, one thing we are short on, is actual storage space. Apart from what is now a rather lovely pantry - another thing ticked off the wishlist - there is no original storage, and so we have had to be creative with...

so, where to now?

so, where to now?

It's not a secret that we're selling our renovated stone house in northern Istria. We are now ready for our next big adventure. We feel that Istria is very much home at the moment, and we haven't regretted doing what we did when we put our West Didsbury house up for...

the well room : a makeover

the well room : a makeover

With Spring knocking on the door and a house to get back on the market, we've been beavering away at the interior of our home since New Year. Now that we are also seriously looking at other properties to buy, we're seeing things slightly differently and have realised...

the *unfinished* apartment : citta alta : bergamo

the *unfinished* apartment : citta alta : bergamo

Although we've largely finished the renovations of our stone house, I can always find something else that needs to be done. So, effectively, it always "unfinished". But not on the scale of these properties, which have been designed to be deliberately "unfinished"....

small steps : reno update

small steps : reno update

Over the summer, when we were averaging two or three house viewings a week and had some very serious interest in the house, if someone had told me that by October, we'd have taken it off the market, given up on The Printworks (and in the process, lost a lot of money)...

the snug reno : update 2

the snug reno : update 2

When we viewed our stone house in 2016, we found a very sorry looking room - a cellar, of kinds - down the stairs from the living room. The stairs were treacherous to say the least. Very thin pine treads, on a steep vertical with no handrail. These hinted at what we...

project printworks : update 3

project printworks : update 3

So, we've finally made a proper start. The old industrial unit, which has sat unloved and empty for as long as we've lived in Istria, is being internally dismantled in preparation for the major renovations. A scaffold unit, an extendable ladder and a demolition drill...

lluna aqua hotel : sóller : mallorca

lluna aqua hotel : sóller : mallorca

When we last visited Mallorca, one of the hotels we booked was the Lluna Aqua Hotel in Sóller. Housed in a traditional Mallorcan townhouse, which we were told had been empty for over eighty years, the renovation had only recently been completed and the hotel only...

project printworks : update 2

project printworks : update 2

2020, as everyone knows, was a pretty unbelievable year, all round. If someone had told me the following, in January 2020, I'd have thought they were daft: that we'd have to have official travel permits to drive to the supermarket that wearing a mask would become the...

project printworks : update 1

project printworks : update 1

Almost four years to the day, since we bought our first renovation project in Istria, we have the next one within our sights. I think we have always known that the stone house was never going to be the house. We have been so happy in it and we've worked so hard to...