Here are a few pics from our spare bedroom.

This room was ugly and cold when we moved in. Being useless at checking everything in the house before we bought it, we’d not realised that the ancient Velux window (that they stopped making in the Seventies) wasn’t just open to let fresh air in but because the wood was so old and warped that it couldn’t close. Until we replaced the window, we had towels and newspapers stuffed round it to keep the cold out.

The only real changes beyond that were shifting the radiator so we could move the bed, and refurbishing the old window shutters. Like all the others, they’d been nailed shut and I found mould, cobwebs and crumbling plaster that kept me busy with the pollyfilla and mould remover for a weekend. They’d also warped and needed sanding before they’d shut.

Once all that was sorted, it was just a case of banishing the classic colour combo of pink, blue, green and gold and getting a less flea-ridden carpet and a lick of paint, while mum added the wallpaper and painted up some old furniture. It’s pretty cosy now.