A few little projects of my own...

It's a sad fact of working with people who are highly competent in their own area that you tend to end up feeling pretty inadequate.  And so, despite being the 'architect' for our place (in inverted commas due to a complete lack of formal training or academic qualifications - not to mention 4 or 5 years of hard slog at University - on my part), on site I've definitely been (and known that I should be) labourer, lackey, helper, gopher and general run-about.
So...
It's nice after watching, helping, doing and learning for a while, you can take on a couple of little projects and call them your own - and nice to know that someone (Phil) trusts you to get them done and then says something like, "Yeah, that's a pretty good job, isn't it..." once you've finished.


Project One:
Heater and display alcove just inside the lounge doors off the entry.  This is a double thickness wall that needed to fit snugly in underneath the kitchen bulkhead and has 2 recesses built into it - one to house the floor mounted heat pump unit and the other above it just 'because' - maybe for a painting, photo, cool-looking vase, shell or rock collection, fancy statue... you get the idea.
I had to get all the measurements just right to fit the heater, plus make sure there was wood in all the right places for the plasterers to be able to attach their plaster to, plus make sure it was all straight as it went in.  Due to the fact that Phil has all the cool tools and wasn't there for some of it, I had to do all this for at least one day with a handsaw and no nail-gun - and still got it straight!  Very proud of myself...

Project Two:
Staircase display shelf base - filling in a section next to the stairs that we initially weren't quite sure what to do with.  It steps up with the stairs and will eventually have shelving put in above it.  Phil left me alone with a nail-gun and few tips (possibly while he went away to fix something else that hadn't been done quite so well...)

Project Three:
Phone alcove - just outside our bedroom and near the kitchen.  We wanted to make sure we had a 'spot' for the phone - so that it didn't end up sitting on the bench because there was no-where else to put it; in a house of 36 squares and built from scratch!!  So I made one!  Will have a power point made for it and a spot for the wiring from the phone to run through into our cupboard behind. Beautiful...