Distraction

Another week's gone by and nothing much has happened that you'd notice, though the impending demolition site is freaking me out so I've taken to fussing over the cubby house - it's even got a carpet inside now - there's only the shade of paint left to decide on.

We've commissioned a structural engineer (another £795 since you ask). We know from bitter experience that knocking out supporting walls requires a structural report (we didn't know that last time and were asked for one by the man from Building Control halfway through the project). The report tells you how much steel to use and where to put it.

We've also chosen a builder - he starts in August -and the kitchen company have more or less finalised our design, which wasn't what we originally had in mind when we visted Wickes and Benchmarx, but I guess that's why you go to a proper kitchen designer - so he can rip the Wickes design to shreds and come up with something much better. The kitchen will be oak, painted in a Farrow and Ball grey and featuring a big granite-topped island for cooking and sitting at. That's as much as I can remember.

And then there's the front door, which is still locked closed and has produced much belly aching and hand wringing until we finally came up with the goods. The problem is, I like 1930's houses - you know, leaded glass doors, mosiac tiled floors. This 1960's house just can't take the sort of doors and floors I've always hankered after so we've had to find a compromise, though we weren't expecting to make those sorts of decisions just yet. The new door arrives by courier on Monday, which is far sooner than the company advertised and due in no small part to my pleading down the telephone that I couldn't get out of the door. For all I know, the door company think I'm actually locked in the house. Anyway, the new door is solid oak - contemporary in design but with clear glass rather than that opaque stuff they insist on fitting to the engineered wood versions - finding a door with clear glass was the main cause of the belly aching all week.

The door is due to be flanked by leaded glass side panels at a later date - possibly with a tiny bit of stained blue glass depending on how maverick I'm feeling on the day. I know it's not a 1930's house but there's nothing wrong with a bit of good taste, is there?