Cottage #1: Lifecycling works! Here's the proof...

[unapam]

Having recently bought our life long dream of a holiday cottage we were skint!
It needed so much doing to it that it was going to take years to get it right. So we had to develop Plan B ....(plan A being: having lots of money to do it up with all brand new stuff)

Enter Jumbletown and other freecycle sites..... It took us months of hard work (also known as sweat equity) to do, but was well worth it. Here are the "Before & After" photos of the bathroom. The only thing bought new was the panelling and paint. So the room was done for about €70.

*The old toilet and handbasin were cracked so had to be replaced. Thanks to Peter in Portmarnock who supplied these when renovating his bathroom.
*The flooring was left over from my sisters dining room. (just two inches all round to spare!)
*The lovely cast iron bath was dumped years ago in a nearby ditch and was duly rescued by us.
*All the rest, shelves, curtains, rails, mirrors, knick knacks etc were donated by friends, relatives or J/Towners too numerous to mention. A big THANK YOU to you all.

READY FOR MORE?
This is the living room before and after. This is an example of recycling, and repurposing in action, (repurposing is when you have something that is worn out- no use to anyone...so you just find a new purporse for it and resuse it for its new purpose...Are ye' with me?

In the "after" picture of the living room...

*the gingham curtains used to be a duvet cover.
* the blue sofa cover used to be a duvet cover too.
*The blue and white cushion covers used to be my favourite tablecloth (it got a scorch mark so could not be a tablecloth anymore) Are ye' still with me? Good.

*The corner table used to be a Singer sewing machine and a fence post (both found rusty and rotting in a barn)
*The coffee table used to be a blanket box and now stores the bedding for the pull out bed (which is cunningly disguised as a couch covered with a blue duvet cover) Are ye' still with me?...Admit it - yer' lost!

*Everything else came from Jumbletowners, Dublinwasters and charity shops. Cost for this fab makeover? €20 for the paint on the walls and about 30 yoyo's for the bits and pieces from the charity shops.. grand total: €50 and almost no cost to the environment.

Ready for even more?
"Before & After" This time the bedroom... (I've only two rooms left to do. The hallway and the kitchen...watch this space!


YES, YOU CAN RE-PURPOSE IT!!!!!!!!! (or at least pass it on to someone who will)I know that CARPENTER, MOUSECATCHER and others are doing similar projects so please give them a digout. They have advertisments in the wanted section. Here's proof that you really can get maximum results with minimum carbon footprint!

[cascais]

Hi unapam,

just a little note to congratulate you on a great job .
the bathroom looks lovely.
well worth the effort.

completely agree with you about the lifecycling! best of luck with the rest of the house

kind regards

cascais

[Chris P]

Great work, unapam! Your life-cycling (re-use) of items is to be commended.

Prudence Magazine http://www.prudence.ie/
or House and Home magazine http://www.houseandhome.ie/
(good supporters of JumbleTown, by the way) should do a "special" on you!

Regards
Chris P
Admin

[CurlyK]

Well Done Unapam,

The bathroom looks fantastic, it's a fantastic advert for life-cycling (and to be fair LOTS of hard work on your part!), congratulations.

Curly K :)

[hugglybubbly]

Really impressed at your hard work... the before and after pics certainly should give people something to think about before deciding to 'chuck' items they no longer want/need. Hurrah for JumbleTown (and others) :)

[Linn]

Hi Pam,
I meant to reply to you ages ago but with New baby i never get a minute. I think what you did in doing up your cottage is fantastic. You make it sound so easy. You could make a living out of it as i know that if i needed something done up id definately pay you to do it. Keep up the good work.
Regards Linn

[Stuarty]

Oh my god, is that really a pic of her royal highness queen unapam?

[biker chick]

3 cheers for all your hard work what a beautiful home you have im GREEN with envy in my ould rented accomadation but maybe some day your fab tips will come in handy with my dream......well done & i look forward to seeing more...congrats lol

[summersun]

Wow, Unpam simply amazing effort. You have created a warm and cosy home, is that you in the pic? i often wonder if i am the only one who sits here trying to picture what you all look like? and how and why you chose your jt names??? i sit here and try to picture you, kilkie, Linn, ChrisP and several others who's entries back and forth to each other keep me smiling when i read them.....

Wonderful home Unapam.... keep up your inspiring work
Summersun

[bluecurlygirl]

I have shown the post to so many people it's unreal and everyone I have shown it to is amazed at the fabulous work you've done Unapam. I really, really want to find something to give new life to. You have me walking round like a chameleon - one eye one direction the other eye somewhere else greedily searching for something! How's the floor going? By the way I have that christmas card for you I promised if you want to pm me your address. And yes, I too sit here wondering what everyone looks like and where some of the names came from. Kilk you still have me baffled.

[Chris P]

Oh my god, is that really a pic of her royal highness queen unapam?
Stuarty,
Do you seriously think that a Queen would traipse around without her crown or some sort of identifying tiara? The lady in the picture (who just happened to be passing) is Queen Unapam's twin sister who is married to the Emperor of Japan's second-cousin. Okay? Glad we got that sorted! Tsk!

Regards
Chris P
Admin

[Chris P]

I too sit here wondering what everyone looks like and where some of the names came from. Kilk you still have me baffled.
Please see here:
http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=35387

[franjack]

hi one more place to help with recycling is the local dump. i live in laois and we have a wonderful dump, the recycling section is very organised and clean.

the book section is always full of people dropping off and collecting books, i personally have picked lots of bits, paint from the used paint section(it was a new pot) with only a tiny bit taken out, my daughter picked up around 15 tubes of oil paint for school all with a tiny squeeze out of them, i have a new microwave plate as my one broke and there a a shelf for microwave plates at the dump. we have a garden gate from the heavy metal section, a little tikes childs rocker left at the hard plastics section, two wheels for our bike, the list goes on.

i think jumbletown is a wonderful site and seeing the wonderful things people make and do with recycled goods is very inspiring.
thank you.

[Country Mother]

Hi Unapam,
My heartiest congratulations to you! You are an inspiration to all of us jumbletowners. I agree with Chris P that some of the house and home magazines should do a story on you. My daughter is a journalist, and would have loved to do a story on this, but she is in Australia now for a year travelling. We are hoping to have her home next June, so thats not that far away, so you might become famous yet! lol. All your hard work has definitely reaped rewards, and with us now going into a terrible recession, I think we should all share ideas, and re-cycle to help everyone on this site.

Best wishes Unapam,

Country Mother

[unapam]

Chris P is so right...I would not be caught dead without my diamonds and ermine. The mere mortal in the photo is one of my mingions.. or is it minyons...or mingons..well anyway, one of my flunkies! (my sister actually) it was taken on the day we viewed it and she is pointing to the floor and saying ("Yes, this is the one...we'll take it!)

Just as well I saved a few bob ...now that I have to pay 200 yoyo a year for the pleasure. :-(

[jeannemckay]

wow!! what an amazing job. looks like it took a lot of elbow grease and some really exquisite taste to create such a masterpiece. definitely an inspiration. you do us proud!

[unapam]

Thanks to all for your kind comments. I have added a before and after of the outside of it too. It's only when I see these pictures side by side I realise how much work we put in to it.
Of course we could not have done any of it without the generosity of you JTers. If we had had to buy everything new we would still be struggling to get one room finished! Thanks a million, very much appreciated... from Pam and Paul

[smokeyeyes]

Wow! Unapam. Your DIY just gets better and better. The outside of your beautiful cottage looks absolutely fabulous. Just goes to show what can be achieved if your willing to put the effort in. Well done again. You should really be a candidate for one of those Before and After Home Renovation Shows, you would put them all to shame - and all on a shoestring!

[animal-luver!!!]

Having recently bought our life long dream of a holiday cottage we were skint!
It needed so much doing to it that it was going to take years to get it right. So we had to develop Plan B ....(plan A being: having lots of money to do it up with all brand new stuff)

Enter Jumbletown and other freecycle sites..... It took us months of hard work (also known as sweat equity) to do, but was well worth it. Here are the "Before & After" photos of the bathroom. The only thing bought new was the panelling and paint. So the room was done for about €70.

*The old toilet and handbasin were cracked so had to be replaced. Thanks to Peter in Portmarnock who supplied these when renovating his bathroom.
*The flooring was left over from my sisters dining room. (just two inches all round to spare!)
*The lovely cast iron bath was dumped years ago in a nearby ditch and was duly rescued by us.
*All the rest, shelves, curtains, rails, mirrors, knick knacks etc were donated by friends, relatives or J/Towners too numerous to mention. A big THANK YOU to you all.

READY FOR MORE?
This is the living room before and after. This is an example of recycling, and repurposing in action, (repurposing is when you have something that is worn out- no use to anyone...so you just find a new purporse for it and resuse it for its new purpose...Are ye' with me?

In the "after" picture of the living room...

*the gingham curtains used to be a duvet cover.
* the blue sofa cover used to be a duvet cover too.
*The blue and white cushion covers used to be my favourite tablecloth (it got a scorch mark so could not be a tablecloth anymore) Are ye' still with me? Good.

*The corner table used to be a Singer sewing machine and a fence post (both found rusty and rotting in a barn)
*The coffee table used to be a blanket box and now stores the bedding for the pull out bed (which is cunningly disguised as a couch covered with a blue duvet cover) Are ye' still with me?...Admit it - yer' lost!

*Everything else came from Jumbletowners, Dublinwasters and charity shops. Cost for this fab makeover? €20 for the paint on the walls and about 30 yoyo's for the bits and pieces from the charity shops.. grand total: €50 and almost no cost to the environment.

Ready for even more?
"Before & After" This time the bedroom... (I've only two rooms left to do. The hallway and the kitchen...watch this space!


YES, YOU CAN RE-PURPOSE IT!!!!!!!!! (or at least pass it on to someone who will)I know that CARPENTER, MOUSECATCHER and others are doing similar projects so please give them a digout. They have advertisments in the wanted section. Here's proof that you really can get maximum results with minimum carbon footprint!
its brilliant

[Tahlula]

UnaPam...your work is wonderful. don't know which is my favourite room, the bathroom or the bedroom and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the sewing machine table. congratulations on all your work and effort and may you have many many many happy years in your new home

Tahlula
xxx

[Eily]

Pam, the house looks absolutely fantastic and a credit to you both.
I know myself what hard work it is, but also how rewarding!
Great job.
Enjoy ;)
Eily

[wicked chicken]

what a wonderful job! I have completed many such renovations and can appreciate all the hard work.

[colmsmum]

Another fabulous transformation unapam! It's absolutely gorgeous, all your hard work sure paid off, it's unrecognisable from the before pics, you must be so proud.

[jack21]

Wow thats a brilliant job... Makes all the difference when you can re-use or recycle something!!!

Well done

[Athy55]

Fantastic Job!!! Well done. Hard work never killed anyone and I'll bet it was all worth the effort, it certainly looks as if it was.

[jessi1]

Really lovely well done.

[valentine]

Looking great. Great recession buster!!!

[pink sparkles]

Hey Unapam, so im a newbie and i have just been looking through all of your repuposing ideas and im just amazed, totally! I love everything i have seen that you done, you are so very talented. I moved into my new house in the start of this year, i spent so much doing it up (of what little i had to do it with lol) if only i had discovered JT before then! Not only that but there was so much waste, it was just crazy, but i did send all of it, well what could be sent, to the recycling centre. However im still adding a few bits and bubbles2 kindly gave me a bath screen which i plan on stenciling a design on and putting it up in the bathroom, and of course put the before and after photos up!
Anyway well done on all your work, the cottage looks amazing. Will be on the look out for more of your great ideas!

Rose:)

[Teefa]

Well done, you have done a great job!

[Leahsmam]

love your house

[unapam]

Hi, thanks to all for your kind comments. Good luck to those of you who are doing similar. :-)

[Khublei]

I only just discovered this thread now. Absolutely amazing! Is it still looking as great two years on??