Tidying up the house

When my parents visited over Christmas a number of housey jobs got done.  Just before they arrived we had our plumbing replaced and could then (somewhat) sort out the laundry area in the kitchen. 

 We haven't bothered to plaster the wall yet as there's a few more jobs in the house which might require walls being hacked into - and when they're all done we'll get all the walls sorted at the one time. 

But dad did a great job of fixing up the two missing cork tiles under where the supertub would go - if the previous owners had had one!

The supertub in place (with our washing machine moved back in) - a mission in its own right! Its great to have a separate sink in this area.  We've been using it this week to wash out paint brushes.

Here's the cupboard/press with the doors closed.  The monkey hangers were from urban outfitters and are really useful for hanging ironing.  

I managed to fix up the blinds in our living room too - lots of little jobs (that eat your time!).  A few of the strands of string had broken and the blind went up lopsided. 

And here's the fixed and much neater version!

My parents also brought over some great gifts from Ikea.  These two dog hooks have found a home in our kitchen hanging up our aprons. 
This is the action installation shot! :)

BM loves how they're colour coded to the aprons!

In the background to the last photo is our Tivoli internet radio.  Its great for listening to Irish radio in the kitchen rather than over my computer.  We've got Today FM plugged in (and BM has some country stations too!).