This month’s renovation sees the start of the end for the KSEL team as we begin to sit back and marvel at how far we’ve come.
As mentioned in last months blog, this month started with the arrival of the new windows for the carriage. Finally we are able to have actual glass in the carriage. The windows were made to measure and, although very expensive, allow us to see first hand how the carriage may have looked when it was brand new. Once arrived and fitted, the carpenter began to make brackets for the windows to ensure that they did not slip down or move any more, and ensured that they were, in effect, locked in place without concern of buckling, bending and smashing (unlike that of the original set of windows).
Once the windows were secured in place and fitted correctly, we began to examine the condition of the wood on the outside of the carriage and assess it as to whether we thought the carriage was (or could be) waterproof, windproof and, of course, able to stand securely without need for alterations of the ground surrounding the carriage. Once this was the case, we took to treating the wood to meet these requirements, and assured ourselves that the carriage was capable of securely siting at the top of the garden without rotting away into the ground (again).
Treated and dealt with, we took to making the carriage’s wood look more presentable by painting the whole of the passengers part of the carriage. After what seemed like weeks trawling through various Halford’s shops in a desperate search for a wood paint that didn’t resemble a lairy orange 50’s disco attire, we finally came across a shade of wood dye (from Homebase, not Halfords) that would ensure the carriage was all a uniform shade of brown and that it would not look too garish against the garden fence at the back.
Once the external part of the carriage was painted, we began to start on the interior. The interior comprises of two shades of brown against the two far walls of the passenger half of the carriage, with the lighter shade being painted across the both of the length-way walls also. With this being said, we have begun painting the seats inside the carriage (the darker shade of brown) and started to sand down the upper half of the carriage so that we can begin to paint the lighter brown colour straight onto the carriage when it is ready.
Additional to this, we painted the lantern holes in the ceiling a brass colour (as they would’ve been) and re-painted the exterior key holes to enter the carriage with.
Because of the carriage’s newfound stability and weatherproofing, we met another milestone this month. Since the carpenter started working, the carriage has been buried and hidden under a vast amount of blue tarpaulin that has made getting to the carriage borderline impossible (and very annoying to photograph). But, because of the new windows, we are pleased to announce that the carriage is now free standing (on the passenger side) without any tarpaulin at all! After being hidden under an extremely large sheet of tarpaulin for months, it makes for quite the garden feature when you look out from the house and onto the back garden!
We, as a team would like to say a massive thank you for everyone who has read and commented on our blog posts throughout the last year or so, and thank you all for following our journey from first discovering the carriage to getting completely invested in making it perfect. From all of the KSEL team; Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all our readers.
