standing on end and looking particularly rough, was brandishing a paint-stripper. He began to attack the shop walls with it.
‘Keep out of the way!’ he warned as he swung round and began to strip away the layers of blue paint. Over the next few hours they all worked like crazy stripping the old paper and paint until there wasn’t a hint of blue anywhere.
‘What we need to do now,’ suggested Polo aka Peter O’Leary, a friend she had got to know in art college, ‘is put up lining paper, so the walls will be good and even before we paint them. That’s what my da always does.’
Mary-Claire, the sweetest girl with a sexy husky voice and cropped hair, who’d hung around with herself and Kim and done daily battle with the nuns over a tattooed shoulder and a pierced nose, ending up as one of the brightest copywriters in a top Dublin advertising agency, was dispatched immediately to the nearest DIY shop down in Capel Street, with Polo going along to make sure she got the right thing and enough paste.
In their absence Fergus, Kim and Ellie got to grips with the ancient carpet.
It was thick with dust despite all the hoovering, and was almost stuck to the floor. ‘Dump it,’ ordered Kim as they hacked strips and chunks of it away. To Ellie’s joy, underneath were almost perfect floorboards.
‘They’re just beautiful!’ said Kim admiringly as they bundled the carpet into the skip they’d hired.
‘A brush and a good hoover first,’ declared Ellie, trying not to cough as she set to straight away, clearing everything up as an exhausted Kim and Fergus declared an immediate lunch break.
They were studying the floorboards and demolishing thick turkey and stuffing sandwiches when the others returned.
‘A good sanding and a few coats of varnish and that floor will be like new,’ said Polo knowledgeably. ‘The old man did ours at home and made a grand job of them.’
Ellie couldn’t imagine Mr O’Leary, a usually fastidious insurance manager, suddenly becoming such a do-it-yourself expert.
‘When did he start all this?’ quizzed Fergus.
‘Well, the old dear has been on at him for years, but since he’s retired and people were going on at him about having a hobby he decided to have a go. Did an apartment in Sutton last week. I could ask him to have a look at your boards, El, if you wanted. I’m sure he’d do the job for you.’
Ellie felt like hugging Polo for even considering asking his father.
She wasn’t sure about bleaching the floorboards or whitening them. With the dirt and dust from the street, they’d probably look filthy in no time. But the natural wood colour could make the shop warm and more spacious-looking. Yes, sanding and varnishing them to show off the quality and character of the wood was best. Fingers crossed that Mr O’Leary would agree.
They worked until it was dark, peeling away what was left of her mother’s imprint on the shop until they had a blank canvas and were ready to start over again.
‘What about the colour? Have you decided yet?’ prodded Mary-Claire, gazing at the spread of pastel shades along the wall behind the counter.
Ellie nodded. ‘Yeah! It’s going to be a pale primrose yellow – soft but warm. What do you think?’
They all gathered round the sample.
‘I like it,’ Kim declared loyally.
‘Bit girlie if you ask me!’ joked Fergus, before she took a swipe at him with a paintbrush.
‘I think it will work well,’ mused Mary-Claire, ‘and reflect more light.’
Polo nodded as if he was an expert. ‘What about all your fittings?’
‘New ones cost an absolute fortune. I can’t afford to change them, I told you.’
‘Well, you can’t leave them the way they are,’ insisted Mary-Claire. ‘It will take away from everything, dominate the space.’
‘You’ve got to do something with the counter and display shelves.’
‘With the shelves you could remove the middle one and just have a top and bottom, which might be more dramatic,’
‘Keep out of the way!’ he warned as he swung round and began to strip away the layers of blue paint. Over the next few hours they all worked like crazy stripping the old paper and paint until there wasn’t a hint of blue anywhere.
‘What we need to do now,’ suggested Polo aka Peter O’Leary, a friend she had got to know in art college, ‘is put up lining paper, so the walls will be good and even before we paint them. That’s what my da always does.’
Mary-Claire, the sweetest girl with a sexy husky voice and cropped hair, who’d hung around with herself and Kim and done daily battle with the nuns over a tattooed shoulder and a pierced nose, ending up as one of the brightest copywriters in a top Dublin advertising agency, was dispatched immediately to the nearest DIY shop down in Capel Street, with Polo going along to make sure she got the right thing and enough paste.
In their absence Fergus, Kim and Ellie got to grips with the ancient carpet.
It was thick with dust despite all the hoovering, and was almost stuck to the floor. ‘Dump it,’ ordered Kim as they hacked strips and chunks of it away. To Ellie’s joy, underneath were almost perfect floorboards.
‘They’re just beautiful!’ said Kim admiringly as they bundled the carpet into the skip they’d hired.
‘A brush and a good hoover first,’ declared Ellie, trying not to cough as she set to straight away, clearing everything up as an exhausted Kim and Fergus declared an immediate lunch break.
They were studying the floorboards and demolishing thick turkey and stuffing sandwiches when the others returned.
‘A good sanding and a few coats of varnish and that floor will be like new,’ said Polo knowledgeably. ‘The old man did ours at home and made a grand job of them.’
Ellie couldn’t imagine Mr O’Leary, a usually fastidious insurance manager, suddenly becoming such a do-it-yourself expert.
‘When did he start all this?’ quizzed Fergus.
‘Well, the old dear has been on at him for years, but since he’s retired and people were going on at him about having a hobby he decided to have a go. Did an apartment in Sutton last week. I could ask him to have a look at your boards, El, if you wanted. I’m sure he’d do the job for you.’
Ellie felt like hugging Polo for even considering asking his father.
She wasn’t sure about bleaching the floorboards or whitening them. With the dirt and dust from the street, they’d probably look filthy in no time. But the natural wood colour could make the shop warm and more spacious-looking. Yes, sanding and varnishing them to show off the quality and character of the wood was best. Fingers crossed that Mr O’Leary would agree.
They worked until it was dark, peeling away what was left of her mother’s imprint on the shop until they had a blank canvas and were ready to start over again.
‘What about the colour? Have you decided yet?’ prodded Mary-Claire, gazing at the spread of pastel shades along the wall behind the counter.
Ellie nodded. ‘Yeah! It’s going to be a pale primrose yellow – soft but warm. What do you think?’
They all gathered round the sample.
‘I like it,’ Kim declared loyally.
‘Bit girlie if you ask me!’ joked Fergus, before she took a swipe at him with a paintbrush.
‘I think it will work well,’ mused Mary-Claire, ‘and reflect more light.’
Polo nodded as if he was an expert. ‘What about all your fittings?’
‘New ones cost an absolute fortune. I can’t afford to change them, I told you.’
‘Well, you can’t leave them the way they are,’ insisted Mary-Claire. ‘It will take away from everything, dominate the space.’
‘You’ve got to do something with the counter and display shelves.’
‘With the shelves you could remove the middle one and just have a top and bottom, which might be more dramatic,’
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