I love our house and I find it hard to believe we’ve been here just 7 years. I still revel in the extra space we have inside and out compared to our previous house. And we continue making progress, even if most people don’t see it. I get the impression that people will only think we’ve made progress when we remove the lift. And I agree that will be a big day, but we’re making Continue Reading …
Family home – 6th anniversary (dones and not dones)
We’ve had another year of turning our house in to our family home. My husband has fitted ceiling spotlights and internal doors and we’ve both chopped lots and lots of wood.
Family home – 5th anniversary (dones and not dones)
Since February, we’ve been in our house for five years, and the last year has been a busy one with noticeable changes. Done The biggest change has been in the area where my husband (and kids) knocked down the walls last year. My father in law and husband built new walls to create a study, utility room and shower room. They have also tiled the hall, shower room and utility room and fitted the shower toilet and Continue Reading …
Having the right tool for the job
I’m frequently told it is important to have the right tool for the job because it makes the job easier and quicker. As we’re doing a full house renovation it means there is often a reason for my husband to get a new tool. Looking in our garage I think he must have all the tools we could ever need for our house including a tile cutter, pillar drill, belt sander, orbital sander, mitre saw. He’s Continue Reading …
Thinking about a bathroom makeover
Every now and then I love a bath. A long relaxing bath with a Lush bath bomb and a book. Unfortunately, our bathroom is not appealing as a relaxing space. Our house was originally a care home so all the features are functional and well worn, with little thought for aesthetics. Key features include: wet room floor that is coming away from the wall chemical stains on the wall around the sink marks where the Continue Reading …
Kitchen location in the front or back of the house
What is the best kitchen location in a house? Is it better to have it at the front or back of the house? Our kitchen is currently at the front of the house and having decided to create a kitchen dining room, we are now in disagreement on where to put the kitchen – I want it at the back over looking the garden and my husband wants it at the front as it provides Continue Reading …
House renovation activity plan – first draft
A successful house renovation project needs a plan to ensure all tasks are completed and done in the correct order. The details of the plan will depend on the size of your renovation and your building experience (for example do you include a task for finish room or do you list out the each task of wiring, plastering etc.). Now that we’ve made decisions about our house (we chose a kitchen-dining room instead of a Continue Reading …
Family home – 1st anniversary (dones and not dones)
In general you get more for your money if you are willing to do work on a property. It is certainly true for us. We bought a larger house than we were looking for because the house needs significant work and no one else wanted to take it on. In fact the property wasn’t a house before it was a care home. The property is structurally sound so we are able to live in it and Continue Reading …
Planning our Christmas decorations
This is our first Christmas in this house so we’ve had to rethink our Christmas decorations. I’ve developed a plan to implement over a few years as we get a feel for the house and start making changes. Previously, our decorations consisted of a Christmas tree that could be seen from just about everywhere downstairs and a wreath on the front door with some lights wrapped around the porch posts. I went straight to Pinterest Continue Reading …
Fascinated by the wood burning stove
I was surprised how easy it was to have a wood burning stove fitted. The hardest part was making the decision about which stove to buy, oh and convincing my husband to have a stove instead of an open fire. This is the first major change we’ve done to our house and I hope the rest of the changes will be as easy and successful, particularly with the children who have been fascinated with the Continue Reading …