110 days

110 days ago we completed on our house (yes I know my planned post of a 100 days would have been better, but I have been busy!).

We have learnt a lot in that time and have  probably grown up quite a bit as well. The main thing that I have learnt is that I am terrible at estimating! I tend to underestimate how much time something will take, but would rather err way on the side of caution (I admit it I am a bulk buyer) rather than risk underestimating paint/wallpaper/fabric.

The jobs that we have done I am really pleased with and I think I have learnt that I need to reduce my very high standards or nothing is ever going to get finished.

This weekend we put in our new bathroom tap, I was a little worried about it as we are in a hard water area and I think it will get marked very quickly, but I can't deny that it looks great at the minute!

We have also bought the paint for my craft room - I am very excited to get started, but here is a quick sneak peek...

Finally (for today anyway) I have been watching 'The Great Interior Design Challenge' and I am loving it! It is funny to see so many of the things we have already bought in their rooms, button handles/ wallpaper roller / penny tabletop. And I love the architectural history also included in the programmes (also who doesn't like to be nosey about other peoples houses!). Great programme - I always agree with more craft on TV!

We have the technology and a 'water feature'

We have the internet, YouView and a phone line!

I am struggling to think about why we need the internet and I guess the answer is that we could live without it if we had to, but it really is a nice to have. 

Especially with our new YouView box where we can pause and record live tv (yes I know we are very behind the times, but it was still nice that M could pause Sherlock when I poured hot noodle soup down my hand in the rush to see it).

So far so good with the wifi, I am hoping we do not end up with any repeated problems like we had in our last house where the cable connection box was such a mess that every time they fixed someone else's connection they removed ours...

The other exciting house news this week is that M has replaced the broken flush system in the toilet. So now not only does it flush, but it also stops flushing (that was the issue with the old one). 

I don't really have any exciting photos of our router or the toilet flush, so instead here is a picture of our new 'water feature' in the back garden. I should note, this was caused by flooding, not by our old toilet flush failing to stop!

We are plastered!

Well the whole of downstairs is anyway!

This does make the room look quite dark, but remember that it is all wet plaster currently and it was pitch black outside (this photo will never win any competitions!). It has also served as a reminder that we don't want to paint the room floor to ceiling brown.

In fact these are our planned colours for the front room (on the wall before the new plaster), brown for below the dado rail and cream for above - GWR colours.

And the dining room will be slightly different as well, so of course we also tested those out...

So just a couple of weeks for the plaster to dry out, some sanding, some mist coats and then we can actually start painting!

Home sweet home

We moved in on Tuesday last week, as exciting as it was to be living in our new house, it would have been more exciting if we had water, heating, any cooking facilities and at one low point electricity!

At least our new house has a driveway big enough for the moving van - unlike the rental that we moved out of where we had to park halfway down the street.

In that week we have had a lot of progress, central heating system is now in ( just waiting for the shower and a sink in the cloakroom to be fitted ) - fingers crossed plumbing will be finished this week.

M has taken down all of the doors (many of them had punch marks in) and has started to replace them with the doors in this picture of the hallway on moving day - they were kindly donated to us by M's boss.

The ikea expedit shelves that you can also see on the floor are rebuilt and holding all sorts of stuff in the spare room. And our bargin eBay folding door has been hind in the bathroom and looks great - just needs a lick of paint now.

Basil the Rat

We were trying to get the house in some order last week, before the big move over this past weekend. We were removing the panels that covered the back boiler in the front room behind the fire place when we made an unexpected discovery...

Sadly I do not have a good 'before' shot as I wasn't expecting there to be anything of interest behind the fireplace! But it is between the fireplace and the wall on the righthand side of the picture above. Two wooden panels were screwed into place to allow easy access to the boiler (if they hadn't been painted over...).

We pulled the panels off (to help the plumber along with our new hot water/central hearing system that is being installed this week). And we noticed that about chest height wedged between the 3 copper pipes there was a feather duster.

Yes I know you can all see where this is going from the title of the blog post - but we really thought that is what it was. I did a big melodramatic show of putting on a marigold glove to remove it, but I was very glad that I had when I felt that the 'feather duster' had teeth! 

It has now been (almost fully) removed, but sadly we have realised that it was likely to be a pet. Which is good news for us as it is not a sign of rats in the loft, but instead it looks like it has fallen through the huge hole in the floor in the airing cupboard currently in our bedroom.

Poor old Basil (Fawlty Towers reference) but we will find some way of remembering him when he turn the area he was found into some lovely bookshelves.

I think our wooden mice might find a home on that particular shelf.

Lights, camera...... Some action

Well the electricians have been, so we are now spoilt by having both lights and sockets in every single room - result! 

They have also made sure that the house is safe by doing less exciting (but more important) things like earthing the gas main and updating the fuse box. 

It is very exciting though as it is the first real 'work' done on the house. Not that I am saying that all that cleaning was easy!

It has left the house looking even worse for wear than before:

Our dado rail removal didn't really help that wall either...

The best bit was that it meant that we could hang my best eBay purchase to date. We went from this broken dining room light: 

To these spray painted chandeliers:

Best part was that we bought the pair of brass chandeliers for 1p!!!

Still cleaning...

I'm afraid there is very little exciting to report - essentially we are still cleaning! The kitchen is looking significantly less greasy, fridge and freezer no longer look like a science experiment so now I am tackling the floor. Can you guess which grout has been tackled and which I haven't got to yet....

What a Load of Rubbish

Well we have been house owners for 12 days now (certainly not homeowners - yet). 

We spent the first few days clearing out all the rubbish that the previous owner had left and trying to chase him for the payment for its disposal.

I am afraid I didn't get a final photo of all the rubbish that was left, as some of it was picked through and pieces of furniture and nic-naks taken to new homes. Then by the time we had cleared the garden and the loft I was too tired and annoyed to take any more photographs.

There were some positives though, pulling up the carpets revealed that the stairs are not in a terrible condition (as we had feared) so won't need to be replaced. After just a little tlc they look better already! 

New Beginnings

I am starting this blog to document our lives and work on our new house. We are first time buyers, and this is really our dream come true, but lets see how long that lasts!

We have a lot of plans for this house and unfortunately we haven't got off to a great start with the previous owner essentially being a &£@* (insert your own 4 letter word). But now that we have spent 2 days clearing his rubbish out of the house and garden we are ready to get started!

There is quite a bit to do and we really want to do as much as possible of the getting contractors in before our rental contract expires and we need to move all of our stuff!

I am afraid the next couple of posts are likely just to be full of pictures, acting as a 'before', but I will endeavour to post any small projects that we do in the meantime - there are a few pieces of furniture that I want to revive.

I hope you will enjoy reading about successes (and I am sure failures) along the way!

Amazing sky on the day that we completed - the photos of the actual house need to come with a bit of a warning as it was pretty gross!