If you know me, you’ll know I’m have a restless soul. I like to be on the move. Married life and motherhood has made me the most grounded I’ve ever been. Even using the term ‘forever home’ would have seemed like no no for me, even five year ago. Just like a wedding dress, when you see are home you know it’s right for you. We were now living on a quiet street in the suburbs and its delight. Our semi-detached 1940’s house is our forever home.
Our Forever Home
We started house hunting during Covid. Who does that? Well Hubby apparently. I was not in the mindset to look for a home or move house with kids AGAIN, but as fate would have it it was the right time. Sure there were are some hiccups along the way. We eventually moved into our 3 bed semi in June 2021. It was in a liveable condition but needed updates. Due to hold on stamp duty, it meant we could afford to redo the kitchen. In the current state, only one hob was working on the cooker, the fixtures and fittings were outdated and storage too small.
We immediately recarpeted the staircase, landing and main bedroom. The rest of the house has laminate flooring which is still in pretty good condition.
The bathroom is also outdated and in need of love, that’s a job we have to save towards.
Rewiring is on our to do list and we plan to redo the flooring at that point.
The Décor
Much my children’s disdain, I like the cottagecore vibe. I get a thrill looking around the charity shops for preloved home furnishings. Although to appease them, wherever possible and in keeping with the overall feel, we incorporate modern pieces for example our light fittings, mirrors and colour scheme. Afterall, the forever home is theirs too!
Our dinning room has the cottage vibe; the living room is more modern.
The bedrooms could do with new cupboards but we made the existing ones work by repainting and changing handles.
The main bedroom is due for an update which ideally I’d like it to be modern hygge but that all depends on what I find in the charity shops.
DIY
We have done a few DIY jobs with varying levels of success. Hubby repainted the interior of the house all white. Previously they were the outdated magnolia colour. White walls and allow us to play around with on trend pantone colours in our soft furnishings. I upcycled two charity stop buys with a lick of paint.
We tried landscaping one portion of the back garden. It looked good for year now, nature wants to reclaim it. We’ll have to rethink how to use that space. OH! We built a shed!
We tried repointing the patio that was a hit a miss. Some areas are really good some areas washed away in the rainy winter we are having. However, we have learnt valuable lessons for the next time we have another stab at it.
We lost three panels of our patio fence when Storm Henk hit England, early January. Not but choice that will also be DIY because it’s not large enough for a builder to accept the job. If you don’t already know, unless a job is big and lasting maybe three days and more builders don’t take your seriously.
Get Social
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @xpatathome to see how we are getting on. Tell us about your your forever home or your search for it. When you pop by, you’ll see content on architecture, food and videos of the cool places we visit as a family and more.
If there is anything in particular you’d like to know or see, feel free to DM: maria@xpatathome.co.uk
