If you’ve read the post about the condition of our house when we moved in you’ve probably got the impression that there’s a decent chunk of stuff to do. A lot of the work to be done is your bog standard decorating, but we’ve also got a few mini and not-so-mini projects in mind that we’re hoping will make a big difference to our home.
Full house redecoration
On the Rightmove listing photos, the house looked like it was finished to a pretty decent standard. It’s only when we viewed that we realised that every room is in need of some TLC. It’s a case of lots of little things adding up eg: most of the woodwork needs stripping & repainting/varnishing, there are holes & gaps everywhere that need filling, and wallpaper is peeling off in various places. Along with this, every room needs a lick of paint which will help highlight the picture rails and we’re going to put up wooden blinds in most windows. This is all going to take a while so we’re going to tackle one room at a time as I have the focus of a 2 year old and will jump from room-to-room otherwise.
Fitted wardrobes, shelving, other DIY projects etc.
The house we ended up buying is in a really lovely area. This meant stretching ourselves a little on the mortgage which means that we don’t have cash to splash. Pretty much anything we can do ourselves, we will do ourselves. I’ve got a load of ideas in mind which hopefully I’ll get chance to pick off inbetween all the other house jobs!
Flooring
Every downstairs room except the kitchen has relatively recent pine floorboards with a dark, badly scuffed varnish. This needs to get sorted out because it looks a mess. In the short-term we’ll be sanding and re-varnishing these with a clear varnish to show off their real colour.
All the bedrooms and landing need re-carpeting, except for the master bedroom where we’re going to pull up the carpet to show off the original pine floorboards that will look lovely once sanded and varnished.
Extension
This is the one that’s going to risk bankrupting us. Our four closest neighbours have all added single storey rear extensions, probably because the gardens are long so lend themselves to this. Our kitchen is pokey and we’d love to have an open plan area where we can cook/eat/drink/chill so we’re going to add around 3 metres to the back of the house. This space should also allow us to add a small utility room and as part of the work we’re going to sneak a loo under the stairs.
Extending Driveway
Something else that all our neighbours have done is knocked most of the front garden wall down and extended the driveway across the house so 2 cars can comfortably fit. This is something I’m keen to crack on with because it’s a middleclass-problems ball ache having to squeeze one car onto the drive and the other on the road.
The Shed ❤
Before the extension goes up the butters garage is going to have to go as it’s in the way. To replace this, me and J Leaf Snr are going to build a shed and we’re very excited to get cracking. It’s going to be used for storage and also as a workshop for me to potter about in. Haz is equally as excited about having a shed as it’ll mean she’ll have the house to herself most of the time.
Decking/BBQ zone
At some point we’ll get round to setting-up part of the garden for BBQs and general summer chilling. I’m thinking decking with a fire pit and a wooden frame over the top to hang festoon lights. This is another project I’m really looking forward to but it’s a luxury so other stuff needs to get done first.
Future stuff
Hopefully most of the things above will be done by the end of 2020, but everything seems to take longer than we think so let’s see. In the next few years, there are a few other things that we may end up doing. One is a loft conversion so we can add a 4th bedroom. There’s no need for this in the near future, but if Haz ends up getting the 8 children she wants then we’re definitely going need more bedrooms. Of course, we could move instead, but we love this location so much that I think a loft conversion would be a good shout.
My Dad has recently built a shepherd’s hut for my parent’s garden (give it a Goog if you’ve never heard of one) which is a beautiful thing. If I get time/can find the cash, I’d love to build a shepherd’s hut to put at the end of our garden under the apple tree. It’d be a cool place for family/friends to stay and we could put it on Airbnb to generate a few pounds.
Another garden project that may or may not happen is building a treehouse. Given that we don’t have kids, I probably don’t have an excuse to do this for a good few years yet. BUT, it’s definitely something I’d be keen to do and the apple tree is the perfect shape for a wee treehouse.
Reading that back is slightly alarming as it’s a lot of work and is gonna take a good year or two. But actually, I love having a project on and all this DIY stuff is pretty rewarding so bring it on.
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