My home



Hi everyone. I hope you're all well and not feeling too queasy after eating all those Easter eggs!!

I don't know about you but I've been loving the long break from work. It's been great to just potter about and get one or two little jobs done. On Saturday I hired a table at a local table sale and sold one or two pieces of my work and met some really lovely people too, which was a nice way to kill 2 hours.

I've also been doing the last little DIY jobs around the house.
I thought that it was high time that I properly showed you around my little house because at long last it's finished doing it up...ta da!!  

The story of my home began back in 2002 I had just split up with my then boyfriend and was living with Mum and Dad who had kindly taken me in. As a result of feeling totally miserable I threw myself into work and did lots and lots of over time. My savings grew and so I decided to take the plunge and buy my first home. I had a list of things I wanted in my home...

1. A space to use as a studio/work room.

2. A garden to grow vegetables

3. A decent size landing (I know this is an odd one but all the houses I'd viewed had tiny spaces in between 
the bedrooms and seemed cramped)

4. A bit of character

5. And I wasn't bothered about doing work to a property (how naive was I?!!)

So to cut a long story short I spotted my house to be in the news paper and booked a viewing. The previous owners had electrical stuff everywhere with floor to ceiling racks of CD's and DVD's in every room but I could see beyond it all and thought it could be a cute little house.

After putting in a cheeky offer I got it at a good price and the fun began...


Over the past 10 years I've changed the windows, the external and internal doors, pulled down dodgy artex ceilings, installed wooden flooring, replaced the boiler, the bathroom and the kitchen, sanded floorboards, filled loads of skips with rubbish from the garden, opened up two fire places and had wood burning stoves fitted, had work done on the roof tiles and chimney, knocked the kitchen about to create a different layout and had to furnish the house from scratch...phew!
   

Over the next couple of posts I'll show you around the house and try and dig out some before and after photos for you to see. This is the front room during the time when the stove was being installed. I've been living in a mess like this for 10 years and it feels great to be at the end at last. 


This is me grafting away at opening one of the fire places. I woke up one morning and decided to get the sledge hammer out and see what was behind the chimney breasts...there's no going back once you've made a hole in the wall!


And this is what the front room now looks like. I'm so pleased with how it's turned out, at night it looks really cosy with the lamp on or the candles lit.

My brother in law Colin has painted the walls and the woodwork cream and I've added the painted detail on the fire place. It all feels clean and fresh for the first time and I can't stop dusting and hooveing (that won't last!). 




I was looking around the house earlier and I reckon that I only have about 6 items that were bought new. Everything else has been found at auctions, car boot sales or has been given to me by kind folk.



This red chair was bought at a local auction (you can see what it used to look like in the photo below). I had it recovered and it's as good as new.




I've loved getting all my books and china bits and bobs out on display.


Well that's quite enough for now. Sorry it's such a long post.
Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday if you're in the UK.

Oh and hello to my new followers, welcome aboard xx   


Comments

  1. Wow it looks amazing you have done yourself proud ;-) I love your art work around the mirror that looks brilliant. And that chair you covered my god you would not believe it was the same one. Enjoy it ;-) dee xx

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    1. Thanks Dee x

      The wall with just the mirror on looked a bit boring so I thought I'd brighten it up a bit. I figure that if I get bored again I can just paint over it and there's no harm done! I'm chuffed you like it.

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  2. Your house looks really lovely. Fantastic that it is all finished. Boy, I long for the day, trouble is I keep changing my mind!!

    Looking forward to seeing what you did to the kitchen. I have decided that I really need to embark on a mass declutter.

    Jose goes back to London next week for the start of her new term and I have made a pact with myself that the next time either I see her or she comes home I intend to be a good deal lighter and of painted the house, and maybe even........drum roll.........have had a massive declutter!! Fingers crossed.

    Thank you for sharing the house pictures xx

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    Replies
    1. Hi PC, I know what you mean about changing your mind all the time. I've painted the walls in this house so many times and so many colours but now it's staying cream! The reason I got my brother in law to paint it is because I couldn't stand the sight of a paint brush any more :)

      Do your mass declutter, I've just done one and it feels brilliant...good for the soul I reckon. I hope Jose is doing well and still enjoying London life x

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  3. your homes a real cutie beauty I absolutely love it . it reminds me of mine and mr. m first home together it was very similar in design. That was before the entourage of children came on board. I love all your individual bits and pieces that's what makes a home so individual. I love collecting things at car boots and sales as well uyou just never know what you might find. Carry on showing us around cannot wait, and also welldone for all that hard work i know doing up a house isn't easy we did it once and never again!
    much happiness today
    pippaxx

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Pippa x
      So your another car boot sale fan :) I get really excited when I drive up to a sale it's just as you said you never know what you're going to find and trying to find that gem before anyone else...game on. God, I really should get out more!!

      x

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  4. Oh I really loved reading about your house, it looks amazing.I am so looking forward to seeing more Lesley.x

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    1. Hi Riddlers Cottage Flowers,
      I've meant to blog about my house for ages but every time I think it's near completion something else needs to be done and I find myself skint and unable to do the job straight away. It's great to be at the stage where I can put paintings up and do the fun bits x

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  5. Wow! Its beautiful
    Julie xxxxxx

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  6. Love your sitting room. It's taken me 10 years, on and off to do up my house too. I have just about finished the second living room that has been used as a dumping ground for all matter of things all this time. With a husband that hates DIY and so it all being left to me and three children to bring up as well as part time work, most of the time I can't be bothered, which is why it's took so long. Looking forward to seeing what else you have done. Most of our furniture has been second hand too.
    Melanie.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Melanie
      Crickey you've done well to do anything with kids, a job and doing it all on your own - congratulations! I get spurts of energy where I get loads done and then nothing for a while. The problem is that you get used to living in a bit of a mess and that becomes the norm. I've loss count of the times I've said to visiters 'sorry about the mess' or 'nearly finished, not much more to do' (and then the work goes on for another year!)

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  7. Oh wow it looks amazing! Love the colour of the dresser, and that mirror... lovely! Xox

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  8. I've passed a Sunshine Award your way, hope that's ok.

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  9. Your house looks awesome! Love it.

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  10. Well done for getting your house all finished! That's such a huge achievement, and you've done so much work on it... I remember seeing your white lamp on your mantelpiece and getting mildly fixated on getting one (thank you TK Maxx!)

    Am being awful at the moment in getting behind with reading and commenting... hope you're still keeping up with that dusting! Don't think my place will ever get finished - I keep overlooking the essential stuff and faffing about with details instead ;) xx

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  11. Hello Trashsparkle, thanks for your kind words. I'm flippin chuffed to bits to have it done I must admit, and no, the dusting has started to take a back seat already.

    I become a lazy blogger from time to time, I read blogs but sometimes I go for weeks without doing anything of interest, I'm sure no one wants to know about what I've been doing at work all day. Some bloggers find something to say every day!

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