We've been living in our home for 2 and a half years now. When we moved in it hadn't been well cared for and it was dirty, so, so dirty - the thought of it still makes me shudder - but it's a good size, is light and has some lovely views. We're off the beaten track so it's very quiet and I often feel very fortunate to be living here.

We have done a lot of work to it, but there is still loads more to do. Before we moved in we spent a few weeks cleaning and tidying up (scrubbing and bleaching EVERYTHING), and painting the lounge, dining room, kitchen, pantry and main bedroom just to make them habitable and to help the place feel a little more like home.

The day I brought the cats here is when it really started to feel like home, after that it only took a few days for me to feel like we'd always been here and more time goes on the more I love it.

The first major bit of work we had done was the downstairs loo and the upstairs bathroom. The upstairs bathroom was particularly disgusting. I'm glad to say that Andy took it upon himself to clean it, the photos don't capture the dust, grime and general nastiness of it and I'll always be grateful to him for sparing me from that particular task.

I found a chap on one of those rate-a-workman type websites to do the work. We met with him and he was friendly and said all the right things but within a few days he were having doubts and by the end of the week we'd decided enough was enough. We paid him for the work he'd done and asked him not to come back. Luckily, the chap that we had originally wanted to do it had a cancellation and was able to come to our rescue. He did a fantastic job and just in time for our first Christmas in our new home too!


As I've mentioned before, a bath is one of my favourite things, so I found living with that bathroom for five months really hard. I didn't have a bath in all that time as I didn't want to sit in it, instead I had showers and even then I didn't feel 100% clean when I got out. Now I really like this room and soak away to my heart's content. Of course my dream bathroom would be three times to size of this one but this will do nicely (for now ;-)).

The only thing that needs to be changed in here now is the window but that's a way off yet. I think it's missing this and some of these though...


The most recent DIY project is my office, it is still a work in progress but all the most important bits are done, once finished I'll turn my attention to the hallway and landing. Then the kitchen gets it!

If I can give you one piece of advice about decorating your home it's to do one room at a time from start to finish. I know it may seem insane to spend time and money choosing a lampshade when you have an entire house to do, but if you don't you'll end up with a long list of odds jobs for each room you've meaning to do for ages... which just seems to grow longer as time passes.

What room are you happiest with?


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love