Hoarding...not just on TV

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

whitewing wrote: »

Greyqueen,

You missed out my aspirational spiral staircase.

Can I have it? I've been looking for one to fix against the kitchen wall so the defective ninja cat, who has wobbly back legs and an inability to climb - or walk - without falling over/off whatever he's on - can come and go as he pleases.

He just about manages to scramble out of the kitchen window to sit in the window box, but can't get back in or out if he's on the patio. Even with greenhouse shelving out there.


I didn't think the cat ladder idea was as decorative or practical, so I decided to keep my eyes open for a mini spiral in a reclaimers.





That's not hoarding, honest - that's interior design!


:rotfl:

GreyQueen

whitewing wrote: »

Greyqueen,

You missed out my aspirational spiral staircase.

LMAO, I certainly did. They're nice, aren't they?

I also missed out my handmade tiles, the parquet floor in the hall, the honeyed and hand-waxed floors upstairs, the worn but lovely kelims etc. We shall skim over the many many other things which have lodged in the cortex covetousis part of my brain. Where the heck all this stuff comes from I have no idea, I don't spend my life with my nose pressed against the windows of my betters coveting their worldly goods.

Well, not since the stalking conviction, anyroad.:p

Spent some time with my Nan today who is 89, all marbles present and correct but very dodgy on her pins. Was doing some dusting and high cleaning and took all the bits and bobs of a high shelf plus souvenir plates from all over the bungalow to wash at the sink. Nan remarked that she doesn't really care for the plates (gifts from others over the decades) and I said that she doesn't have to have them put back if she'd rather not.

She said might as well put them back as the walls would look a bit bare without them. Its a typical grandma's bungalow with knick-knacks and family pix everywhere, lol.

So, when the sadness inevitably happens, I won't feel any compunction to keep a souvenir plate because It was Nan's and therefore sacred...........Auntie was present and asked if I liked the knickknacks and I said no (truthfully, this class of clutter isn't one of my problem areas).

Rounding up these cluttery things, lots of which were Ruby and Golden Wedding souvenir stuff and getting them clean and back in position took ages. OK, we were chatting and joking as we did it, but it was still work that could have been avoided by not owning the blessed clutter in the first place!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

That's better -

The view from the tumble dryer;



The view from the sink;



The view from the fridge/freezer;




I have four cupboards (one half size floor one, one corner floor one, a double wall one and a half size wall one) to empty and reorganise.

I also need a nice picture for the back wall, a replacement saucepan as I cremated red cabbage in one and it won't scrub off - and once my money goes in after the Bank Holiday, I'm replacing the strip light with





I feel much calmer now.

GreyQueen

Looking good. I will come and steal your cats. And now I really must go to bed. G'night and blessings. GQ x

shelley_crow

Contessa wrote: »

I'm feeling quite down today after another valuation on my house ( I also posted about it on the House buying, renting and selling forum, "Realities of marketing house") I thought I was nearly ready to put my house on the market and asked a fairly new firm of estate agents to value it ( partly because they're a lot cheaper, and partly because I like to support new businesses ) but the very young estate agent seemed unimpressed. More traditional firms had been more positive about my house. Basically, two things especially made me feel down, 1. much lower valuation than I'd hoped for, a lot less than comparable houses nearby, and 2. the reason being that they are in "tip top" condition ( I realise mine isn't but some parts are!), and that mine is old fashioned as it has a seperate dining room, not a kitchen-diner, smallish bathrooms and needs new stairs! Therefore not attractive to family buyers ( despite having a large garden)
I feel that I won't be able to sell it, or if I do it will not be for enough money to enable me to move to Cornwall where I have family.
When I told my son he said, " What can you expect from an estate agent who is standing on a carpet that is older than he is?!" This cheered me up a bit.
Sorry if I've rambled on.

Don't feel down about your house. If it's any consolation, I'd much rather have a seperate dining room than a kitchen/diner. If I had money to buy, I'd much rather buy a house that needed a bit of work so I could make it to my taste. Someone is bound to see the potential and buy it.

It was lovely of you to use the new agents but sometimes experience is king, get a few agents in and see what they say.

Buffythedebtslayer

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Don't panic, Sybil, even if we get resettled, we'll just set up a little enclave. Bit like Bermondsey in Passport to Pimlico. Or Liechtenstein, a semi independent principality.

Our flag shall be the zombie prostrate under a pile of stuff having been slung out for being of no use to us.

I didn't even realise this was Old Style! oops! how did I find this thread! I never go to Old Style! :rotfl:It must be fate, event he Internet is trying to get me to declutter!

Buffythedebtslayer

valk_scot wrote: »

I think it might have been me but I missed quite a bit of this thread and haven't yet read it all.

I do think that I should maybe stop reading mags like Country Living and Country Homes and Interiors though. Not to mention Mollie Makes and The Kitchen Garden and Home Farmer. There's a limit as to how much aspiration per month I can realistically cope with!

On the other hand if I get this place decluttered a bit it might even start looking a bit more like houses in some of the mags. After all, I bet you if you looked behind where the camera is pointing in these housey mags there would be a right old pile of plastic tat, six months of newspapers and the cat's litter tray. People don't really live like that after all, with no personal possessions on the hall table next to their posy of fresh daisies and interesting rustic object from Darkest Farmingshire.

Made me properly laugh! :rotfl::T

Valk, the whole other version of you thing - I have that too! my other me has a victorianish style bedroom.......white floorboards.......space no plastic boxes.......she sews, knits, read poetry......is slim.......classic little shift dresses for work, seamed stockings, black patent high heels she can walk in....has an extensive twice daily beauty routine that she religiously adheres to. goes to the gym and has coffee with friends........ Uses words like Adheres in normal conversation.........gardens.....keeps chickens and grows her own veg........hosts dinner parties as she is an amazing cook.......oh and she fly ladies with the best of them - although given the calendars and diaries "she" owns she was a BO person.


The reality - I am always late and do everything at the last minute, I hate coffee, could not organise a !!!! up in a brewry or even just outside the Offy, I use words like Offy in every day conversation and am a strict 80 denier body shaper tights girl!

:rotfl:Oh writing that down has made me laugh!

I shall continue with the de hoarding/decluttering and cleaning tomorrow

Night Lovely people xxxx

skipsmum

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Night Lovely people xxxx

They are all lovely here aren't they!

Contessa

shelley_crow wrote: »

Don't feel down about your house. If it's any consolation, I'd much rather have a seperate dining room than a kitchen/diner. If I had money to buy, I'd much rather buy a house that needed a bit of work so I could make it to my taste. Someone is bound to see the potential and buy it.

It was lovely of you to use the new agents but sometimes experience is king, get a few agents in and see what they say.

Thank you so much for your post-it did make me feel better. My house has been a lovely, happy family home for nearly thirty years, but there's just me there now. I'm sure if the right family came along they would see its potential. I really was despairing for a while but I did get on with some more sorting and decluttering.
I also agree with you about the agents.

SpikyHedgehog

Contessa wrote: »

I'm feeling quite down today after another valuation on my house ( I also posted about it on the House buying, renting and selling forum, "Realities of marketing house") I thought I was nearly ready to put my house on the market and asked a fairly new firm of estate agents to value it ( partly because they're a lot cheaper, and partly because I like to support new businesses ) but the very young estate agent seemed unimpressed. More traditional firms had been more positive about my house. Basically, two things especially made me feel down, 1. much lower valuation than I'd hoped for, a lot less than comparable houses nearby, and 2. the reason being that they are in "tip top" condition ( I realise mine isn't but some parts are!), and that mine is old fashioned as it has a seperate dining room, not a kitchen-diner, smallish bathrooms and needs new stairs! Therefore not attractive to family buyers ( despite having a large garden)
I feel that I won't be able to sell it, or if I do it will not be for enough money to enable me to move to Cornwall where I have family.
When I told my son he said, " What can you expect from an estate agent who is standing on a carpet that is older than he is?!" This cheered me up a bit.
Sorry if I've rambled on.

I love having my kitchen diner here, but really miss having a separate dining room too :-) so it certainly wouldn't put me off & I have 2 children. If you don't have children but want to aim it at families, it could be worth making sure it looks like 1?

sjprmc01 wrote: »

I wouldn't have fancied looking for 3 kids ones in the cs, lol! I'd have spent more on the bus trying to hunt them down, lol!

I've bought them all biggish so providing they don't end up in the wash too much (therefore decreasing the waterproof-ability) they should last a couple yrs at least (and then hopefully one hand down to youngest too when she is out of hers)

I got a waxed jacket from Tesco last month I actually think waxed is a better thing to look for than waterproof, but you can't really get different coloured (or very cheap) ones for kids.....they don't like to have the same thing and it's less easy to mix up whose is whose if they are different coloured.

When the jackets come I may get rid of the ski jackets granny got them that are waterproof but actually too thick for them to wear and even in the winter they complain they are too hot in them!

You can buy stuff to re-waterproof clothes - I've got the spray, but you can also buy a wash-in 1.