Finally a MFW! :D

KolaKube

We officially moved in on Saturday! What a week of hard work but we're nearly there now... the house is sound and everything works although it needs complete redecoration throughout and at the very least a new bathroom as its rather 70s and theres no bath, just a shower (a good shower, thankfully!)

Mum and I deep cleaned the flat and handed back the keys so waiting for word of our deposit back on that (£480) which would redecorate a few rooms for us.

Going from a 2 bed flat with no outside space to a 5 bed house with a huge back garden feels so luxurious lol, 70s decor or not it all functions so we shall live with it fine and decorate room by room as we can afford it.

OH is back tonight from a 3 day work trip, he better be impressed as the place was a tip when he left - need to get some groceries today as a priority!

GemDoll

Congratulations Kola! You must be so excited!!:j
Have you got much to do in the garden?

GemDoll

KolaKube wrote: »

Thanks for the info and good wishes guys

Well, we are in possession of the keys! Got over for a snoop around there but the wee man got grouchy for his nap so we had to bring him back home.

The house in some respects isn't as bad as I thought work wise, but there is definitely a LOT that needs doing to bring it up to our standard... baby steps. Feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. Mum is coming to sit with LO later so we can get back over for a bit.

Does anyone else have a house that's a work in progress? :eek: How did you prioritise?

I'm actually thinking of starting with the outside, seeing as winter is coming...? Garage windows and side door need stripped and re-painted, garage itself could do with a good clean out, there's a huge garden which the vendor has let get overgrown, fencing all needs weatherproofing, yard needs power hosing down etc

WYOO removing a grave stone (for a long deceased family pet) from the back garden...?

Glass of wine to steady the nerves tonight methinks :rotfl:

Our cottage is a work in progress for sure, the whole thing is being gutted. We are moving staircase first, then I'm not sure...the whole place needs to be replastered, new woodwork everywhere, floorboards have to be taken up, out back down, stripped and then possibly painted...

KolaKube

The garden is just getting cleared a bit for this year - we'll save most of the bigger work for next year lol, needs a lot of new fencing, bushes being dug out, a big tree taking down etc.... :eek:

Got our internet etc all in today so I'm pleased with that - TIVO where have you been all my life!?

We got the full deposit back so I'm pleased with that, will have to see how far I can stretch it in terms of redecoration...

Gemdoll Ive been looking round at all the work that needs doing and decided the best place to start is a nice cuppa lol xx

KolaKube

Things have been rather busy! Unusually we have had a run of a few days dry weather, so we have been working on some of the outside jobs that really could do with being done before winter...

We have decided to abandon the fencing in the back garden (there's a lot of it, and it's not in very good nick so we plan to replace it altogether next year), however have restored the flaking garage windows (with wood starting to rot in places) and are in the process of redoing the masonry paint outdoors - rather proud of how nice things are starting to look out there. My project for the next few days is to finish the masonry paint, and tackle the big front door of the garage. Would like to be ready this weekend for OH to clean out the garage and get on with neatening up the garden a bit.

Sitting down tonight to have a think about budgets for things... wish me luck as theyre pretty much non existent and theres a lot to do! :rotfl:

kirstypark

well done on getting your deposit back, and for starting the garden clear up. It's so cold i can't begin to think about the garden till next year.

KolaKube

Thanks kirsty, we're just getting the bare minimum done outdoors to be honest - winterproofing a little - I suspect the garage windows etc would have needed replacing next year if we hadn't rescued them, which will save us a little money hopefully!

First mortgage payment goes out tomorrow! (And then another in 2 weeks, yikes lol) - so I'm just online transferring the money into our current account.

Doing a little online DIY investigating - OH and I are pretty much DIY naive so reading up carefully on how to do things before we do them!

I think my next project will be dealing with the fake veneer wood panelling up the stairs and in the hallway upstairs, its rather dark and I think either ripping it out (although its rather well attached and seemingly without nails - I'm a bit scared of it being glued to the plaster and a whole replastering being needed!), or filling and painting it for now... anyone any experience in dodgy 70s veneer wood panelling??

Another project for the next few days is the purchase of sofas - £££ :eek: we need them desperately, quite happy with 2nd hand although we haven't really seen much come up. Could go for shiny new ones with a budget of approx £1k but we'd rather spend this elsewhere seeing as we have a baby (soon to be toddler) who will no doubt wreck the lot anyway... :rotfl: (and of course, seeing as we're MFWs lol)

Hope you are all well. Look forward to seeing if anyone has any wood panelling ideas... I have many other 70s decor bits and pieces to hide where that came from lol xx

kirstypark

lots of experiance with 70s wood panels, we once moved into a house that was covered in the stuff! you are right to be wary - the glue underneath leaves an awful mess on the walls - we had artex underneath a lot of ours which took ages to sand off (and should have been done by a professional, cos there is a risk of asbestos :eek: i remember OH tying a tea towel round his face - don't think that was very wise looking back). If it is tongue and groove it can look ok painted - we have some in our kitchen that i suspect is hiding some naff tiles, and it looks ok

Don't be scared of DIY - it's amazing what you can learn on youtube. I had 2nd hand sofas until my two were teenagers and then splashed out and bought real leather which was expensive but is now 8 years old and still pretty much good as new. all the various stains just add to the character!

KolaKube

We got some 2nd hand sofas today, funny enough! Theyre in wonderful condition, brown leather 3+2... for the rather MSE total of £80! The lady was redoing her sitting room and just wanted them out to make room for her new set - we obliged so very pleased with that!

kirstypark

great:T and good price too - our local facebay often has folk selling sofas for about £500 :eek: £80 sounds a very good bargain and you won't get stressed about kids spilling on it in the future.