Buying a home and knowing nothing!

Manxcottageonthehill

Oh wow, thanks for the tip on the rice! Never thought you could cook it in the microwave!!

For the moment I really love ironing and as the other half does shifts I have alot of alone time so it actually gives me something to do now, and I feel really happy about it!

Not started batch cooking, as I'm hoping to do that for winter in summer we tend to eat alot of "light" foods

@janb5 Were lucky over here, there isn't anything like that and if there was its such a close knit community that everyone knows everyone somewhere

Tillytrotter1

Absolutely super thread, thanks for starting it! I don't have a lot to add that hasn't already been said by the other wonderful posters as I'm still learning myself and finding it really useful reading about the experiences of others. I just find that if you do a little every day then you can just about keep on top of everything. You will soon find your own routine though. My parents wouldn't have been very house proud so I wasn't really taught anything about household management therefore it is good to read about the routines of ohers. I wish I had known about wiping down the washing machine, mine has started to develop rust marks as water must have spalshed down from the drainer. Nevermind, duly noted for future.
Good luck and best wishes in your new home xx

suki1964

One thing you also need to remember that burning coal or logs brings it's own mess. Dust everywhere,constantly. Now you can be super housewife and damp dust daily, or super slob like me and wait till there's a good layer

Your bathroom really should have an extractor at least if there is no window


I'm super slob with house work. However I keep the bathrooms and kitchen clean kitchen is done daily, cleaning up as I go along. Keeping cupboards and fridge tidy also stops food waste as you can see at a glance what's in them. I wipe down doors and work tops daily, just hot water and micro fibre

Washing I am fussy about. I do separate washes and use different temps for different items. I hate grubby whites, real bug bear of mine so whites are always washed separate , even if something has to stay in the basket till I have enough to make a load up

House gets done top to bottom weekly. Flick around the walls and ceiling and tops of doors and skirtings with feather duster, wipe door frames , banisters with a damp micro fibre cloth, change sofa cushions around, generally dust and Hoover throughout I've a big house but keeping the kitchen and bathrooms clean as you go means the rest of the house only takes an hour or so a week

Once every month or so I polish the glass in the doors and picture frames. And every now and then I sort out the hot press and wardrobes

Life is too short to be so precious about house work IMO If people don't like my standards then they can either do it themselves or not stop

I really hate going into homes where everything has it's place and is showroom condition 24/7. I like a comfy home where people can sit and feel free to put their feet up on the sofa or take red wine into the living room and not be scared to drop a crumb on the table.

pinknfluffy28

Show homes are no fun! I once took youngest dd to a play date, and the house was immaculate, beautiful, I was in awe, until the mother led us out to a cold, bland conservatory and produced a box of large toys.

She doesn't allow the children in the lounge until an evening when they have bathed, and no toys were allowed anywhere other than the conservatory.

She proceeded to scold her daughter for dropping a crisp on the floor, and whipped out her hand vac

I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life! Needless to say, we never returned, and I just couldn't face inviting them over to my humble abode!

Sorry, slightly off subject, but whenever I see dd's drop a crumb, or tip toys all over the lounge, my heart still goes out to that little show home girl x

LameWolf

I once say a fridge magnet that said
"My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy".
I guess that's what you aim for if you have dogs, too (having just picked up TWO Dys0n-loads of white dog-hair from my last canine guest).

Rainy-Days

pinknfluffy28 wrote: »

Show homes are no fun! I once took youngest dd to a play date, and the house was immaculate, beautiful, I was in awe, until the mother led us out to a cold, bland conservatory and produced a box of large toys.

She doesn't allow the children in the lounge until an evening when they have bathed, and no toys were allowed anywhere other than the conservatory.

She proceeded to scold her daughter for dropping a crisp on the floor, and whipped out her hand vac

I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life! Needless to say, we never returned, and I just couldn't face inviting them over to my humble abode!

Sorry, slightly off subject, but whenever I see dd's drop a crumb, or tip toys all over the lounge, my heart still goes out to that little show home girl x

A house is a home to be lived in, not to be obsessed over. Keeping it clean and tidy thats one thing, but becoming OCD is a step too far. A cat and a dog along with the fact we have a couple of horses and live in the country kind of makes you a bit more chilled about it.

The house is clean and tidy for sure, but as my dad would say, enjoy your home, relax in it and appreciate it, but don't obsess over it - I think he's right. Some days my utility room resembles a Chinese launderette great piles of washing everywhere one load in, another waiting to go in and then the ironing basket starts growing. Chill, it will all get done but driving yourself and everybody else mad over a freaking crisp is making life misery as well as harder. Kids remember stuff like that and won't thank you for it in later life

Manxcottageonthehill

OH golly!! That sounds awful, I don't want a showroom, we own a dog and hopefully soon a couple of kitties (we sadly had to put mine down at the end of last year) so I expect the odd shabby piece of funiture and well, were really simple, quite happy to get something from the local tyip and re-use it than buy something

forzaitalia

You've had loads of housework advice, but like you I moved into a spacious 1930's terrace that needed to be decorated throughout. The kitchen was tiny and the original fittings, but not in a good way! It was ghastly! We knocked the walk through to the dining area (after getting advice from a builder) and created a lovely kitchen/diner. I'm sure these tiny kitchens were designed by men!

As you have a character cottage it would be nice to update it but still retain the character. Farrow & Ball do lots of lovely gentle "old" paint colours. They can be pricey but the paint is excellent quality. House magazines are great for info but expensive. I've found an App called Houzz which is free and full of thousands of great photos, articles and advice and costs nothing!

One last thing, I now work as a gardener, but when I bought my house I knew nothing. I planted things in the wrong place, shrubs that grew to 12 ft in a small border and lime hating plants in chalk. But I learnt along the way and now have a very pretty garden. You do learn by your mistakes!

Good luck in your new home.

Manxcottageonthehill

forzaitalia wrote: »

You've had loads of housework advice, but like you I moved into a spacious 1930's terrace that needed to be decorated throughout. The kitchen was tiny and the original fittings, but not in a good way! It was ghastly! We knocked the walk through to the dining area (after getting advice from a builder) and created a lovely kitchen/diner. I'm sure these tiny kitchens were designed by men!

As you have a character cottage it would be nice to update it but still retain the character. Farrow & Ball do lots of lovely gentle "old" paint colours. They can be pricey but the paint is excellent quality. House magazines are great for info but expensive. I've found an App called Houzz which is free and full of thousands of great photos, articles and advice and costs nothing!

One last thing, I now work as a gardener, but when I bought my house I knew nothing. I planted things in the wrong place, shrubs that grew to 12 ft in a small border and lime hating plants in chalk. But I learnt along the way and now have a very pretty garden. You do learn by your mistakes!

Good luck in your new home.

Hey! Thank you, I'm very excited about it all. The cottage is lovely and small, the kitchen is actually really quite spacious not big enough for the welsh dresser I wanted, but there is a perfect space in the small lounge for it, so that is a.ok more worried about where to store my bike!!

I probably shouldn't admit this here but I do sub to both Country Homes and Interiors and Country Living, and every month I cut out what I like and put it in a book seperated into rooms, I've been doing this since we started saving around 7 odd years ago! So alot of inspiration. I really am thinking as were so close to the beach for duck egg blues, creams, pale yellows, the odd red, seaglass ect, proper beach theme downstairs and upstairs in our bedroom and the guest/ one day childs room is nature themed so think grass greens, mints, lots of plants, bees ect ect.

The garden is ultra small, I recently gave up my allotment, as we were looking to buy and didn't want to be tied down, plus it was costing almost £150 a year to keep and that was one of the cheapest around over here! So will hopefully be putting in a raised bed. I really am looking to be as self sufficient from the small garden as possible, and cannot wait to get my hands stuck in!!

forzaitalia

Sounds gorgeous and I think colours of the sea would be lovely. Great colour choices too. Sounds like you have the decor ideas sorted, very organised! I love those magazines too, and luckily have a friend who gives me hers once she has read them, and then I pass them on. Good bit of recycling.