Get a grip !

Skint_yet_Again

Trip to Mr T & forgot my key ring with my clubcard on it 😫 Didn’t actually buy that much though so didn’t miss out much. I got DS & his gf a pair of Christmas socks each £3 on buy 2 get 1 free, so I got myself a free pair 🤗 bottle of shower gel each £1.49 L’Oréal men because he’s worth it 😳😂😂 & 99p imperial leather marshmallow. Lindt xmas choc teddy each £2.50. Couple of other chocs too, total spend under £9 each. The rest of their gift will be money. 

Couldn’t get the oven pride it was out of stock. Can’t seem to get it anywhere. Wanted to clean my oven shelves in the bag. We have oven liners in the bottom of the ovens which makes it much easier for cleaning. 

Called off at the tip & got rid of the boot load of stuff. Slowly starting to see a difference! 

DS & gf Christmas plans have changed now since BoJo’s big announcement bombshell yesterday. So the 2 of them are now staying here which means I won’t be able to paint the floorboards until the new year whenever they go away again, as you have to walk through the dining room to get to the kitchen. However I will start patching up the rough bits / gaps etc. 

Will be getting the meat & veg for Christmas dinner next week. My niece gets DF’s shopping in lidl & he recommended their deluxe beef, so we will hopefully be having that & a roast chicken, with a gammon joint for Boxing Day with jacket potatoes & cauliflower cheese. Any leftover beef or gammon will be sliced and frozen for other meals for me. DS & gf are providing the other accompaniments (pigs in blankets, stuffing, cranberry sauce etc) & starter & dessert. 

MovingForwards

Keep your receipt for next time and customer service will add the points.
Online places have pride, but it means waiting for it to arrive. 
How quickly does your paint set, as I would be inclined to decommission the dining room in the evenings, move the tea facilities somewhere else and do a little bit over a few days. Unless the kitchen is also access to the garden.

Christmas meal sounds well planned 😁

savingwannabe

OMG i havent been on for a week i think and you have done so much. Bojo's announcement has changed so many people's plans - with any luck DS and DG will be able to help you to decorate. Well done on everything you have done. 

Skint_yet_Again

I usually only pay about £2.99 for oven pride. On amazon it’s £10.30 😱 I will wait until after Christmas as it’s only for the shelves. 

Yesterday I took a wardrobe apart from the utility room & DS’s gf helped me get it upstairs into the spare room & I put it back together. Today I just need to bring up the shelves from inside and then put all DS’s kit back in it. Hopefully no one will look inside 😆 Do buyers do that? I read an article saying tidy your cupboards & declutter your wardrobe, but I won’t be going as far as that! 

The utility room looks much larger now but there is still lots of decluttering to do. I’m not getting much decorating done due to the dog being here. We have to walk through the dining room to the kitchen & back door to the garden for dog to go out. I may be able to cordon off half the room after Boxing Day & fill / paint half the floor. 

DS’s gf has finally cleared some of their junk / washing from the kitchen table so we may be able to eat Christmas dinner off it after all 😐 The rest of the house is still a work in progress. 

Car insurance has renewed this month & the money is in my household bills account ready to pay off the credit card in January. I have posted all Christmas and birthday cards for December. Just waiting until after Christmas to do the final banking for December/ 2020. 

Skint_yet_Again

Just listing my progress / jobs still to do. Mostly it’s decluttering & cleaning. Some decorating which will cost a few £’s but I have enough money in the household bills fund to cover maintenance. Still not sure about the hallway. It’s the first thing people see when they enter the house & I would love it to look bright, clean, fresh & welcoming. 

KITCHEN/DINER 

• Paint floorboards dining room
  
• Wash kitchen lights
  
• Wash ceiling fan
• Finish washing coving, made a clean patch when filling a crack & now the rest looks grey 😆
• Degrease wooden cooker hood / extractor. Was planning to replace it this year with a modern stainless extractor, but not done due to covid & won’t bother now I am selling
• Clear/wash kitchen windowsill, always covered in stuff (paintbrushes drying, nails, screws etc out of way of the dog
• 2 spare dining chairs into loft (looks crowded with 6 chairs, better with 4. 
  
• Sand &Paint kitchen doorway wood surround / architrave (that dog chewed)
  
• Fix & stick kitchen blind 

✅Remove dog gate 

✅Remove gripper 

✅Remove carpet & underlay

✅kitchen ceiling Stain blocker

✅wine rack to tip

✅Sealant for cracks

✅fill holes & paint wall

✅Fill cracks near back door
✅fill crack in coving 

✅Paint kitchen/ diner

✅Paint radiator 

——————————————

BATHROOM 

-Paint chip in bath

-Grout pen between tiles, tiles are white the grout is not 😳 despite regular bleach cleaning 
-paint the wall where we replaced the shower, the case is smaller & you can see the different old paint colour around it

——————————————

BEDROOM 2
Painted & recarpeted before deciding to sell. 

-Paint small Patch of filler in one wall 

-Remove old co2 detector cover, fill holes & patch with paint. New detector stands on a shelf. 

-Put up picture 

——————————————
OUTSIDE

✅Weed front forecourt 

✅Fill cracks & paint bay

——————————————BEDROOM 3 (Spare room)

✅Double mattress 1 to tip

✅chop Bed base to tip

✅Headboard to loft

✅Bedside tables into loft

✅Single bed into room from loft 
✅Single wardrobe into room from utility room 
-Reshelve wardrobe & put DS’s stuff back in

—————————————
TIP / DECLUTTER 

-Dog Chair (armchair 1) to tip - this will be the last one to go just before we go on the market 

-Old parasol base to tip 

-Old plastic garden chairs to tip

✅Lounger to tip 

✅Old sofa to tip

✅Armchair 2 to tip

✅Tv stand to tip

✅Deck chairs to loft

✅Old monitor to tip

✅old mattress 2 to tip

✅Old parasol to tip

✅Dog pool to tip
✅2 old carpet remnants & unused lino roll to tip

————————————-

HALL
Clear hallway 

Paint hallway (?)

Paint hallway radiator 

Paint loft hatch - scratched with the pole used to lower the hinged hatch and pull loft ladder down & grubby
Rip up dirty cream carpet at bottom of stairs & lay vinyl tiles (?)

————————————-
RECEPTION ROOM / UTILITY 

Tidy Utility room (ongoing)

✅Fill crack in utility room 

Paint crack in utility room - still need to buy the paint 

—————————————

OTHER
-Woodstain extra coat hook DF made to match the rest of it
-Woodstain kitchen /diner door where dog scratched, still need to buy the woodstain 

MovingForwards

Yikes, that's a bit of a price difference. How about br1llo pads, means a lot more effort after soaking though.

Buyers would only look in things which are staying eg kitchen cupboards, built-in wardrobes, not furniture you will be taking / disposing when moving.

DS and GF have to step up, it's for their benefit. Grab some bin bags, put their stuff in it and deposit it into their room 😁

Get a tin of trade paint and do the hall, first impressions and all that. I wouldn't put vinyl anywhere aside from porch, kitchen and bathroom, hire a carpet cleaner.

You've done so much of the to do list 🤗

Irenadler

You are more than half-way done Skinty, that's terrific progress already. I am liking the bag up DS & GF stuff Babs!   

Getting the clutter out will be a huge achievement and I think that will have an impact on buyers, else they may think there's not enough storage and not 'there's too much stuff'.

I recall the old 'House Doctor' series on tv and the phrases 'kerb appeal', 'buyer's decide in a few seconds of walking in your door' & 'de-personalise your stuff', 'keep it light, airy and neutral' are spinning around my head, but you are doing all that already....

The American presenter also had 'thing' about pets e.g. wash the dog, clean the bedding, hide the free-ranging guinea pigs/rabbits/ferrets/aquariums, use scent diffusers/candles, so there is no D.O. (dog odour). She claimed to like pets, and had dogs, but apparently washed them/bedding often to stop that.... hmmmm. I am now eying up the dog critically....!  

Skint_yet_Again

I remember the house Doctor too Ren 😆 I’m paranoid about the house smelling of wet dog. I even asked the estate agent if the house smelled of dog. He said not & I would have expected him to be honest if he wants to sell it! Now the dining room/ dog room carpet has gone it’s so much easier to hoover / mop the floor. I was constantly hoovering the old carpet, sprinkling with bicarb to deodorise & spraying with dettol all in one disinfectant spray. 

The hallway carpet looks dirty every day when the dog comes in from muddy walks. Even if I hired a carpet cleaner it would look dirty the next day. Most of the mud hoovers off once dry but it never looks clean. The vinyl self adhesive tiles at b n q look like laminate but are water resistant & cheaper & easier to lay. Will have a think. It would be a pain to open the bifold garden gates every morning from the inside & take her in and out the back garden but we may have to consider it. 

Just about to complete bedroom 2 & 3 lists 😁

Skint_yet_Again

Happy Christmas Eve everyone 😊🎄

I wrapped DS & his gf’s few pressies last night using the wrapping paper I bought for pennies in the sales last December.  There are 2 rolls left so they will do for next year. I use pinking shears to make tags from pretty Christmas cards. Not sure that I will get any cards in the sales this year as I am not planning on going out again & most of the south will be in tier 4 lockdown from Boxing Day. 

Whatever your plans this year have a wonderful Christmas.
🎊🎁🎄🧑‍🎄🎄🎅🎄☃️🎄🎁🎉

Irenadler

Thanks Skinty! Have a great and fantabulous Christmas too, for you and yours (and the dog!)