Things you were really glad about in your new home

shortcrust

A permanent place to put things. My own garden. My own bath! Best of all, my ‘garden room’ (aka the back basement) which gets the sun from mid afternoon until sunset. A totally private place to sit in my pants, drink wine and sunbathe in a built up and very overlooked area.

DigForVictory

That we had a home that was ours, and that every single immediate family member (down to the 18 month old) liked.

With a proper garden, enough bedrooms for everyone to have one of their own (eventually), fully up to spec electrics, no ground rent to fret about, undisputed carparking, loads of potential (whilst still having the essentials solidy sorted), a downstairs loo (made potty training Much Easier!) & the revamped bathroom had a row of three sinks so every child could brush their teeth simultaneously (still blinking useful over a decade later).

We've still not made the most of the front room with its fireplace & parquet floor, and there is a bit of genteel bickering over improvements we could make to the kitchen (which I smile at, and repeat my decade-ongoing request for bookcasing) but its ours & as the lads gradually move out, we still have Space!

One lot of neighbours are complete honeybunches, the others have been variable but not stayed long enough to be a solid chore.

My husband has declared he will only move out in a coffin. Given his tools and models and projects - I may not hurry that day along. Just shifting the lathe to hoover takes two husky sons & it's up 2 flights of stairs, in the same room as the pool table (we lugged that lump of granite up - someone else gets the fun of moving it elsewhere.)

cloo

An extra loo was a godsend - my other half is given to fairly epic toilet sessions!


The other big bonus of the house was (after lots of building work) we got a spare bedroom so we can have au pairs, which has been a huge help because finding reliable 'wraparound care' after school is otherwise a nightmare.

RelievedSheff

Sydney, our little Schnoodle, was really happy that he had some grass to play on. We did have grass at the old house but the gardens were not secure so he couldn't go out and play in them. The new house has a lovely wall around the garden to keep him secure so he can play out there to his hearts content.






He wasn't happy when he had to stay off it for three weeks while it took hold after we had taken these pictures.

The grass was more of a surprise to him because it was just topsoiled when we moved in as the developers were struggling to get hold of decent turf at the time. They told us a date they were coming to lay the turf so we took the dog out for the day to get him out of the way. He came back to grass and was overcome.

SensibleSarah

I moved from a rented 3-bed into a much smaller, older and more run-down 2-bed when I bought - but having a garden of my own was very new and welcome - my pets thought so too!

Finchy2018

It's ours!! we no longer rent, or live on a boat that was at risk of sinking! It's our little haven - so much so, it's been 6 months and we've only had 1 friend round. It's our and it's where we escape from the world.

RelievedSheff

Finchy2018 wrote: »

It's ours!! we no longer rent, or live on a boat that was at risk of sinking! It's our little haven - so much so, it's been 6 months and we've only had 1 friend round. It's our and it's where we escape from the world.

Ha Ha! We have completely the opposite.

We have had more people come to stay with us in this house in the six months we have been in then ever stayed at the old house in 12 years we were there.

That said we don't mind as it is a much more sociable layout and there are enough bathrooms to go round in this one without getting in each others way :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Skiddaw1

hazyjo wrote: »

Same :rotfl: Took a while to remember lol. Still feels strange, like it's not really mine - like I've discovered some hidden room or something. Really don't think the novelty will end :laugh:

Snap!!


Having more than one bog has been a real game-changer for us. Like Cloo's husband, Mr S is a terror for spending forever in the toilet. Another game-changer has been having a dishwasher for the first time in my married life (no room in previous kitchen).

Skiddaw1

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

Is a few years since we moved into our palace, but at the time we had a tabby cat who trushed off, through the un kept yard and into the wilderness of the new estate! We heard noting from him for two days as we settled in. BoPsie got worried, and I mentioned he will be home when he is hungry. For two nights she was in tears shouting out his name, only for me on the third night to call him, and he duly ventured back, meowing his head off as he came home.

He didn't go far after that!

I'd have been beside myself... so glad the dear little soul came home. Our boy has only recently started to go outside in new garden and I confess to getting up at least once in the night to peer out for him. His favorite thing about the new house is discovering a whole new gang of mice who haven't yet wised up to the perils having a big fierce ginger beast around.

olgadapolga

The main thing? That it is OURS, not rented. NO more unwelcome "inspections", no more 24-hours notice of anything. We can let people into our home or not as we choose. NO more monthly payments for a house that just wasn't worth it (we own outright now).

That aside, colour. We have coloured walls instead of the bleached tones of the rental that we weren't permitted to change.

Nice carpets. The ones in the rental were on their way out when we moved in.

Lovely neighbours (we had one good one at the old place, the rest were a pain, ranging from motorbikes up and down the road at all times of the day - these were not used for actually going anywhere; there was one who did lots of things with wood and very noisy powertools; another neighbour was vocally very loud, her partner was just as bad, her two large dogs were worse and they were all much louder after an evening of drinking (why does drinking make people deaf and unable to hear themselves, let along others?). The new neighbours are delightful and we don't even know they are there.

A lack of dogs in the area. And cats. I haven't seen a cat since we moved which makes me happy (although I love cats) as it used to drive my husband crazy when they did unpleasant things in the garden.

No hot water tank. Hot water on demand.

A driveway with space for both the cars (plus room for others).

A bigger garage.

A downstairs toilet (although currently being renovated). Very important with a big family.

We're closer to the countryside.

Not so many seagulls and no geese. We used to live near a lake and could hear the seagulls and geese all of the time. We aren't near a lake so usually hear magpies and blackbirds with the odd passing seagull.

I could go on but the one thing that matters more than anything else is a much happier family. We hated being in the rental and it took us a long time to find our home. The rental never felt like a home but this house does.