Follow the Yellow Brick Road 2023

savingholmes

Everyone has their own way of doing it - but it's far easier to buy a new duvet for example than repaint the wall!

SandyShores

Totally agree @savingholmes, its much easier (and cheaper) to swap out the soft furnishings.  I'd like a light grey or a 'shade' of white on all of the walls.  We used to have a house where we had different colours on the walls, but our white house was so much easier.  If you wanted to touch up a patch there was just one tin of paint - in our other house there seemed to be so many paint tins and none seemed to be the right one

I'm going to start with the soft furnishings first, just in case I decide that the shade of paint isn't needed.  Also any painting will be planned for the spring with more light available and windows able to be opened.  So Winter will be soft furnishing galore.

LadyWithAPlan

I actually love bright coloured walls - I don't have a white room anywhere My bedroom I even made my own pattern using metallic paints on a feature wall! 
I also have v bright one off pieces of  furniture -  - but I can see why some people enjoy the minimalist whites and greys - each to their own

savingholmes

HI @LadyWithAPlan
My house isn't minimalist - as I have so many of mostly my own paintings up - and my furniture is very brightly coloured - I just prefer a clean backdrop - as I can't cope with too much visual noise. The space around the painting becomes the negative space that makes the painting or curtains or quilt pop etc.

SandyShores

Started off the month with a £100 premium bond win - always a good start.  It means we've now won £300 this year - very nice thank. you.  Doing a very rough calculation that's over 4% interest which I'm really happy about, and the possibility of a larger win is always there too.

Adjusted the mortgage outstanding figure to take account of the repayment for October.  We've been investing in some work outside and we'll finish paying for that next month, so the overpayments will start again in December.  I'm looking forward to getting those going again and seeing the equity go up.  We are still on track to own 40% equity by the time we need to remortgage which seems to attract the best mortgage rates.  I've just read that N@tionwide are offering 4.99% which will hit the overpayments but will be manageable if all stays the same.

Its been great starting to get some proper window treatments up.  It is really lovely to add more colour to the rooms.  I'm going to buy some curtain poles this month, and a roman blind rail.  Curtains/blinds for three windows have been chosen already and I'm even thinking about colour on the walls.  I do like the minimalist look, and I especially like clean surfaces, but I also like to feel cosy - I think it will be a mix of the two if that's possible.  

savingholmes

It sounds like you are progressing well with making the place reflect your tastes and feel more like home.

Good news on the equity. That's great going.

foxandflowers

@SandyShores - I'm just curious, but what was the 0.5 of a book you read? 

I have a house at the moment that is a mishmash of "white" shades that are awfully yellowed from years of nicotine stains thanks to the previous owner. When I'm at the point of taking off the manky wallpaper and redecorating properly, my bedroom will be pale orange, my kitchen sage green, and my office pink and pale yellow... I'm a big fan of colour. We lived in a new build a couple of houses ago, and I felt utterly stifled in the white and grey box. 

SandyShores

Hi Fox and Flowers, those colours sound lovely.  We used a lot of colours in our first few houses and then in our last one which was a really old cottage with an extension we had white everywhere with beams and stone floors, and wooden doors and so on.  It felt so lovely and peaceful.  I have been thinking about colours lately but first I am going to buy all of the curtains I've chosen and see how I feel.  The book I started is called Cringeworthy - its about uncomfortable situations and its very interesting https://amzn.eu/d/7VSM4KZ .  You've reminded me to start reading it again.  I picked up my kindle the other day and it was part way through a novel so I started to read where it was left off - I'm enjoying it but as I'm reading it I'm starting to wonder if I have actually read it before and have somehow rewound the pages.  I definitely need to get a grip on reading these books.

SandyShores

Completely forgot about the goals I posted at the start of this journey.  Its nice to know that I've definitely been making progress on all of them, but good to refocus.  Definitely some decluttering needed this weekend.

1. Spiritual / Personal Growth / Inner Peace
2. Financial
3. Career
4. Learning
5. Physical Health
6. Family / healthy work-life balance
7. Social
8. Environment e.g. decluttering your space

SandyShores

I managed to do a bit of decluttering and already gifted one item, with another box full to donate.  For the next few weeks I'm going to focus on our finances as I've been overspending, and whilst its all affordable I want to start being more frugal again.  Another challenge for me is to have a wearable wardrobe.  I've resolved to be more responsible when it comes to buying clothes and to think about the environment/landfill.  Although I've got a full wardrobe/drawers, I tend to live in the same jeans with a top and cardi, and the same for work just with trousers.  So there's lots that can go, and some of that can go on Vinted too.  I feel like those are good goals for the next couple of weeks.