MF by Christmas 2024 - let's do this!

Watty1 · 12 October at 11:51AM

greent said:

There is a house about 2-3 streets away that had its drive done in resin maybe 6/7 years ago and it still looks immaculate - I need to knock on their door and ask them who did it!

Absolutely as i am so disappointed in the one I pass (I am quite invested in this LOL). Thanks Suffolk Lass for the link. My driveway is my next 'big' job.

Coxy11 · 20 November at 3:18PM

Gosh it’s been a while! Time for another update but firstly, thank you to those who have commented regarding a resin driveway. That idea is on hold as honestly we have better things to spend our money on right now. DH is also hankering after doing the double garage floor as well. Erm well it’s currently just used for storage with racking around two sides, plus a work bench, some boxes of kids uni stuff and two wardrobes from our old house with outdoor wear/Vinted things in. Not sure I’m wanting to ‘make the floor look nice’ when we have gross carpets still in our house!!

We lost a few weeks of house/garden progress as DH injured his back at work and was unable to move about much. Glad to report he’s now back to full fitness and taking it easy/being more mindful when lifting items….

Onto the update:

DD’s bedroom - Vanity unit sink area has been tiled with plain white tiles I sourced from FBMP for £10. We have vinyl stickers in various leopard print styles which will go on once DH has grouted this area. DH also installed a fab new back lit mirror.
DS2’s bedroom – Desk, chest of drawers and storage cubes all listed and sold on FBMP. Just need to source wall hooks for guitars and some shelving.
Family bathroom – Finished!! DH installed the new radiator (before injuring his back…) and filled/rubbed down a couple of hairline cracks in the ceiling. I then painted the walls and ceiling white x 2. Looks fab.
Lounge – was two shades of putty (just so awful) with green curtains over French doors and two big windows. Decided in a fit of pique to paint it white so that it looked cleaner for Christmas(!). Took three coats to cover the putty colour in the end and nearly broke me, but looks much better. I took down the curtains and washed them (took 6 loads as they are so huge). They now smell fresh and are up apart from one pair where the curtain cord has snapped. I’ve ordered some new cord from Etsy and should receive it in the next few days. Dark wood shelving has been taking down, rubbed down and painted today with some leftover Frenchic in Smudge (dark grey). They will need a second coat and then will go back up for the time being. We plan to do this room in the Spring with a log burner, some plastering over one wall/stippled ceiling, new wall lights, shutters on the windows and a wood floor.
Hallway/Stairwell/Landing – plan to paint this white over the next week or so. Currently an awful minty green with terrible handprints up the stairs where the previous owners clung on going up and down. It’s actually not all that bad in terms of surface area so hope to start this on Sunday.
Garage doors – Original cedar doors from when the house was built in the 1980’s are falling to bits and previous owner had attempted some repairs, Heath Robinson style with cardboard and gaffer tape. They are really manky, don’t lock and are too heavy for me to operate. We have had a quote for new, automated doors which is coming in at just over £10k. We are moving ahead with this – yes it’s a lot of money but they are the first thing you see as you drive up to the house, are not secure and probably won’t last another Winter.
Front door – Current door is wooden with gross leaded picture which in all honestly I think the previous owners’ grandchildren designed as it looks like something from a Mr Men book. All multicoloured houses and trees in a cartoon style. We have had a quote for a composite door and two side panels in medium oak colour which will match the new garage doors (they are perpendicular to each other and slightly apart, so a slight difference in colour/finish won’t show). The quote is £2.8k which we are moving ahead with.
Garden - All bagged up compost from the legacy heap now distributed on front garden beds. Still need to dig out and bag up the remaining 2/3rds but I can’t do it alone and DH was incapacitated. I have been busy sweeping/mowing up leaves and taking them to the tip (6 trips with c.25 bags at a time) as our two garden waste wheelie bins get full very quickly and are only emptied fortnightly. Thankfully the leaf loss is now at a minimum so once more around the garden with the mower should suffice. In future years we hope to compost the leaves but need to start the compost from scratch again and have two separate sections – one ‘cooking’ and the other being used.
Premium Bonds for November netted us £400. May be cashing some of these in very soon – see above expenditure.
I have signed up to an app called Sprive where you get cashback towards your mortgage. Currently have £20.68 to pay off but can’t do so until April as have already made max overpayments for this year. Using this to purchase Christmas gifts.
I started a part time role with a friend of my sister’s this week. Have done 10 hours this week and hope to do max 15 a week from now on. Waiting to hear when they want me next week.
Mortgage statement received yesterday and balance standing at £22,582.98

Think that’s it for now!