Friday 29 January 2016

Falling out of love

When we moved in to this house, it was in a sad, unloved state. The couple who had owned it before were deeply unhappy and splitting up, so needed to sell. I don't think there had been much enthusiasm shown for the house for many a year.
It was our first house and we had a young daughter - 18 months. To us, this house was great. Lots of space, lots of potential, a great garden and wonderful neighbours. We also quickly realised that it was in easy walking distance of good schools, parks, shops, train station, doctors etc etc.
As our family grew, so did the house. We had one large extension to give us a fourth bedroom and extended living space downstairs, then a few years later, we went into the loft to give us another room (albeit not marketable as a bedroom, but useable as one nevertheless) and then finally, we added a conservatory on the back, which is a wonderful room to sit and relax in.
Every room has been redecorated, some multiple times, new kitchen, new bathrooms and there is almost nothing of the original house left now. All in all, this has been an excellent house and has served us very well for the last 22 years or roundabout.

Recently however, I seem to be falling out of love with the house. I'm not sure if this is because the dream of moving is finally becoming a possibility, or just because I spend too much time in it alone. Things have started to go wrong with the house, only small things really and all fixable, but they seem to be happening more often. Also, many of the rooms could probably do with redecorating, but I'm kind of hoping to get away with not doing it. Surely someone buying the house will want to redecorate anyway. Don't get me wrong, none of the rooms are bold colours - mostly white or soft cream, so there's nothing to put a new buyer off. I am super critical I suspect.

On my list of repair jobs:-
New door bell - done, I tried repairing it twice but it kept getting stuck on!
Replace flooring in understairs cupboard (the washing machine leaked and warped the particle boarding)
Replace mortar on the roof - done, by someone else :)
Clear out sheds
Replace shed roof (it leaks slightly)
Tidy garden (pruning and leaf clearing mostly)
Replace airing cupboard ceiling
Replace sealant in ensuite shower
Clean off grout in ensuite
Repaint ensuite
Realign the back door so it fits correctly in the frame (there's a gap at the bottom and sometimes it won't lock!)

There a lots of other even more minor jobs which need doing if we are going to put the house on the market, but these are the bigger things that might put a buyer off, so they need to get done first.

As I said, they are none of them huge jobs - I just need to get off my butt and get them done! I'm hoping that Mr D might be up for helping me with some of them at least. It's always so much better having a bit of company :)

I have just re-read this post. Oh dear, it sounds like a sorry state of affairs and makes me feel guilty that I'm not looking after our little house as it deserves, so I promise to get it all done by the end of March.

22 comments:

  1. Have you found a new home or are you 'trying the market' for the moment? I hope that everything falls into place! Jx

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    1. No we haven't looked seriously yet as we were waiting in another piece of the puzzle to fall into place. I look all the time though, via the Internet!

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  2. Your home sounds lovely and loved to me with what you have done of the years. Something always needs to be but yes I agree someone who comes to view will want to put their own stamp and mark on the place as long as its clean and tidy and theres is no major structure work to be done someone will fall in love with it like you did. Happy house hunting an exciting new chapter for you :-) dee x

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    1. You could certainly move straight in and it's a lovely house to live in, but obviously we'd like to get the very best price for it, so want to make sure people can't start quibbling! It will all get done I'm sure, I'm just putting it off!

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  3. There is always something to do in a house. As long as the house is VERY clean, people see right past small things as we have found that people always want to put their mark on a new home. I actually have a post scheduled for tomorrow about selling. This is our 14th house. And a lot of people ask us what they can do. So I have a little list. It could be of interest for you tomorrow?

    Good luck with selling! How exciting.

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    1. We have sold several houses and I would also agree about keeping the house clean. Also, we always packed away as much as we could before putting houses on the market, to create a sense of space and give buyers a better picture of where they would put their own belongings. It always seemed to work for us.

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    2. I'll take a look at your post tomorrow Sol - could be very useful! Fortunately I'm good at cleaning :)

      Susan, I don't have huge amounts of clutter, but over the years you grow immune to the stuff you have, so i'll need to look at it with fresh eyes!

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  4. Sometimes we do fall out of love with our home and it becomes a chore. A friend who is a realtor in the States told me to pretend we were going to sell our houseand to take photos as it is. We then did all those wee jobs you have just identified, painted the doors a completely different colour, cleaned the place to within an inch of its life and took more photos. Bingo-I fell in love with my wee bungalow all over again. My DH was delighted as he couldn't face the thought of moving. Good luck eith whatever you decide. Catriona

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    1. I like the idea of taking photos as if you were an estate agent. I may well try that to see what shows up and what items I need to remove to make it look more spacious. Thanks for the tip :)

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  5. The photos I've seen of your house in this blog look lovely to me. I like our house, the garden, the homely feel it has (needs updating as and when) but I hate our area with a passion. We live in between 2 coal mines which have both shut down, hence we're classed as a deprived area. No wonder I've become a bit of a recluse - I try and stay in my little piece of paradise as much as possible! Hubby was born and bred in Devon so I think he feels it more than me.One day we will move hopefully - when the youngest (22) moves out!

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    1. Thank you - it really has been a great house in which to raise my family :)
      What a shame you don't enjoy going out and about in your locality :( I was brought up in Devon - where was your hubby born?
      Keep dreaming about the move and it will happen! :)

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    2. He was born in Ruardene but then lived in Devon as a child up to about age 21 when he moved with me up north as we couldn't afford to buy in Devon. North Devon - Lewdown near Okehampton. His family are all still there. Luckily although im not keen on our immediate area, 5 mins by car and we're in lovely countryside, so not all bad!

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  6. It's surprising how many things you see are 'wrong' when you're thinking about selling the house and seeing it through a potential buyer's eyes. In our last house, we lived with problems which only got fixed just before the house went on the market. And we asked ourselves why we hadn't fixed them before? It sounds, perhaps, like you're emotionally letting go of your home in preparation to move on. The days are getting longer and the weather will be better soon which will inspire all of us to get on with jobs (I hope) x

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    1. I'm definitely ready to move on now. Although we have loved living here and it has suited us extremely well, I'm ready for a new chapter. I might ask someone else to walk through the house with dispassionate eyes to see if they notice things I havent.....
      The better weather would certainly help - I LOATHE January and February! :(

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  7. Sometimes when you are ready to move your ready.
    Not that you haven't loved your home it is just time to leave.
    Good Luck.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. I'm ready!! I just need to persuade daughter number three, my friends and my neighbours that it's the right thing to do!! Surprisingly, not everyone wants us to move away!! :(

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  8. Odd how homes become "not fit for purpose" as we change our lifestyles. We are in what we thought would be a "forever" house which, when we moved in, answered all my dreams. Now we find ourselves questioning that and even discussing where we would go and what sort of house/ apt we'd look for. It feels very unsettling!
    On a more cheerful note I have just used your recipe from Wednesday for Spiced Apple and Tomato Chutney. Thank you so much for sharing it. I can't eat malt vinegar so this was perfect and it is very tasty.
    Sue

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    1. I'm glad you liked the chutney. We don't use malt vinegar here either due to my daughter being coeliac. I've loved this house over the years because it has been almost perfect for raising my little family, but it doesn't fit with the way of life I now want to live and couldn't be changed to make it fit anymore either, so move we must. I'm excited but fearful!

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  9. But it's the small jobs that take more effort. If a roof fell off, you'd just get it fixed, but small niggly jobs can always wait.

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    1. ....and wait they are doing!! I WILL be them done, but I keep procrastinating :(

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  10. I always think it's best to just get up one day and start a job, don't give yourself time to think about it - just do it. It's the only thing that works for me.

    The photographing the rooms idea is a brilliant one, it will help you to see things through other eyes and get a good idea of what you need to do. Usually just a good declutter and a really deep clean will refresh most parts of the house. A few new striking cushions on the sofa with matching candles or cheap pictures can do wonders.

    When I had to stage my last house for sale after I had already moved out of it, I had all the carpets cleaned, gave everything a really deep clean and then I just went to Dunelm and bought all the above in co-coordinating bright colours. I only spent £100 but as the whole house was decorated very neutrally in creams and soft whites it really helped make an impact. The new things really stood out on the estate agents photos and the people buying the house asked if they could have all the accessories so it must have looked alright ... phew!!

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    1. It's the 'just getting on and doing' that I seem to be struggling with. I know I'll do it because I have to and it's not really like me to put things off, but I'm obviously having a phase! :(
      If I take photos, I can list before and after photos too, then everyone can advise if they like! :)

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