Tuesday 26 April 2016

My wish list

I've just returned from meeting up with an old friend and her sister-in-law. I was of course chattering on endlessly about the new house and land etc and showing them some photos we had taken. (I'm not going to post photos yet for fear of jinxing it!). My friend's sister asked me what my wish list had been going into this process, so here it is:-

My forever home

What will it look like? 
OUTSIDE:-
An older house, perhaps white rendered. Between an acre and two acres of land, mostly flat *
Views and the potential for a cottage garden *
Fruit trees/orchard * 
Chickens * 
Vegetable garden *
Polytunnel
Greenhouse * 
Barn/garage/workshop
Outside storage *
Water nearby? Walks from the doorstep *
A community close by, preferably within walking distance *
Solar panels if possible 

INSIDE:-
4/5 bedrooms * 
2 bathrooms *
Good sized kitchen *
Snug *
White walls/ soft colours
Wooden or tiled floors *
Pre-loved furniture
Cosy settees - throws and cushions
Quilts and eiderdowns
White bedding
Natural materials - wool/cotton
Wood burner *
Flowers from the garden in jugs
Rugs
Hand-made treasures
Aga/Rayburn *
Stable door *
Lots of storage *
Painted furniture
Fireplaces *
Soft green paint on the doors and woodwork outside
Beams
Utility room/boot room *
Pantry
Bookshelves
Interesting artefacts on display
Rocking chair
Stripey stair runner 
Cellar 
Hand knitted tea cosy

Everything marked with an * is already there, which isn't a bad  start!
The list was a verbal mood board for how I envisaged my next home. The beautiful farmhouse meets a large number of the criteria, but in particular the view, land, water nearby and old style house - all things you can't 'manufacture' or alter. Other aspects of the list can be additions and tweaks or I may in fact find that I don't care quite so much about some of the things after all....
Still keeping my fingers and toes crossed :) 

23 comments:

  1. It all sounds amazing, especially as so much is there already. I think you should prioritise and crack on with knitting that tea cosy sharpish. ;-) x

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    1. He he! I would if I had the faintest idea where to start! I've only managed to knit in a straight line so far and even that wasn't great !

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  2. Wendy Power hasn't finished knitting her tea cosy but has a pattern I'm sure she'll let you have. X

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  3. Well, I think you and I would get on like a house on fire. I can take 22 from your wish list that were on mine! I am soo pleased for you. Mine wasn't a knitted tea cosy but a brown teapot and I have one of those, too! You truly have happened upon happiness.x

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    Replies
    1. I love those brown teapots, but as I already seem to have 4 teapots, it would be a tad silly to add another!
      I feel as if that house might just be my next stage of happiness..... :)

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  4. Idyllic, the only difference for me I like to be a little further out.

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    1. I had to compromise a bit for Mr D, so we are within walking distance of a pub and a bus stop into the nearest town, which is three miles away. There are some other houses within spitting distance too which will be good if he is working away from home a lot.

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  5. Great wish list, like you say the other bits can be added to make a house a home, or you might find that once you are settled they change for other things still working on my list 2 years in :-)

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    1. Yes, I imagine we need to live there for a while to work out what is actually needed before I start acquiring too many 'wants'. Looking forward to it though :)

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  6. Wonderful !
    I think The must-haves you did get are terrific.
    For me it would have to have no stairs or I would have to build a lift.

    cheers, parsnip

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. My neighbours have a stair lift now - it's perfect for them and should hopefully mean they can stay in their house for much longer.

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  7. Looks very much like my list, I hope it all goes through and you can start ticking off all the things not already there. It will be so exciting!

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    1. I know, it's so nerve wracking - trying not to get excited and plan and yet wanting to imagine myself there already! How are you getting on? I guess you'll update as and when there's news ... :)

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  8. What is still on your wish list will be easily attainable over time. Good luck to you.

    God bless.

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  9. A really good wish list, and seeing that you already have so much of it already in this new house is a brilliant start.

    Our wish list was much simpler .... a house of any description with 2/3 bedrooms and around 5 acres to include woodland and water. We got everything except the water, but then we ended up in North Wales so we get more than enough rain to compensate for that ;-)

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  10. I am really excited for you. fingers crossed

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  11. I think that's a wonderful wish and similar to my own :-) Hope the plans are still all going through well, dee x

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  12. It was really lovely to meet you, I can't believe it was so many weeks ago already! Life has been full on and I don't always have internet, but I finally found a few moments to sign up to your blog site and enjoyed looking at your wish list. It all looks very familiar to my own mental wish list but I must add the Internet as realised how I can't live without it! As for your situation right now I'm keeping everything crossed and looking forward to hearing when your move date is. Then you will have to think about working on your white walls and soft colours. Good luck and looking forward to visiting!

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