Our home and building tales.

Since buying our home over three years ago now we’ve done lots of different renovations to the house. It’s been a great journey where I have learnt so many new skills and found out about an odd assortment of new terms that I wouldn’t normally of come across.  It’s taken up lots and lots of time and of course the inevitable large chunk of our savings. The best part about our house was that it was one of those rare houses that needed doing up. When I viewed the house the agent even started by saying ‘oh you probably won’t like this one but I’ll show it to you anyway’. She wanted to show me something that needed loads of work and then another one which was the finished article and that you could just move into without doing a thing.

As soon as I saw my little house, as run down, smelly and in need of alot of tender loving care, I knew it was the one for me. I often hear people say that they know they loved a house as soon as they walked into it and this was exactly how I felt with this one.

The garden was huge in comparison with what we had been used to and the bigger the boys were getting, the more space they needed.

There was room for improvement and on the back of the house there was a rickety old lean-to that was being held up by cobwebs and not much else! There were old doors on the back and steps down into the lean-to. The ground floor was all pretty dark.

Dark room and lean-to needed improvement!

Our idea was to have this knocked down and build a conservatory on the back to massively increase the family space on the ground floor.

Our home and building tales.
Concrete floor poured and the plaster is up.

When we were planning to have the conservatory built there were so many different options when it came to areas like what type of roof we should have, should we go for our French doors or bi-fold doors, should we go for under floor heating or double radiators. The list seemed endless but we learnt so much from that process that we feel far better prepared for our next big project.

One of the key things I learnt was to be prepared! Prepare to invest in my property, prepare myself by researching products and prepare to have a certain amount of upheaval for the family while work is being carried out. No pain no gain!

Our home and building tales.

There have been ways to reduce the cost of a lot of our items and that was by looking around to see the best deal we could get. I was so surprised by the difference in quotes from the sales people who came around.

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The patient part of our partnership has to be my other half, he has the patience to take in all of the little details whereas I tend to rush in and get over excited by the first good idea.

Our final design was great and had all of the elements we had on our wish list apart from one which was under floor heating! My other half still has to wear his slippers and if we had to do it all again and change anything then it would probably would be that.

 

We are moving on to looking at the loft next and moving upwards to converting it. I’ve started a pinterest board on it if you want to have a look at some of the ideas, also I would love some recommendations or ideas. If you have some I would love to hear from you.

Have you started any renovations recently or have experiences you’d like to share?

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18 thoughts on “Our home and building tales.”

  1. I know the best way to get more for your money is to get a doer upper so this is kind of my dream but I’d be scared at the same time that circumstances could change at any time and we’d be left living on a building. It’s mine and hubs best chance of being able to upsize though. Love what you’ve done so far.

    #KCACOLS

    1. Thanks Cassie, I did see another one that needed so much work that I just couldn’t face it, it would of been too much to do.

  2. Looks like it’s coming on well at the moment lovely! We are going to be adding an extension ina couple of years! So excited. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time

  3. How exciting! I fell in love with our house the first time we viewed it too. Most of the work was done but it needed some cosmetic work. We changed the en suite in the master bedroom and we’ve landscaped the back garden into a child friendly area. Love reading about others houses, I’m so nosey! The conservatory looks like it will make the world of difference to you. #KCACOLS

  4. We are house hunting and while I don’t mind a bit of work, I just can’t face a big project. Love the idea of making something your own though and I always think loft conversions are a fab idea! #kcacols

  5. Looks like it is all coming along nicely. I would love to have underfloor heating, definitely on my wishlist for my dream house lol.
    #fortheloveofBLOG

  6. Oh I’m at the beginning of a huge home project and it’s so daunting! You have done so well….I love your conservatory and would be interested to see how this progresses. I’ve liked some of your Pinterest boards. I have so many….I’m forever pinning things I like! Now I need to get on and make choices about kitchens, bathrooms, flooring…the list is endless and exciting! Good luck and if you would like, check out my Pinterest boards. Xx #bloggerclubuk

    1. Hi Sophie and thanks for your comments. I will definitely have a look at your Pinterest boards, I love all the different ideas there are out there.

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