Crying, there’s a lot of crying…
It won’t be long till we’ve been in this flat for two years. It’s home and I love it, although it hasn’t always been that way. With Mark being a bit of a DIY-enthusiast, me being hard to please in the interior department and funding-wise we knew that our first proper place would be one that needed a bit of TLC. We were up for getting our hands dirty and two years down the line although things still aren’t exactly complete, I would happily do it all over again. Through re-wiring, new boilers, walls, carpets, kitchen refits, sanding, painting, wallpaper stripping and plenty of tears, we’ve ended up with a flat that’s pretty lush if I say so myself. If you fancy the challenge, here’s a few things I learnt through the process…
Despite the fact you decided to buy a ‘doer-upper’ you will become enticed by a perfectly finished flat that looks like it’s from the pages of ELLE Decoration and become giddy at the prospect of moving your stuff in one day and being able to Instagram your perfectly accessorised shelving unit the next. Been there, done that, made the offer (that was thankfully rejected).
Whilst you’re waiting for paperwork to go through don’t drive past your almost-purchased new place because it will start to look like an overgrown mini-forest that would be perfect for a witch to move in to and you will have a mini sob when you get round the corner.
Whilst we’re on the topic of sobbing, there will be a lot of it. Be fully prepared that in your supposedly joyous ‘keys in the air – WE GOT A HOME!’ picture that your face will be red and blotchy from the fact that you had a meltdown about three minutes after putting the key in the door.
Oh yes and you will hate your new home at various different points. I remember telling Mark in a supermarket car park that I hated our flat, that we’d made a terrible mistake and even when it’s finished I’ll still hate it (Mark is such a trooper). Of course, almost two years later we’re still not finished and I bloody love it. I’ll have to be dragged out of here one day kicking and screaming.
All those things that you say that you hate and must be removed immediately when you move in? Yeah, sometimes it takes a while and after a couple of months years, you don’t even notice that there’s a cat flap in the window above the bathroom sink or carpet in the toilet *shudders*.
Decorators/plumbers/kitchen fitters/electricians/plasterers are the busiest people on earth and are often booked up months in advance. We learnt that one the hard way. I’ll never forget enquiring about a decorator in July and being told that they were booked up until December.
You will grossly overestimate how much work you will do yourselves. We had about two months-worth of weekends to strip the walls of the flat of what felt like 24 layers of wallpaper before the plasterers could get in and then we could paint it, whilst also trying to coordinate a move, kitchen refit and buy furniture (we had none!). When people offer to help – make them a cuppa and take them up on it.
Back on the subject of crying again – I know, I promise if we ever do this again I’ll be a bit more prepared and have a better grip on my tear ducts – you will cry in front of kitchen fitters, plasterers, whoever happens to be in the room at the time. Basically, have tissues on hand at all times.
Keep your old place for as long as you can’t without it being a huge pain in the balls financially. We ended up having our old flat in London and the new place at the same time for almost 8 weeks and it meant that things could (kinda) get sorted before we moved our stuff in. I mean, the place was empty and we had no carpets – but it was (kinda) better than what we could have started with.
Takeaways are life. Also, in lieu of a dining room table, packing boxes make for an excellent, high-end dining experience.
Photos by Lauren Shipley
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