Not only did I have to do that grown up thing of keeping my house, and all of it's books balanced. If it did fall down around me, I was solely responsible! For a girl that has previously lived in student digs, caravans, squats and sub lettings this was a monumental deal. I also had the added, but very welcome, responsibility of making a snug forever home for three little boys.
My good friend Clive's advice was one room at a time only....now that is fantastic advice, and I had every intention of following it. The house (OK, and me) had other ideas. I will do separate posts in time, for some of the more intense tasks we have carried out and some of the minutiae, and some of the messes Ive managed to create....I love wrecking stuff, but am not so methodical about putting it back together! So much so that Dave's mantra is 'i'll get changed' as he can see that I may require some ahem...'assistance'. The poor man is exhausted!!
In order to stop this feeling of being overwhelmed and slightly insane. Ensuring the house was somehow habitable. Along with bridging the chasm of what the house was, and what one day, I aim for it to be. I started to keep a list, in a special house-list book.
I've always kept lists, these lists morph into different lists with sub categories, I lose lists, I add things to them that I've done, so that I can immediately tick it off (yup, that helps with a self-righteous feeling of accomplishment), Dave & Dad even add to these lists now. Essentially, I feel a good list can make an uncertain world far less chaotic!
I am now going to subject you to a list. I do hope you can stick with it to the end
This list is titled:
'THINGS WE'VE DONE IN THE HOUSE 2015-16'
- Sanded floors upstairs
- Woodworm treatment
- Replaced bathroom floor and reinforced joists
- Taken up hideous carpets
- Painted 3x bedrooms, skirts and window frames
- Deep cleaned upstairs
- Put curtain poles upstairs and downstairs
- Mended stairs in landing
- Plastered hole in landing wall
- Stained floorboards upstairs
- Renewed and moved boiler system to a new Combi upstairs
- Cleared cellar and all junk from downstairs in house
- Changed kitchen lights
- Changed cooker (this entailed repairing an amazing range cooker I was given)
- Removed defunct cooker hood
- Had 2x chimneys swept
- Changed gas and electricity from key meters to monthly payments
- Took dividing wall out between 'Barry White's sauna' room and bathroom
- Moved bathroom door and blocked up ' BW's sauna' room door
- Took hideous tiles off bathroom walls
- Took old hideous bathroom set out of bathroom
- Fitted waste pipe and plumbing
- Got water into bathroom
- Mended down pipe
- Moved toilet
- Plumbed in new bath, sink and shower
- Tiled shower
- Mended walls and replastered bathroom
- Mended & sealed bathroom window (after it blew out)!
- Painted sitting room and made it a bit cosy
- Painted gates
- Rebuilt stone pillar out the back
- Got rid of outside toilet
- Cleared junk pile from garden
- Chopped down rogue trees
- Took dividing fence down
- Added a herb patch
- Put some new plants in
- Put window into small workshop, made stable door for it
- Plastered and painted small workshop inside and out
- Painted back garden gate
- Cleared mile-a-minute and brambles from garden
- Put the house name back up on the wall
- Installed internet and sky
- Had new beams and roof put on house & porch
- Chimneys on house capped and rounded off
- Flashing on house & porch all renewed
- Chimneys & porch mended and painted
- Old ariel taken down
- Guttering on house repaired
- New roof, guttering and velux on the red shed
In two days time we will have been in the house for one whole year. When I read through this list, I think we've done pretty-bloody-well. Especially as we are doing these things in spare time and on a very limited budget. We've had weekends and evenings when we've broken ourselves, matted our hair with plaster dust and drank too much wine on a school night to ensure we find it all amusing, but the house is so much better than it was. Drying out, warm, and we can have a shower. Viva la list
What more could a girl ask for! xx
Midnight face masks and wine in the garden after a day doing DIY
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