Beautiful:
Sunday 24 March 2013
Gift ideas
So Christmas just gone I gave all of my female relatives the same gift (we just bought a house and so money was tight) I looked around for affordable presents but ended up making baileys and chocolate portions. Approximately £2.50 a gift. I'm sure the gifts could be used as presents for a birthday also.
House warming presents
So I got a few lovely house warming presents. We received a Noritake porcelain 6 piece tea set. Which is not only lovely but is in my favourite colour. It is a china company made in Sri Lanka (my husband is Sri Lankan) and so I was very touched by it.
Lovely lilies from friends have pride of place in our hallway in our floor to ceiling window:
Living it and loving it
Right, so I have been gone for a while. This was due to buying a house (see below) which is no easy task as those of you who are homeowners will know. Plus my design business has been going through a busy period. I can only describe the last few months as 'living it and loving it'. Living the dream I have for myself and loving it all at the same time. I can honestly say life is in a good place.
Things to remember when buying a house:
1. Do your research - you cannot research enough. Into the background of the land, the history of the area, whats local and what not, what are the schools like, what are the crime stats (compare this to a similar sized area).
2. Don't be afraid to ask questions - no matter how silly you think they are. We bought a new build and so had a lot of questions for the builders sales team - who gave nothing away.
3. Use your own solicitor not the builders recommended one - this was a mistake we made and we had to do a lot of work ourselves.
4. Have reserve funds for the extras you don't account for. Probably about 2% of the asking price.
5. Visit the area a lot to get a feel for it, talk to neighbours and people locally.
So because we bought a new build we got a blank canvas. So we needed to buy everything from curtain tracks to carpets to flooring. I'll share with you some of the things we bought so far and the mood boards I have been creating for each room. Would love to know your thoughts.
New house - we moved in the weekend it snowed real bad:
And here are the curtains and sofas:
Laura Ashley - Josette Dove Grey Curtains.
DFS - Country Living range
Things to remember when buying a house:
1. Do your research - you cannot research enough. Into the background of the land, the history of the area, whats local and what not, what are the schools like, what are the crime stats (compare this to a similar sized area).
2. Don't be afraid to ask questions - no matter how silly you think they are. We bought a new build and so had a lot of questions for the builders sales team - who gave nothing away.
3. Use your own solicitor not the builders recommended one - this was a mistake we made and we had to do a lot of work ourselves.
4. Have reserve funds for the extras you don't account for. Probably about 2% of the asking price.
5. Visit the area a lot to get a feel for it, talk to neighbours and people locally.
So because we bought a new build we got a blank canvas. So we needed to buy everything from curtain tracks to carpets to flooring. I'll share with you some of the things we bought so far and the mood boards I have been creating for each room. Would love to know your thoughts.
New house - we moved in the weekend it snowed real bad:
And here are the curtains and sofas:
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