When I hit 29 I finally grew up and bought this house

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The day I completed on my house and walked through the front door for the very first time

It’s funny how writing a blog makes you look back at your life and think WTF were you thinking! Since I turned 18 through to the age of 30, I have moved home every year. University squalors in Birmingham, London, Harpenden, Northampton, and even when I lived in Germany, I moved apartments half way through my ‘time’ there. I've now calculated that to be 11 house moves in my twenties and most of these moves were managed by squeezing all my worldly belongings in the back of my car. This was until I moved to Frankfurt and I had 1 month fill a shipping container with furniture I had to quickly buy for the move, as for the first time in my life, I was moving somewhere unfurnished.

Approaching 30, time to grow up

I brought all these belongings (and more!) back home to England in 2013 when I had a little wobble about soon turning 30 and decided it was time to get a mortgage and spend less money on holidays, going out and what I thought was all the fun stuff in life. I had been putting it off for as long as possible as I literally thought my life would change and I'd become boring. Oh Katie, if only you knew back then that your interior funsies and faffing would take over and you soon wouldn’t give a shit about going out, and actually you’d prefer to stay in and spend your money on paint, pictures, candles and cushions!

I bought a new build

I had no idea where to buy, what I could afford, or what I really wanted. So I went back to live with Mum for a month until I had a plan! I listened to her advice and didn’t over stretch, or take on a big renovation project and did what I thought I would never do. I bought a new build. And honestly, it was the best decision. I had a perfect blank canvas to make my own and I didn't have to worry about the scary stuff like electrics or plumbing. Instead, I made holes in all the perfect walls to hang heavy animal heads and other random crap and painted most rooms various shades of grey. I was obsessed with grey.

This house gave me confidence. I knew what I liked and I had so much fun painting each room and buying treasure to make it my home.

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I always need a floor plan

I always go straight to the floor plan on Right Move when I look at houses as it drives me mad looking at photos and not being able to visualise in my head how they flow from one to another, and also when you’re being deceived by some clever photo trickery. So if you’re like me and like to nosey around a floor plan, here it is. It’s my perfectly formed, slightly generic, generous 3 bed semi and my first ever proper home. Walking into this unusually large kitchen-diner sold the house to me and I knew I would have the best parties and Christmas dinners in here. I think I’ve come to accept I buy on emotion!

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 “I live with a Boy”

Will asked to move in whilst eating a Burger King on a Ryan Air flight back from Ibiza where we had just spent a week with all our friends celebrating a 30th birthday. I was broken and it wasn't the romantic gesture most people get, but it was one of the loveliest moments of my life. I was so happy I cried, screamed and caused everyone around us to join our celebrations. I genuinely wasn’t expecting it, but I was so excited for our new life. I soon realised that nothing really changed from our current set up where he lived in London 4 nights a week and stayed with me every weekend. I just had to now give him some drawers, a section of the wardrobe, accept more sport would be on the TV, and allow boy stuff around the house.

He moved in and took over. And brought way too many video games, gadgets and sports memorabilia with him. And convinced Stanley to watch football!

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I liked a filter

My early Instagram days included the odd home snap on my personal page every couple of months. Funnily enough, home photos wasn’t a thing back then and I don’t think my friends gave a shit about a random interior photo with a dodgy filter and terrible lighting. No one liked them, not even the photo of my gallery wall. Literally zero likes! So I gave up and kept my instagram account to photos of us, family, friends, Stanley, holidays, beaches, sunsets - all the same same but slightly different stuff. I wouldn't start taking house photos again until 2018 when I finally decided to join the instagram interior community.

It all happened by accident

We were happy in this house and life was great. We always kept an eye on Right Move to see what was coming on the market but our search criteria went beyond Northampton to other towns that would work for both our commutes. By complete chance, Will stumbled upon a house just around the corner from us that caught his eye. I wasn't keen at all, but we went for a viewing. I’ve never felt emotion like the feeling we had when we left that viewing and knew we had found our forever house. I’ll carry on this part of the story in another blog post….

The big blow just as we decided to move

We had a huge burglary in my house and lost everything we owned of value just as we decided to move. And I mean everything. Gadgets, jewellery, TVs, laptops, the crap out of the drawers you never use, my cheap fake sunglasses and even our DUVET! Obviously these thieving buggers didn't understand value in Ercol furniture so they didn't touch these. Idiots. But I was very grateful for that, thank you! It was a horrible thing to happen to us but it taught us that everything can be replaced, brought us closer together through the tears (mine) and the anger (both of us), helped us appreciate the value of good insurance and it meant I wasn’t the emotional wreck we were all expecting and fearing when we moved out. Phew!

5 years later and I realised I actually did nothing to the front garden other than let it over grow. The only changes are my hair colour and the sky satellite cable which Will forced us to install when he moved in!

Next house on the next blog post…..if you’re still with me….

Loves all round.

Katie x

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