We are in!

I actually can't quite believe I am typing those words, it feels quite surreal after over 2 years living in my Dad's barn (thank you Dad!) and 2 years of hard-graft house renovating. But we are indeed, in! Jon has been living here for a few months already, but with the arrival of me at the beginning of December, plus all my junk and of course, Maisie the cat, it is now official.

Also, yesterday we got the best news...we finally have building control sign off! The surveyors have visited us at various key points during the process to check everything, but now we have received their certification it means they have deemed all the building work safe and our insurance is finally valid (we have actually been nervous wrecks for a long time now, as if anything had happened to the house, we wouldn't have been covered). Time to have a fire in our log burner!

Although we are in, inevitably there is still more to do! I guess we are now in a similar place to everyone else though, where those things can gradually be ticked off, rather than requirements for habitation. Also, we have pretty much run out of money to buy outstanding furniture and homeware bits and bobs (but thank you kind family for your generous Christmas gifts), so I am just going to have to be patient while the rooms still don't look exactly as I would like them. Facebook marketplace has been amazing though. I have bought a temporary desk, a huge wicker basket which I am converting to hide Maisie's litter tray, a dresser and stool, a chest of drawers and many nick knacks.

I am aware that listing out the following info may seem like a less-than-subtle to-do list for Jon (and me!), but it's also to clarify what I mean when I say there's still loads to be done. I am so proud of where we have got to though, and even more impressed with Jon's renovation/DIY/building skills and the learning curve he's been on (still can't quite get my head around the fact he single-handedly did our loft conversion, with those crazy huge steels). We have had to deal with a lot of stress, and wanted to kill each other at times, but we got there eventually and now have a lovely little house to show for it.

Lounge. It has been so lovely getting some normality back, cuddling up together on our new sofa and watching 'Cheers' (Jon's choice). This room is finished now except we would like to buy an armchair to seat more people, also some lamps (got to make use of all Jon's dimmer sockets!), a mirror, a new lampshade for the main pendant (Jon got the current one from a site he was working on and it's a bit shabby!) and there's always room for more tat!

We also need to work out what to do with the windows, as we are living with temporary privacy plastic on them at the moment. Unfortunately the window supports are hollow, so we can't attach curtain rails or blinds to them.

*Since this photo was taken, our coffee table-top has returned, beautifully repaired and sanded back by Jon's Dad.

Kitchen. We were able to host a few dinner and drink sessions before Christmas, making good use of the ceiling speakers (I am slightly terrified by how much sound travels through our neighbours walls) and I'm getting used to cooking on the convection hob.

We need to cut and fit the cabinet bottoms and cover the boiler pipes, and at some point we have some lovely hexagonal marble tiles to make a splash-back all the way along the wall above the kitchen worktops, but we can live without that for a bit.

We also want to replace the round table for a slimline rectangular one to make better use of the space and need to cut the legs off the island stools so you can actually fit comfortably underneath the worktop.

*Stunning paintings by our dear friend Paul Bennett/O'Leary.

My 'office' room/the spare bedroom. This is technically finished, but is definitely not quite how I envisaged it looking just yet! It is a mess. Currently it hosts drying clothes, half a dozen of Jon's boxes and Maisie's litter tray and cat tree...and my work station. At some point we will buy a sofa bed for in here and sort it out, as it is not the most sophisticated of zoom call backdrops or an inspiring place to spend 9 hours a day!

Front bedroom. Finished, just need to fix the air vent cover over the hole and buy a mirror and some art to make it feel more lived in.

Bathroom. Jon surprised me once by turning on the underfloor heating ready for my shower time while he was still at work (got to love technology). But it's only happened that once! When it was on I got the urge to lie down on the tiles and roll around on them, they were so warm! I've only had one bath in there so far. I felt rather tiny in such a large tub. Unfortunately we are getting bad damp on one of the walls in here though, so need to figure out where that is coming from, fix it and then repaint...Noooooo!

Downstairs toilet. Still loving this 'room'! And because it's so small it's always nice and warm. The water to the sink isn't connected at the moment though, we need to put in a splash-back first to prevent our lovely wallpaper from being ruined.

Attic room. Finished! Just some final home furnishings needed.

Hallways/stairs. We are waiting for another carpet fitter to do the carpets in these areas (hopefully soon as I am stepping on viciously sharp carpet grippers on a regular basis). Unfortunately, our guy did his back in (not from our house thankfully) and decided to retire, so we are in a long queue. We also need to repaint a lot of the hallway walls at some point, as they are completely scuffed from moving furniture and things in.

Outside. Jon has finished making the shed and the log store and they look ace! Just need to do the lead flashing on the top of the cladding at the back of the house and cement in some extra bricks to the step as it's currently made for giants. At some point we are going to paint the whole outside of the house...no idea what colour yet, along with the garden fencing. That's definitely a down-the-line, job for the summer though. Can't wait for summer to open up the bi-folds and have BBQs on our decking!

Maisie. She is finally here, and although still quite nervous, is settling in nicely and already has her favourite nap and vantage spots. Jon caved and she is now allowed in the bedroom with us at night, so have found her asleep at the end of our bed on a couple of occasions, which I love. She won't be allowed in the garden for a while yet, but has already been interacting with trespassing neighbourhood cats through the window.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f1729b_7a33282d7865485398291032290adc85/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Some before and during pictures...

We apologise to all our friends and family for being super rubbish and always busy working on the house over the last 2 years. We have some making up to do (when COVID allows!)