Our household is about to enter a period of chaos. Not that we don’t already live somewhat in chaos, but this will involve a whole new level that we have not experienced before. But in a good way.
The never ending cycle of life and death has gifted us with a sum of money with which we have decided to do some house renovations.
Life has changed for us as a family in the last couple of years, with the older children moving out and now settled in their own flat. With the recent ‘big no no’ (Covid) situation my husband has been working from home for the past 18 months alongside me and is now in the position of working from home going forward indefinitely. Our house no longer serves our lifestyle, so it is time to change it to fit.
The most we have ever done in our home is pick up a paint brush (and that was with great reluctance). So, a complete renovation of nearly all the rooms on the ground floor is going to be a bit of a shock.
The conservatory which is now twenty years old has never really worked. It is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. It will now become an extension with a proper roof and heating. This will be the diner/drum room. With a drummer in the house there must be space for an electronic drum kit!
What is now the dining room but has been our office for the past 18 months, will become the kitchen. Much larger than our current kitchen and it will open out into the diner and then into the garden.
The hallway will have new built in units, to become what we have affectionately called ‘the cake station’.
The downstairs cloakroom will get a complete re-fit. Which, considering the toilet probably dates back to the 60’s is a good call.
What is currently the kitchen will become our study.
The small utility room will be completely rebuilt and made larger to better accommodate our washer and dryer.
All the floors from the front door right through to the back will be re finished.
As you can probably guess, this is a major undertaking.
The process started badly. We contacted seven builders. Only three bothered to reply.
However, all of them were very pleasant and helpful.
One stood head and shoulders above the rest and we would like to give a big shout out to www.insideoutsidebuilder.co.uk
Right from the start they have been extremely helpful and patient with our endless questions and our situation. Their quotation was incredibly detailed and came in on budget (which is always a bonus). We are really looking forward to working with them. Oh, and Dan the builder loved Eric, which is a double bonus.
The past few months have involved a lot of research into kitchen designs, building designs, paint colours, fitted shelving and tiles. We probably have enough sample tiles to cover the entire kitchen, albeit each one different. And we have changed our minds on more than one occasion.
Shout out to the kitchen company Wren, our lady there, Izzy has also been incredibly helpful and patient with us.
We also had no idea what was involved in house renovations from the structural side of things. A huge big thank you to my brother Stuart who runs http://www.halcyondesign.co.uk/ who came up with the original mad cap idea in the first place and all the detailed drawings. Along with submitting the complicated paperwork to the council and liaising with the structural engineer. He has been longing to get his hands on our house for years!
Whilst we are here, shout out to Ben the structural engineer too. We contacted six SE’s and only three replied. One was too busy and one quoted a ridiculous price. Ben however, replied promptly, quoted a sensible figure and arrived when he said he would. Very efficient service. http://bencodesign.co.uk/
Fingers crossed, with a prevailing wind and the Gods in our favour. Oh, and if the solicitors actually doing what they are supposed to, when they are meant to. Work will start at the beginning of October.
We have begun making preparations now.
The first port of call was for me to talk to the house. She is 101 years old and has looked after our family for over 25 years now. I wanted to reassure her that the work would be good for her and that we weren’t going anywhere, just making things better. She seems happy.
Now the packing has begun as all of the rooms on the ground floor bar one, need to be emptied. Which also involves our ‘office’ being re-located to our bedroom. It is going to be a bit of a squeeze. Sadly my newly laid out Witchy Parlour has already been taken apart and most of my witchy goodies packed away. Along with all of my altars – eeep! I have kept a couple of items to have on my desk as my focus for daily devotions. I am just hoping the Gods will bear with me. Although to be honest, I have been working with Sulis for the past year and she is the one that seems to be behind kicking all this into action, that gal rocks!
This is the first blog post of what will hopefully be a series. This is all about transformations and I am hoping to give you a peek into the chaos and how we deal with it. Along with some magical hints and tips about it all as we progress too.
It is going to be an interesting journey…
