Yes! Today we officially became home owners!
The settlement on our house came through a couple of days early and this afternoon we picked up the keys. Our keys. Of course we drove straight over to the house, parked the car in our carport for the first time, walked through our crunchy brown grass and opened our very own front door.
Standing in the living room which will soon be the heart of our home was, well, surreal really. And we must admit, looking at the cracked apricot paint, fluorescent light fixtures and filthy brown carpet, was just a teeny bit overwhelming. We have so much work to do and very little money to do it with. There is no landlord to call for help when something goes terribly wrong now! Even so, we are ridiculously excited about the journey ahead. We know working on the house isn’t going to be easy but we’re totally ready for the challenge. In fact, we begin work on Sunday! (If any of you have any brilliant tips for removing old, blistering paint, please do let us know…)
We’ll be back to share some scary “before” pictures soon!
So excited for you guys. Congratulations!
Congratulations. Don’t forget the “before pictures.” You will look at them over and over through the years, and be amazed. (And we want to see them too).
Enjoy.
I’m going to head over to the house and snap some pictures today. I promise we won’t forget to share them! x
Steam works great for removing blistering old paint. My folks bought an old Victorian house when I was a little girl and we used steam to remove the nasty paint and wallpaper. I know your place is going to be gorgeous and I can’t wait to see the transformation!
We are definitely going to look into hiring a steam machine. Thanks Amy! x
Congraulations – what a wonderful moment. You can hire steam machines for stripping paint which will save you loads of time.
Yay!
I’m so happy for you guys, it’s been fun following your journey on this blog. Just look how far you guys have come! Can’t wait for more!!
Sabrina
http://bbutterflybrain.blogspot.com/
Congratulations! What fun you will have!
xx
Katie I would love to hear the tale of how you got to this point so quickly. Last I ready you were moving in with mum to save…..just weeks later you are home owners…wow! What do you guys do for a living? Do you work remotely? We would love to buy an old home in the middle of nowhere but getting to work is always the problem. Any way would love you to do a retrace and see how you have made this massive step into home ownership. I came across to your blog from your visit to Rhonda and Hanno’s. so very excited for you guys and looking forward to lots of renovating posts.
Chrissy
Yes, I will have to write a post about this. Look out for one in the next week! x
Can’t wait
What a day! I remember that first home feeling. Enjoy the weeks to come, take lots of photos and let us all know what you’re doing. We want to come along for the ride. :- )
I am very happy for you!! Enjoy the journey!
Oh, congrats! This is every exciting!
My future hubby and I are in the process of fixing up our very first home (though, we are renting it). Still, it’s so much fun to be able to make it just how you like it. Can’t wait to see what you do!
This is the start of a fabulous new journey! Congratulations to you both!
yippee !!!! fantastic news im sure it will be fab cant wait to see pics xxxxx
Congratulations! Looking forward to watching it evolve.
Congratulations. How very exciting. After renovating a house a big tip I wished someone had told us was that everything takes 10 times longer than you except. It can be a lot of work but it is oh so rewarding. You really feel like you are making your house into your home. Enjoy xxx
Thanks for the tip Sarah! I know this process is really going to test my patience. I just have to keep reminding myself that the journey is just as important as the destination! x
If you don’t have access to a steamer. scrape the paint using a metal spatula and then use a sander to go over it and smooth the surface. I cant wait to see more pictures! I love to see what other people do to their homes. Good luck!
Congratulations!!! That is so exciting. Hopefully this time next year I will be posting a very similar post.
Congratulations! I have no tips for removing old paint but please do be careful to check that it’s not lead based paint – I think you canget testing kits from paint shops and hardware stores. Good luck and can’t wait to read all about it on the blog!
I SO happy for you! And so glad settlement went through smoothly. I’m looking forward to following this new venture of yours. Congratulations!
xx
Congratulations on your new home!! I’m sure that you’ll both have it looking beautiful very soon and look forward to following your progress!!
Congratulations, you two!
Very happy for you.
Congrats! Whatever you do please wear masks. If its an older home lead paint is a killer and when you are scrapping you will breath in all the dust. So be safe
Congrats!! Hopefully some of your reno spirit will rub off on me – I’m so excited to see what you both do with the place!
I can’t wait to see what you do with your house. There is something so wonderful about moving into a new place, a blank slate just waiting for you to write on it–especially the first time. Made me feel happy remembering those feelings.
congrats!
I am so happy for you two guys!!!! Crave to see your new home full of good ideas!! Bon courage!!!
congratulations, have fun! Heather x
I am so excited for you both and am gong to love seeing you making it into your very own home. It will be a test of your patience but its going to be so worth it. Hang in there xox Penelope
Congratulations you guys!
Congratulations!
haha we spent the weekend scraping crap off ceilings and patching things with spak-filla! We’re practically experts at all things crappy-old-ceilings.
Nevertheless I’m so excited you get to do it all yourselves, and TOGETHER! Cant wait to see how much potential is there in the next post
Congratulations I remember how excited I was when I bought my first home….green carpet and pink floral wallpaper and in the bedroom apricot flowers with stains on the wall it was YUK but totally what I wanted…something I could transform. Sugar soap and paint are your best friends………paint it one colour from top to bottom something like off white and you can decorate with whatever season you desire…also the colour makes the rooms seem bigger as well. You can still do country farmhouse/cottage with off white. Actually “antique white” is one of the most popular colours at Bunnings Hardware Store.
Loved the review of the books in the previous post…I might have to get to the library to check them out. Congratuations…..if you are looking for inspiration go to the younglovehouse blog in the US……on their website they should have their first house to check out….lots of DIY and great artwork/decor on a budget….very inspirational. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia (ps found you via Rhonda from Down to Earth blog)
Congratulations! We have been doing up our house for nearly 3 years now. It is a long task but the best. My only tips are to get overalls to do the work in, I have ruined many clothes in this process and wear masks otherwise enjoy your new home, I am sure it is going to be utterly lovely!
Congratulations guys!! We hope you will be very happy in your new home xxx
My brother used a cheap Ozito heat gun from Bunnings to strip the paint off the outside of the house, it burnt out after a few weeks, so they just checked the date on the receipt and replaced it with a new one….5 minutes,on our way back home to start again, no worries, the second one finished the job.
One bit of advice we got from lots of people…”DON’T sand the floors yourself” it is so easy to make gouge marks,( which cannot be repaired) with the big industrial floor sanders.
You will be amazed at the difference a new lighter floor will make in the dining area, we had just such an old dark vinyl floor in the kitchen, when it was replaced some friends asked did we have new cupboards put in….it made that much difference !
So happy to see you settling in and getting started.
If the vertical blinds drive you NUTS have a look at the “Hanky Linen” at Spotlight, it makes wonderful curtains, I just did rod pockets, because they were later going to have heavier curtains in front to draw across to keep out light and heat, but they look beautiful on their own till you are ready to “dress” the room properly.
Have Fun !