When we moved into our new home just over four years ago, we had one 18 month old child and two self employed jobs. We sold our two up two down house and relocated to a four bedroom house. Whilst we had bits and pieces of work done to begin with, such as the boiler, we have had to save for the majority of our home improvements.
This is a paid collaboration with Flooring365.
When We Moved
There are certain things I wouldn’t scrimp on. Like the boiler mentioned above. The house had no heating when we moved in, so much so that the energy company didn’t believe that we weren’t using any gas for two months whilst we had a new central heating system installed. The old boiler was a back boiler and it hadn’t worked for a long time so we used no gas for two months whilst we sorted it all out. The company had to get someone out to read the metres as they didn’t believe me over the phone!
New Beds And Cutting The Grass
Other things we did straight away was a new bed for our toddler and painting his room so it was nice surroundings. I also mowed the grass in the front garden as it hadn’t been done for a long time. That was pretty much it. We moved in and we’d spent everything we had to be able to do so. That is when the saving up for home improvements we wants to implement.
Great Flooring For Toddlers
One of the things I wanted to do was change the floor in the dining room. We had slippery tiles in the old house which was less than ideal for a toddler and this house has carpet in the dining room. Nightmare when you have toddlers who seem to get more food on the floor than in their mouths. So the carpet had to go, it was disgusting anyway from the previous owners. Solid wood flooring was my preference because it’s long lasting and looks great I also wanted one with a slight texture to it for added grip. I also wanted to be able to photograph against it so it had to look awesome. Even on our self employed wages we saved up for it and quickly had it installed. We love it! Even more so that it still looks amazing, three years later!
What Else We’ve Done
We’ve in no way finished with our home improvements. I don’t think anyone ever does really but our house is definitely a work in progress. I now have a home office, we bricked up a door in the kitchen which led you to the conservatory and we opened up a window into a sliding door instead. Somehow I built some decking even though I’m terrible at DIY!
Future Plans
We now have three children and they take up a lot of time and money so our plans have slowed right down. I’m happy with the old kitchen for a few years whilst we enjoy these early years with our offspring. Future plans include a new kitchen and updating the flooring throughout. Maybe taking a chunk of the front garden to extend the driveway. I’d also like to decorate our bedroom at some point but I that’s probably the last job on the list.
Priorities
Home improvements are fantastic but you don’t have to do everything all at once. Do what you need to, what you must do to be warm and dry and then get your priorities in order. By saving up and doing things properly one by one, your improvements will stand the test of time. You’ll be able to appreciate the work you’ve saved up for.
