What a difference a carpet makes

I've been living without carpet for about 7 weeks now, and it's scary how much of an annoyance it is.

There's dust everywhere and the house is a complete mess. To top it off, all our furniture is in our lounge as we've been trying to keep upstairs empty for when the carpet goes down.

So tomorrow, the big day is here. We will be getting carpet put in upstairs. We bought the carpet from Carpetright and it cost about £1000 for the three upstairs rooms, landing and stairs, including the grippers and underlay.

Here's the carpet we've gone for. It's the Nordic Berber collection, in beige.

It's a fairly tough carpet designed for high traffic areas so I'm hoping it'll be ok with the dog and he can't damage it.

I'll post some photos once the carpet is in. I can't wait to be able to unpack properly upstairs and get my life back!!!!

This is what it should look like when it's in:

Exciting! How did you choose your carpets?

Renovation update and choosing paint

My blog posts have been a bit few and far between recently. This is mostly because I've been away with family to Yorkshire for a week. I would have scheduled some posts over the week but I have been too busy with work for my course, finishing my job and renovating the house.

So here is what's new.

• I start my new job tomorrow and I'm getting scared!
• We have decided to tile the bathroom in our house ourselves. We had a quote through for around £600. It's literally about 1.5 metres by 2 metres, and there's no way I was going to pay that! We bought the supplied today. I'm getting scared about this too!
• We have been buying paint samples for the rooms.
• The house has been plastered and double glazing has been installed, but not yet finished.

So, the big deal at the moment (for me) is picking paint. I have bought too many tester pots and I'm getting excited. Here are my favourites at the moment. I need to wait for the plaster to dry to try them on the wall so I haven't tested them properly yet.

 Light blue - Farrow and Ball

Moonstone grey - Craig and Rose

 

Chic shadow - Dulux

 

There is so much choice and so many lovely colours to choose from. I've spent about £30 on testers already (although that includes two Farrow and Ball ones for a whopping £3.99 each!). 

 

Hopefully once the walls are dry and primed, It will all become clear. It's so exciting though! Wall painting and floor choosing are the most exciting parts of renovation! 



Christmas is round the corner...

I know it's early, but I've been thinking about Christmas recently. Partly because Mum has been trying to arrange it, and as it's our second Christmas without Dad it's still quite a sensitive time. But I've also been thinking about it because there are so many things happening in my life at the moment, that I'm setting Christmas in my mind as a time when so many areas of my life will hopefully have calmed down. So here are my hopes for this Christmas:

1. My house will be a home.

We bought our own house about a month ago, and still haven't slept a night in it. It's currently in a state of great change, with new stairs only recently installed and walls being built, dismantled and re-plastered. I'm hoping the house will go from a disaster zone:

To a homely and wonderful place to be:

Photo from spaceforinspiration.blogspot.com

by Christmas time. It would be such a relief and a real achievement to know I've designed and created my own home, just as I like it. I can't wait to get to the stage where we are decorating!

2. I will love my job.

I'm currently in a job that I find very stressful, unrewarding and disheartening. With only a week left at my current work, I'm itching to start my new job. Although it's the same position but at another college, I'm really looking forward to the change. The problems with my current work isn't really the actual job. It's the terrible structuring behind it. Timetables, work ethic and lack of support are making me feel more miserable than the actual teaching. So fingers crossed for a more settled work-life balance and happier work environment by Christmas. I have high hopes and I'm feeling really positive that things will change for the better.

3. I will have time to relax.

Currently my life is taken up with working late evenings, studying Psychology or stripping wallpaper. By Christmas I'm hoping it won't be unusual for me to have the time to sit in a quiet corner with a cup of tea and a good book, rather than constantly feeling I've got to be doing something. Once the house and my job have fallen into place, hopefully so will my free time and it'll become much easier to enjoy those quiet moments. In fact, sometimes it's great to go through periods of stress in order to enjoy the relaxing periods after; just like when you're feeling poorly and then appreciate being able to breathe, exercise and have a normal life so much more when you finally recover.

Life is changing, but in a really positive and exciting way. Once my home is ready, I can't wait to get in the Christmas mood and start decorating with some gorgeous Christmas items from the Dotcomgiftshop.

Here are some of my favourite items at the moment:

These festive little mushrooms are so adorable. I love them because they're a little bit unexpected. Christmas decorations can become a little bit bland, but these add a little bit of personality to your tree.

 Quirky mushroom decorations £6.95 for 6

This tea light is so sweet and the angels move when the candle is lit. They're so sweet and would make a great centerpiece on the Christmas dinner table, or add a bit of mood lighting on the mantlepiece.

Rotating silver angels £5.95

Even the birds can enjoy Christmas too! I really want to give the garden a Christmas feel and this is a really original way to do it.

Double Christmas bird house £17.95

And I'm still absolutely loving my Medina tealights. Great for Christmas, and all year round. 

Read more about these here. £14.95

What are your hopes this Christmas?

Latest wish- log burner

How my life is changed. I used to lust after vintage dresses and shoes. Now I lust after home items. I guess my priorities have changed in terms of where I spend my money. I would rather have a lovely home to get back to after a long day than another vintage dress. That's not to say I'm not bothered about clothes or looking good, but right now, home items is what excites me.

My boyfriend and my latest item of the wishlist is a wood burning stove, or log burner as they are sometimes called. I never considered this before my boyfriend suggested it, and now I really really want one. I've been looking on eBay, but unfortunately they hold their value quite well, but there are some new ones for around £200. The problem is, I worry that it is very much 'you get what you pay for', and we'd be better off spending more on a higher quality item.

It's difficult because in the back of my mind I have the idea that we'll be moving out on the next three or four years and I don't want to spend too much on the house if that's the case. However, if we don't end up moving out I don't want to live in a home I don't love. Spending a fair amount on good quality items will hopefully raise the price we could sell the house for, but I'm scared we won't get our money back.

So do we go for the cheaper wood burner options? Here are a few that you can get for under £300.

 Unbranded wood burner

 

 Unbranded wood burner

 

Unbranded wood burner

 

Or a better quality one for over £1000

 

 Firefox wood burner

 

Rosa Wood burner

 

I think with the cost of the flue, harth, fireplace and lining the more expensive ones are out of the question.

 

So my question really is, which of the better quality low price log burners? Does anyone have any answers?

 

How to take a great eBay seller photo

First things first, I'm not professing to be any sort of expert on eBay selling, nor do I do it a great deal. However I have noticed the difference between a good photo and a bad one when buying and selling my own items. http://teainteacher.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/items-for-sale-in-leicester.html?m=0

When I refer to a 'good' photo, I don't mean lighting and focus, although that comes into it. The best way to sell your items on eBay is to sell the lifestyle that comes with them, just as a magazine would. This is something many eBay sellers forget to do.

So, for example. My chair receiveded much more interest from eBay buyers when it was displayed like this: 

 Than this:

Although the lighting is also better in the first photo, what the first one does is to sell the use of the chair. Buyers can imagine snuggling up under the blanket and reading a book with a cup of tea. Of course I also include the plain photo, but your first photo of the item is the most important.

Similarly, instead of displaying a blank bookcase or one crammed with books, I displayed a few select pieces that show the bookcase at its best:

This shows the bookcase showcasing my best items and makes it look stylish and spacious.

It works the same way with clothes. You are more likely to sell an oversized mans shirt if it's being worn by a small vintage style girl as a dress than just hanging on a hanger. Putting some choice accessories and shoes to sell the look also increases your sale price. 

So don't forget, it's all about selling the lifestyle rather than selling the item. Be honest but also show the item in its best light in order to get the most interest.

 As you were.

Items for sale in Leicester

Our renovation project is going to cost more than we thought. In order to gain a bit of money, and to make some more room, we've decided to sell a few of our much-loved items. They are currently on eBay and although we love them, the priority right now for us is to have the money for a new bathroom, rather than to have gorgeous vintage furniture.

Here's what we have for sale. Please help us out by passing this on to people you know in or around Leicester! We decided to sell our vintage bookcase, writing desk and chair. They are all for sale separately and all solid wood and real leather.

 See this item on eBay here

See the desk on eBay here

See the desk chair on eBay here

Thanks for helping! Remember you can still enter my giveaway! Free nail varnish

Renovating like a hole in the head

I went to the Leciester bloggers event yesterday (photos to come soon) but had to cut my day short because I was very aware that the first steps of renovating the new house were happening.

The boyfriend invited his friends to help him out with removing floorboards and the stairs. I was terrified! Particularly when I had a voicemail message (whilst sitting in Bella Italia with the girls) asking whether they should remove the wall. Which wall? Is the house going to fall down? I quickly texted back, 'NO!'. Walls weren't in the removing plan!

I returned to this: 

 

The stairs had almost completely been removed (smashed wildly at until they fell off the wall) and there was debris and dust everywhere. I was quickly sent off to make burgers for the boys and to buy bin bags for cleaning up, but not before I had a little go at smashing things myself. It's actually more difficult and less enjoyable than it sounds. And it's very very noisy. I'm sure our new neighbours were less than impressed.

The good news is, we have cleared the way for brand new flooring and new stairs and saved £200 doing it ourselves. The bad news is, we left a window open upstairs and can't go up to close it. The good news is, there's nothing to steal and no floor for potential burglars to stand on!

So Monday will involve the joiners coming and cracking on with the job, joined by the plumber and electrician. It's getting real now!

How did you spend your Saturday?

Plywood Flooring

After deliberating over flooring a lot over the last few weeks, my boyfriend and I have gone through a number of different stages of acceptance. At the beginning we both wanted real wood flooring. We thought buyers would pay more if they knew that flooring was real wood, and that it was the best most gorgeous flooring we could get. However, after taking a look at our budget, and doing lots of research online, we decided that we would struggle to afford the real deal, and even if we did stretch to it, the dog's claws might ruin it anyway. I reached this resolution first, convinced the boyfriend, then changed my mind back, and he convinced me. Either way, we've decided against expensive hardwood flooring.

Hardwood floor image - Wikipedia

 

Our next choice was engineered floor. Cheaper and possible slightly stronger. However, again the dog's nails might mean we'd end up with scratched and fairly expensive flooring that was even less practical because it couldn't be sanded and re-finished. There goes that idea.

 

 



 Engineered wood - Wickes

 

So then we figured we were left with laminate. We had a look at the laminates on offer and decided we would stretch to a more expensive brand like Quick-step so the flooring would look as near to real wood as possible. Laminate is more durable and stronger. Yet, at £23 a square meter and £10 extra per square meter to lay it, it didn't look so attractive.

 

Laminate - Quick Step

 

Then, after looking on Pinterest I noticed my friend had pinned a picture of plywood used as flooring. It looked gorgeous. I did some research and you can build your own plywood floor for roughly half the cost of laminate, and plywood is really strong due to the layers of wood. You can get it cut into planks and finish it in whichever colour you desire. You can even paint it if you like. You can't use it anywhere it might get wet, like a bathroom or kitchen, but for a hallway and lounge it would work well. My boyfriend isn't currently convinced but I'm hope he'll be persuaded. It'll be hugely cheaper as we'll lay it outselves and it looks gorgeous. Here are a few photos:

 



 

 Plywood floor - picklee.com

 

Plywood - Designdazzle.com

 

What type of flooring do you have? How do you rate it?



Money makes the world go around.

In the words of Liza Minelli, 'Money makes the world go around'. Since signing a contract committing to buy my own home, I've found myself more concerned than ever about the amount in my bank account. I used to have a healthy couple of thousand saved, steady income and outgoings and enough money at the end of the month for an outfit or night out. Now, I can cover the mortgage, but I'm worried I won't have enough cash to cover the work needed for the property. 

That famous song from Cabaret

My boyfriend and I consider ourselves to have fairly decent jobs. He's a social worker and I'm a teacher. Yet in our quest to get on the property ladder we have had to resort to handouts and loans from family members. We bought a cheap house in a good area in order to keep costs down, but the house is unliveable without having a certain amount spent on it.

It makes me wonder how others cope. Gone are the days of a 100% mortgage, and people are starting to learn the dangers of signing up to numerous credit cards. How do others manage to afford to live? Particularly single parents or those on lower incomes.

 

There are so many things that I have to pay for each month.

• Rent
• Food
• Petrol (£200 a month just to go to work and back each day and my Mum's now and then!)
• Dog walker
• Travel to London for foot treatment
• Foot treatment
• Car insurance
• Contents insurance
• Car servicing/MOT/upkeep
• Electric and gas

I was sitting at home a few days ago, and the phone rang. I answered and it was the gas company asking for £200 to cover gas bills at my previous rental property! It seems that there is no rest from people asking for money.

 

In order to help the house renovations I'm planning to advertise my services as an English tutor. It's around £20 an hour and would be something that would be fairly easy to do on the side of work without extra stress. I was thinking of doing some bar work in the evenings but with the Master's and full-time teaching I just wouldn't be able to cope.

How do you make ends meet at the end of each month?

Kitchen lighting

As we are getting an electrician in soon after we get the keys to our new place, I've been trying to think about lighting. The kitchen is where I was keen to make a lighting statement. As it's a kitchen diner I wanted some lighting that would make an impression, but not be so individual it would put off potential future buyers.

I also wanted something that would fit with our intended colour scheme of cream cabinets, wood counters and pale blue walls. I know spotlights are popular, but I just don't like the look they give. Here are my favourite pieces for sale at the moment.

Debenhams spotlights £29

Debenhams spotlights £27.60

John Lewis lampshade £140

John Lewis lampshade - cheaper version at £45

Next vintage style lights £65

Historic Lighting wall lamp £132

My vision is a line of spotlights over the kitchen area, and then one or two enamel lights hanging over the dining table, with a wall light to match on the opposite wall. I think lighting will make a huge difference to the look and feel of the kitchen-diner.

What do you think of my choices? What lighting do you have in the kitchen?

Our renovation project

It's starting to dawn on me what a big job we've taken on when we bought this house. It's such a shame we didn't spend a year saving, because although the mortgage is fairly low, we're going to need a lot of cash available for the work. To view the house in it's current state, click here.

This is the little beauty. It has three bedrooms upstairs, a downstairs bathroom and a small kitchen. We've decided to change the direction of the staircase, which would mean we could fit an extra room upstairs (bathroom) and then we could make the current bathroom into a dining room attached to the kitchen. 

So, the current plan is:

1. Builder bricks up hall window.

2. Carpenter reverses direction of stairs and adds stud walls to make new upstairs room (also needs to level floor where current landing is)

3. Electrician rewires property.

4. Plumber adds central heating and pipes to new bathroom.

5. Get bathroom tiled and fitted upstairs.

6. Remove bathroom downstairs and for toilet and sink under new stairs.

7. Knock through old bathroom wall into kitchen.

8. Change position of kitchen door to make kitchen diner.

9. Tile floor in kitchen diner. (Or laminate).

10. Cover ceiling with board and plaster in kitchen diner.

11. Add new window in dining are and double glaze whole property.

12. Fit new kitchen

13. Add laminate in hall and lounge.

14. Decorate property.

A lot bigger job than we first thought! The agent said if we out it on as it is we would make more money (we got a bargain) and if we do the double glazing and central heating we'd make £20,000 (minus the cost of this). So when the work is done we should definitely make money, but having the cash to do it is the hard part. Better start phoning the relatives..... 

Any thoughts or tips on the project? 

Spotty button photo frame review

I was lucky enough to be sent a gorgeous photo frame from Spotty Button, so I wanted to share a few photos with you.

It's a quality piece with gorgeous diamantes around the edge. It's sturdy and I can't imagine any of the diamantes falling off as they're securely embedded in the design. It looks simply gorgeous on my desk, or would make a great addition to a bedside table if you wanted to wake up to the image of that special someone! It's fairly small, which makes it unobtrusive and perfect for on top of small cupboards or on the end of a shelf next to your favourite books.

 It looks great next to my vintage-style alarm clock

 Next to my candle holders

A close up of the edging.

Don't forget to check out other products you can get from Spotty Button. They have a great range of cute home items. They're always getting new items so why not add them to your bookmarks!