It's been about 6 months since Nick and I moved into our first home together and to be honest, it still hasn't really sunk in yet. Sometimes when you come home from work to your own house or wake up on a weekend and realise that you are in your own home, it freaks you out a little (well it does for me anyway!)
So the idea for this post is to write down some of the thoughts about settling down here and making it 'home'.
The first thing I struggled with and still do sometimes, is the feeling of 'home'. I'm a very impatient person and seeing the house unfinished and not how I imagined in the daydream of owning my own perfect house, is something I struggle with sometimes. You really do have to learn to live in a constant state of 'work in progress' which I'm coming to terms with. There are the usual factors of money and clashing of ideas you had for the house but often you are lumbered with the unseen things that can't be changed, like the shape and size of the house. You have an ideal in your head of what you want each room to look like but then you can't have it that way because the room literally wont let you, then trying to deal with that and adapt is the next challenge. I recently read somewhere that the things that make your house a 'home' are not the new things you buy but the pieces that are given to you, which are turning out to be true!
The next thing I'll say is the realisation that it is actually your own home, so when shit breaks, you need to fix it. You can't call up your landlord or blame your estate agents for all the things you need doing to the place and rant at someone else to get it out of your system. It suddenly becomes yourself you are frustrated with for not doing all those little niggley bits that need doing or finishing off, oh and of course the cost that comes with this. We learnt this the hard way when we had to spend £400 right before Christmas to get the boiler fixed so we could get heating...but you realise that £400 is totally worth it compared to freezing your ass off.
So the idea for this post is to write down some of the thoughts about settling down here and making it 'home'.
The first thing I struggled with and still do sometimes, is the feeling of 'home'. I'm a very impatient person and seeing the house unfinished and not how I imagined in the daydream of owning my own perfect house, is something I struggle with sometimes. You really do have to learn to live in a constant state of 'work in progress' which I'm coming to terms with. There are the usual factors of money and clashing of ideas you had for the house but often you are lumbered with the unseen things that can't be changed, like the shape and size of the house. You have an ideal in your head of what you want each room to look like but then you can't have it that way because the room literally wont let you, then trying to deal with that and adapt is the next challenge. I recently read somewhere that the things that make your house a 'home' are not the new things you buy but the pieces that are given to you, which are turning out to be true!
The next thing I'll say is the realisation that it is actually your own home, so when shit breaks, you need to fix it. You can't call up your landlord or blame your estate agents for all the things you need doing to the place and rant at someone else to get it out of your system. It suddenly becomes yourself you are frustrated with for not doing all those little niggley bits that need doing or finishing off, oh and of course the cost that comes with this. We learnt this the hard way when we had to spend £400 right before Christmas to get the boiler fixed so we could get heating...but you realise that £400 is totally worth it compared to freezing your ass off.
Realising all the things you hate about the house that you never saw when walking around and viewing the house, no matter how many times you see it before you buy! There will be things with every house you buy that you don't like, surely? Learning to just accept them and move on is a struggle but as this is our first home, it's things we can look out for when we eventually move onto the next house. It's all a learning curve and we all have to do it at some point.
I should move onto the positive stuff now right? Well of course you get to start buying amazing interior stuff. This is literally my dream. I'm obsessed with interior design, all different types and styles and picking which ones you want in your house is exciting stuff. It's just hard piecing it all together without costing a fortune but I really do class this as a 'hobby' so I'm constantly looking around for pieces to fit into our home. Although I do like the clean and modern look I do find myself adding random little bits here and there to make it feel a little more lived in and loved. So as you'll probably guess, the house will be a mixture!
The next point ties in with the previous one really, which is being able to do whatever you want. No more landlord saying you can't mount pictures or paint something a different colour, you have the freedom to do whatever you want to the house. Get a dog, get 5, ain't no-one to stop you!
Finally, realising you are paying towards something that you will own and will be your future is very re-assuring. Once you've gotten over the scary fact that you are borrowing about a billion pounds from the bank, you soon realise that paying a mortgage towards something you will eventually own is much much nicer than wasting half your earnings on rent every month. If you are lucky, in some cases this is cheaper than renting or you get a better space for a similar price.
This was a very long and rambley post, but I hope it was interesting!
Please let me know how you felt after buying your first home!
I should move onto the positive stuff now right? Well of course you get to start buying amazing interior stuff. This is literally my dream. I'm obsessed with interior design, all different types and styles and picking which ones you want in your house is exciting stuff. It's just hard piecing it all together without costing a fortune but I really do class this as a 'hobby' so I'm constantly looking around for pieces to fit into our home. Although I do like the clean and modern look I do find myself adding random little bits here and there to make it feel a little more lived in and loved. So as you'll probably guess, the house will be a mixture!
The next point ties in with the previous one really, which is being able to do whatever you want. No more landlord saying you can't mount pictures or paint something a different colour, you have the freedom to do whatever you want to the house. Get a dog, get 5, ain't no-one to stop you!
Finally, realising you are paying towards something that you will own and will be your future is very re-assuring. Once you've gotten over the scary fact that you are borrowing about a billion pounds from the bank, you soon realise that paying a mortgage towards something you will eventually own is much much nicer than wasting half your earnings on rent every month. If you are lucky, in some cases this is cheaper than renting or you get a better space for a similar price.
Please let me know how you felt after buying your first home!
I could relate to every single point here!!
ReplyDeleteWe bought our home almost 2 years ago now and I still find it odd going home to "our home" after work. Or fixing a leak in the roof etc.
I'm still struggling with how I want things to look as I change my mind every few months but I guess that'll all fall into place in time xx
Gillian xx EyelinerFlicks.com
This is interesting, I don't own my home but it's something I'm starting to think seriously about in the next couple of years. I think thats a big thing about when things break, you do actually need to fix it. I finally got a car, and haven't had one since I borrowed my parents when I was younger and it's such a pain to have to pay when it breaks down!!
ReplyDeleteJasmin Charlotte
My OH and I bought our first home nearly 3 years ago now! I remember the first few months, it felt like we were on holiday and we were going to be going back to his in-laws and the bedroom we shared soon! Haha. It began to feel like home when something to do with the boiler/hot water tank broke and we had to find a plumber and pay for it to be fixed. And then one thing after the other went wrong and I started complaining about how it was easier when you rented/lived with parents because you didn't have to deal with these things on your own, and find the money for them. Haha. But there are so many positives! Before, we lived in one bedroom with his parents. We couldn't get our own space, we got on each other's nerves, and there was barely room to move in that bedroom around both of our stuff. So it's such a relief to have a living room, a kitchen of our own where we can cook what we like when we like, two bathrooms (!) and an office. We can spend time together or we can spend time apart. It's all on our terms now. We're not thrown together like lions in a cage. And we got a cat! Which we could never do in the in-laws. And, of course, I love adding little bits to the house. Seeing something and thinking "Ooh that's cute" or "Oh how useful!" A few weeks ago, I picked up a storage unit for the bathroom, and seeing it in place makes me feel, weirdly proud. It's still a work in progress; I think houses always will be? But it feels like home. Congrats to you and yours on your first home, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Sorry for rambling on! Haha. x www.aimeeraindropwrites.co.uk x
ReplyDelete