Am I a grown-up now? A sneaky peak at my new house

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you’re all enjoying a fabulous Christmas break and you’re all sporting pudgy Christmas bellies filled with mince pies and far too many turkey sandwiches.

Today’s post is a little update and some very scary news…

I think I might be an adult.

I know I’m 27 years old so, technically, I’ve been an adult for a very long time. But I haven’t really been an adult.

I still eat ReadyBrek with Nutella for breakfast and I often watch cartoons over the news. I can’t cook and I feel like a fraud when I have ‘grown-up conversations’ about bills and council tax and, you know, grown-up stuff.

The reason for my sudden grown-up realization is because I have a house! I’m a home owner! I have keys and everything!

I’ve been hinting at this whole house buying malarkey for a REALLY long time now. The deal has been on and off so many times in the past six months that I began to wonder if it would ever go ahead. There was even a point where I didn’t care if it went ahead, I just didn’t want to ever speak to another solicitor or estate agent again in my life.

I collected the keys just over a week ago and merrily sped to my new house. The garden was so overgrown that I couldn’t even park on the drive so I abandoned my car outside and clambered through the bushes and brambles. I crept into the house like an intruder, quietly walking from room to room as I opened cupboards and draws in the hope of finding a forgotten treasure.

The house has been empty for more than three years and has had no maintenance done to it for what looks like more than 50 years. So when I say it’s in need of a little TLC, I’m being very kind. The place is a wreck.

I initially came across the house on Right Move early this summer. We’d been looking for a house for a few months but anyone who has been through this process will know it’s a slow and painful experience.

As soon as I saw the house online I squealed so loud that Sam came running into the room to check I was still alive.

‘I’ve found it,’ I told Sam with dead-set certainty. ‘I’ve found the house.’

As soon as I saw it I knew it was the one. It sounds like a corny love story but I genuinely believe there’s more to buying a house then just ticking the right boxes. There’s a certain feeling that comes with a house and it’s something you can’t explain or even understand, you just know when you have it and when you don’t.

After months and months and months – which is actually only 6 months but feels like an eternity – we finally own it.

There was a time when we were going to give up on the house. It’s a lot of money, a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of effort. There are cheaper, easier houses out there. Houses we could move straight into and set up home in time for our new baby.

That would be the easy option. But I've never been the kind of person to take the easy option.

Who wants a cookie cutter house when you can have a riverside cottage?

Admittedly it’s a riverside cottage with no windows, kitchen, bathroom, plaster or water but one day it’s going to be the perfect home.

One day in the very distant future…

^Buying a house next to a river comes with its pros and cons. Pro: This is at the bottom of our garden. Con: It's been known to flood from time to time. But we won't talk about that.

As I’m nearly 7 months pregnant (oh yes, that’s another reason why I’m feeling a bit like a grown up) so I can’t do a lot in terms of house renovation. I'm cutting back brambles in the garden and sitting by the river as I dream up plans for the future.

Here's a sneaky peak at what the house is looking like so far. You'll need to use your imagination!

The project I'm most excited about is in these final 4 photos. This is a little outhouse we hadn't previously seen before we bought the house. It was surrounded by a fortress of brambles and so full of junk we couldn't get inside. It's turned out to be a little gem and will eventually be my blogging office. It's surprisingly big and Sam will be inserting a log-burner and a new bathroom and converting this old workbench into a desk.

Hopefully, I'll be able to post another update in a few months when it has actual walls and windows that won't fall out at any second.