A New Home Is For Good - Not Just For Christmas!

At this time of years we


inevitably think back to the time when we bought our current home, almost ten


years ago now.   We had been interested in the property before but it


was suddenly take off the market. When we discovered it was available again we


were really determined to secure it. In


actual fact it was during our Christmas dinner that someone at the table


happened to casually mentioned that the house was back on the market.   We thought that the


house would suit us down to the ground because the house we were living in at the


time was simply too large and we wanted something smaller. We'd been living in


a large detached new-build around the corner for four years and knew that


buying this house, which needed a lot of work, would enable us to pay off our


mortgage.   No one had been living in


the property for quite a number of years   so much so that the garden to the front and rear of the property was


in such a state that we had to hire a   excavator to


  tidy everything up.   The interior of the property was not a great deal better. In fact


when you stepped inside it was like entering a time warp.    We did not allow the condition


of the house and garden to put us off and in fact moved in straight away,


notwithstanding the state of the place. It didn't occur to us to live off site


because we were doing almost all the work ourselves.   When we reflect on this decision now it does seem just a little


bit crazy.   We decided to adopt a very strict budget for the


renovations. We borrowed a small amount upfront so that we could deal with


essential work like upgrading the heating and lighting straight away. The rest


we did gradually, as funds allowed. On reflection it was quite an undertaking but we were really excited about the project and fulll of enthusiasm, so that helped pull us through those difficult moments when we perhaps worried that we had bitten off more than we could chew. We had admired the house and the location for so long that we were just determined that we were going to make things work for us - and eventually it did! We had to be very realistic about what we


could achieve on what budget and by when. The most important thing we did was not to put ourselves under any strict pressure to have certain jobs finished by a certain time. We had a number of targets in mind, of course, but we were not inclined to worry if dealines slipped a bit.


  All things considered we think


the end results are pretty impressive. In addition to knocking down the wall


between the kitchen and dining room, turning a ramshackle lean-to at the back


of the house into a smart utility/cloakroom and study, and building a studio in


the garden. We also converted the loft to gain a guest room and chill-out


space.   To give the house an elegant


classic-country look, we've  adopted a mixed   colour


scheme of creams, taupes and greys on the walls. We have accessoriesed with


our favourite scented candles by brands like Yankee candles and True Grace


candles, which are the perfect compliment for a mix of French country and more


modern pieces of furniture, such as the leather sofas in the living room and


the streamlined wash-bowl basin in the bathroom.


























The authopr is owner of the Scented Candle Store where you wil find plenty of luxury candles as well as other home fragrances products like  reed diffuser