I think we might have bought the wrong house..

[Fridayfriday]

Just that really. We bought our house in a bit of a panic last year as I was halfway through a complicated pregnancy with DC1.

It needed tonnes of work but we convinced ourselves we could take it on. It was a good-ish price in the area we wanted, so it seemed like the right decision. A year later and I’m starting to get really down about it. I’m SO grateful that we have our wonderful healthy DS but needless to say the work on the house ground to a halt when he arrived and we’ve been living in a renovation project ever since.

The early days when he was first born were really tough - we had no proper kitchen, no proper bathroom and it was the depths of winter. Trying to recover from birth and acclimatise to the demands of a newborn in new surroundings was weirdly difficult, and I’m not 100% sure I haven’t got a touch of PND tbh.

I just miss our old house and our old area so much and sometimes I wonder if we’ve made a massive mistake buying this one. It doesn’t feel like “home” yet, and I’m starting to worry what if it never does..?

Has anyone been in this situation, and what did you do?!

I should say that DS’s nursery and our bedroom are immaculate- I can’t complain there, it’s just the rest of the house that we haven’t been able to get to!

Have you got the money set aside to do the work? I am in a similar situation. I moved in December and the place is still a mess. No flooring down, bathroom not done, kitchen not fully plumbed in. I have had enough and have decided just to throw some money at it and try and get builders in for a few weeks to finish everything. It will be a nightmare two weeks but I can't see it ever getting finished otherwise.

That’s actually a really good strategy. We have most of the money set aside, I’ve just found it so hard to think and plan while I’m in this newborn fog so I’m now just overwhelmed and don’t know what bit to tackle first!

When are you thinking of going for it? I’m trying to make some progress before autumn arrives and the nights start drawing in again!

I would move out so the builders can work quickly, and throw money at it. Get a short term rental somewhere else for the duration and just get it all done at once. Otherwise it will just drag on forever and by the time you’ve finished the last of it, it will be time to start on the maintenance jobs !!

The builder thinks he can finish The work in October so I am going to.push for that to happen. I really want it done before winter as I don't think I could take another winter in a building site.

What have you got left to do? If it is bathrooms etc I would just go ahead and start getting builders booked and get them to do it all at the same time. It is really difficult to love a building site house so just get cracking and you could get it finished really soon.

Would it be possible for you to throw money at it, move out temporarily and let the builders crack on?

OK, so you think you may have a touch of PND, with that, there is nothing that will improve the house until that is dealt with. Away to the doctors with you, get that sorted as best you can for now with meds, then whatever they suggest then all else will follow and be more bearable.

I'd agree with throwing money at it or prioritising really hard. Our house needed a complete renovation - we just got the kitchen, bathroom, one reception and one bedroom done. So carpets and one or two coats of white paint in the non-kitchen/bathroom. But bare plaster for quite a while in the kitchen.

When we got the money we gradually did the other rooms - got painting and decorating done and finshed the details. It was hard but worth it - we live in a better area, great for families, parks and open spaces, good schools and shops. But loving the area really helped.

I will never do a fixer upper again.