To TTC or not to TTC, that is one of the many questions...

[YorkshireTeaDrinker]

Ok fellow ditherers, as we have filled up one thread (and still not made too many firm decisions) here's another one for us to continue to procrastinate and worry on.

Here's to more monitoring of relative green and redness, mutual support and occassional chivving, discussion of everything baby or not baby related, and perhaps even our first BFP...?

Very busy indeed, which is why I want to get moving asap! I am most excited about the bathroom. As it is currently the spare bedroom it's actually quite big for a bathroom (although we wouldn't entertain the idea of keeping the bathroom in it's current place which is the attic) so we can be quite creative and not have the usual space issues you can often get with bathrooms. Also, most of the rooms still have the original fireplaces in and hopefully other original features to so we will be making the most of them.

We are not going to move in but will instead put most of our stuff in storage so we don't have to spend time moving stuff or getting our stuff dirty. Also, as our current house has bigger rooms moving everything in immediately would make it seem super cramped before we do things like make fitted cupboards and so on (the cupboards in the main room of the kitchen, the aubergine coloured one's, DH made and we'll probably do similar in the new house.)

Yes, I agree that you can pick up all manner of things on MN - some details are more welcome than others though!

I've been drooling over house decorating in a mag I bought on Friday (told you I am an addict!). The bathrooms are gorgeous, all massive showers, stand alone baths and immaculate tiles. It's all vicarious for me at the moment, as our house buying is still on hold. Hmmm, feel like I'm watching life rather than participating in it for now, with careers, babies and houses all being seen from afar!

The 'mood board' sounds like a good idea to focus your mind and sort out what you want to do. My taste runs to white and cream, which I guess isn't very practical, but as it's only a fantasy, it doesn't matter!

Are you going to rent somewhere while doing the work?

Nope, we're going to take a matress and some clothes and stay at the house, but only have the absolute minimum there. We can also de-camp to my mum's or various friends if the mood takes us so it's not like we'll have nowhere else to go.

White and cream can work very well and be reasonably practical depending on where you put it. Personally, I love a bit of colour but not too much; it has to be used wisely - our purple, yellow, pink and white kitchen is a good example.

BIL was on the phone to his middle daughter from 12.30 to 3.15 going through her dissertation. And, it was his idea, not her's. Back seat parenting strikes again, but I think they need to let go a bit. (They used to go and stay with both their daughters once a month or so when they went to uni - I would have thought a hotel would have been a better option, and then perhaps once a term but, hey, what do I know?)

Imagine how satisfying it will be as you strip the house out and then complete it room by room. Putting your own stuff into storage is such a good idea, then you can view the space with completely fresh eyes and decide what to bring back in.

Cripes, thats a long time on the phone. I assume he can help her with the dissertation, that its something he knows about, otherwise it might be a bit crap! They do sound like very involved parents, maybe once the girls have left 'school' and start work the strings will loosen.

That is exactly what we plan to do - strip the house out and do it room by room. We also have plenty of offers of help, although I know from experience that these are not neccessarily 100% likely to happen.

Not sure if he did know much about her dissertation to be honest. He, until recently, worked for HSBC (he has worked there since leaving school and was laid off aged 52 last October) and her dissertation is on branding (advertising.)

They are very involved parents, yes. They absolutely adore their kids but I feel as if it's bordering on the clastrophobic myself.

Just procrastinating re. revision but had to say what an amazing house!! So gorgeous. Makes ours feel like the scruffy, cluttered, cramped house it is (and it isn't even that cramped really)! V. sadly, though our house is actually quite nice POTENTIALLY, the bathroom is and forever will be tiny - there is nowhere else for it to go. But this has inspired me to redo and decorate it, which needs to happen urgently (once the exams are out of the way). (Also to throw away half our possessions but I know I won't go through with that, perfectly doable as it would be!) Anyway, if I was a viewer, confused, I would be badgering DH from the moment of leaving the doorstep for us to put in an offer IMMEDIATELY!

Thank you - SO WHY HAS NO BUGGER PUT IN A BLEEDIN' OFFER THEN?!

Yup - we will have to put down a bigger deposit for the new house than we thought too, which means less money to do it up with. Not sure quite what our budget will be, it just depends on what we get offered and decide to accept on this one. On one hand it would be nice to hang on a bit but on the other the quicker we get out of here and resolve all our debts the better.

It's only been on the market two and a bit months but it feels like FAR longer!

This is the house we are hopefully buying in Hebden. As you can see, it needs a shit load of work! The other one's we saw in this price range were grim - dark, tiny kitchens, no open space, main roads etc. Also, although the others had, allegedly, two bedrooms the second bedroom was generally in the attic and often had hardly any head room. This house, the one on the link, has a proper attic space which can be converted into half studio for DH and the other half can be the spare bedroom. When, or if, we sell it we can easily make it two beds but the plan is to live there and save save save and then we can afford our rambling country farmhouse.

If we didn't have the debts we could stay in our current home with no issues at all but that's not really an option. Once this house does sell we'll be debt free and be able to save and hopefully move in 3 or 4 years.

Also, as we keep saying to ourselves, there is only two of us so how much room do we need...?!

Oooo, I love it. Its screaming 'potential' isnt it? The window on the landing is gorgeous and could be a real feature. I see what you mean about the bathroom suite but that is easily sorted, like you say. The kitchen is a good size, with room for a table, which is great.

Like you say, this house is about more than moving from one place to another, its about the chance to get sorted and set for the future.

As for there being only two of you....Im saying nothing!

(I love the street name, I think its a positive sign )

Thank you, I'm glad you like it too! I showed someone the details at work and she looked at me like I had gone mad!

One thing we really noticed was it had a 'good feel' about it. I think with buying a house you just know and we did with this one (well, we did the second time we saw it - after seeing the rest of the crap out there this one seems like an utter bargain despite the amount of work!)

The kitchen to me is the most important room in the house so I am delighted we have found a house with room for a table etc. We are going to rip out the gas fire and put a wood burner in, and the kitchen will be quite plain and pastels. (I have a pic on my phone of a kitchen we both liked - simple but with character is the way to go we both feel!)

There are lots of features like the stained glass window too, we noticed more and more as we looked around the second time. And if you look on the street view link you can see it's surrounded by beautiful countryside so the lack of big garden is no big deal.

And yes, this is our sorting out house! And appreciate your enthusiasm on the streetname too!

Am now getting carried away with colour schemes and decoration! Where's SeaGreen when you need her with her amazing links?!

I think its going to be lovely, I can totally see it all stripped out and brought up to date. You are right, I think, with keeping it simple. The features will speak for themselves, then.

Im not sure if this is your taste but Ive been having a look recently and it seems full of reasonable bits and pieces.

Oooh, don't mind if I do! Have a browse, I mean.

I like some of the more simple stuff, and think a proper look will be a good idea with a view to DH's studio space. That space in particular needs to be unfussy and simple, with lots of durable storage. (I cannot stand Ikea either!) Thanks for the link.

We have, as you may be able to work out from the pics of our house, a lovely leather sofa (and the sofabed thing from the lounge will be relagated to the attic in the new house) and need to find a chair to go with it. The Cambridge Street house at the moment has a HUGE sofa and chairs in it which makes the room look far smaller than it is. We want to go the opposite. These chair's, the leather one's, are wonderful although way out of our budget. I like leather (quality stuff though, not DFS!) as it wears well and, with dogs and cats in the house, this is A Very Good Thing.

There is also some amazing horses wallpaper by Patterns Farrow and Ball which would be amazing in the bathroom - we want to panel half the wall and then have patterned wallpaper on the other half, otherwise it would be too much. Know horses is an odd choice but, trust me, it'll work!

Something like this from that site you posted would be good for the studiospace - interesting but practical, don't you know! Also, DH has lots of stuff of differing sizes so shelving like this would be a sensible choice.

Tra la la

Those leather chairs are really lovely, I love the big snugly ones in that tan colour or even deep brown. Really classic yet timeless. Im also obsessed with Chaise Longues at the moment such as this which is way out of my current price range but for fantasy house, is perfect! I imagine it in the bedroom, next to my glass dressing table.

The shelving unit is great, and really practical as well.

Am obsessed with chaise longues too!

DH and BIL back.

Back later

Am nipping in bath, back later too.

Yes, while LOVE the idea of a chaise longue I am not really sure where I'd put one in real life, or how much use it would get. Hence, the opting for a snuggly chair instead. Like some of the fabric one's too byt think leather would be better in our house due to the animals.

Glass dressing tables - I sound like my grandma here but we have glass shelves in our bathroom and they are a pain in the arse re dusting as they show up EVERYTHING! So, have to be dusted three times more than anything else.

Really will be back later now as off out for a pre dinner, fertility damaging drink...!

Will you STOP posting fascinating posts - how is a girl to get any revision done?! I have little skill (unlike my sister who can make a room utterly beautiful with a couple of splashes of colour) but I know what I like (the perennial cry of the clueless!). I tell you what is the best decor porn in the world though - Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs fame's book Choosing Colours. Does anyone know it? There's a bit of the 'Farrow and Ball paint is the only possible choice' malarkey, which probably goes a bit too far, but I think it does actual reveal things about colour (and the palettes of e.g. the 50s and 60s and that sort of thing) and is a fantastic browse.

Intriguing reaction to the street name, hp, most intriguing...

I'm so excited for you, confused - I know it must be agonizing waiting (and I'm sure some of the doing will be a little agonizing too!) but it is exciting and I'm really impressed by your plans - we're kind of 'live in the moment' people, DH and me, which is nice in one sense but also means that things don't get achieved (or not anywhere other than work).

OK I really have to do a bit more work, and then take lq's sage advice, get off the computer, wind down with a cup of camomile and go to bed.

quick one!! cheeky post in the middle of work! confused is there any anonymous email ID i can mail you at? i have tons of room idea pages /mood sheets i have put together and i can make a few for you too if you like- but these are pdf documents so can't post them!
think the house has BAGS of potential and can;t think of anything more fun that putting your own stamp on a house room by room!! such fun!!
will post some links presently as well..
but what's your style generally? is it country? or do you prefer more modern/clean lines?
completely understand the leather furniture thing. i don't have any at the moment but that is something that's definitely on the cards because of the pet friendliness. also there's something luxurious about slightly scuffed leather ..
i do love ikea however but i really think one needs to be choosy about what one buys from there. for instance i find their sheling fairly decent for non heavy duty stuff but would not buy a sofa from them (have, and not too impressed with longevity).

i meant shelving- not sheling!!

ok just saw the chaise longue and from all the above am guessing country..
what colours are you keen on generally?

were there pictures of your current place put up?
{hastily scrabbles for back links to check whilst hoping will be forgiven for multiple posts - ?ooh five new messages on our thread- oh what?s this? All seagreen? Nattering on about the same thing? And nothing constructive in all the posts either..gah?}

Ok so some thoughts- I find ticking amazing for upholstery and curtains. Also roman blinds. You could use vertical stripes to make the window feel longer. Check out this site here.
It of course depends on the colour palette but I?m thinking warm neutrals work well for a living room. So perhaps this or this, to make up roman blinds. This is ASSUMING you don?t want to go bolder with colour.
Perhaps a shaggy rug like this for extra cosiness.
This is a site that?s fantastic for colour ideas. Check out the labels on the right for her posts- there is some fantastic colour advice there!
Couldn;t see the horses wallpaper though from the link..