In The Beginning...

It's November 2013.

We've sold the holiday-let in Dumfries & Galloway that was too far away to maintain or enjoy and we're looking for somewhere to get away from the phone on days-off and holidays; where we can walk, grockle and relax; somewhere in which we can invest; somewhere that could eventually be our retirement home.

My spec is 2 bedrooms, up to an hour away from base, not too isolated, nearby pub(s), not a family home.

On a dull day we travel just over an hour to Shropshire to view a 2-bed bungalow "in need of renovation" and I fall in love: with the location; with the modest accommodation; with the potential.

The object of my affections

It's my favourite sort of development: somewhere that someone has lived in for decades and then moved on to a "better place".  They loved it enough to stay until they had to move on and long enough that they didn't care about keeping it updated.

The reality: the agents have told us that an asbestos survey has been done, the results of which will be available soon plus the lounge has been extended with no sign of anything resembling RSJ.  It's an old-style consumer unit so a re-wire is probably needed and a new central heating system would be a good idea.

We put in an offer and get it accepted for £18k less than our budget, giving us the funds to sort out the immediate work.

Everything goes quiet for a few months, as it usually does, especially waiting for the home-buyers report (never buy a previously-owned house without one of these) and that all-important asbestos survey. The vendors (the heirs of the original owner) change their solicitor which slows things down and then communications have to be re-established.  Our solicitors are a Nottingham firm we've used over the years, right from our first ever house purchase in 1985 (3-bed semi for £27k!).  Emma who's done our latest stuff is great.

Finally, Mar 15th, 2014, we become the proud owners of Sunny Acre: a humble, run-down bungalow in a stunning location.

This blog will follow our slow but steady development, turning a Cinderella into a princess and sharing lessons learned plus hopes and dreams.  I'm clearly a bit behind so the first posts will be retrospective but I took lots of photos along the way so I hope you enjoy it.

I use Pinterest a lot to steal ideas, plan designs, learn new techniques and record stuff I've done so you can follow me on there.