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Monday 22 April 2013

All Change

Changes are afoot this week. Almost as soon as we made the recent decision to remain living in the country, the scales fell from my eyes and  I realized that I simply couldn't live with the kitchen wallpaper a moment longer...or the sunroom...nor the hallway. So now, at this very moment, there's a whole lotta stripping going on!

 Someone once confided to me, that in their (admittedly elevated) opinion, there was simply no luxury in paint, and that was clearly the view held by the previous owners here too. The problem is, that although their choice of wall papers may be fussy, its good quality and wearing irritatingly well as a result.

Combine that fact with my our prior plans to move, and suddenly there's absolutely no justification or motivation to make changes. So you live with it...and you live with it, even though its not you, and it annoys you, so then you just detach yourself from that bloody wallpaper...and then the whole bloody house as well, cos whats the point? We'll be leaving and it'll be someone else's problem anyway.

 I know everyone has times when they're fired up and motivated to work on or redecorate their home, and other times when life's too busy, or money's too short, or you just can't be bothered.  For me, it was definitely a bit more than that though because when I had cut myself off emotionally from the 
house, I had made it yet another another reason to leave.

Later, when the decision was reversed and we took the house off the market,  I knew almost instantly that I WANTED to bond with it again, to make it ours, and removing the previous owner's taste in wallpaper  became inexplicably important. No matter how superior or luxurious their taste might be, it ain't mine and I want this house to feel like mine again...I  want it to feel like home.

 So finally, after seven years of living here, its goodbye fussy checked paper, hello 'soft white glow'. You see, it may be only a fresh coat of paint, but it feels suspiciously  like a fresh start. Is that silly? And maybe it IS too much to ask of a lick of paint, but it's a helluva lot cheaper and less disruptive that moving house, and I think that definitely makes it worth a try. 


PS-I've joined up with Sarah Miles at Hello Wall today-go on over and take a peek at the rest! 

themondayclub

9 comments:

  1. I think a lick of a paint can work wonders on turning a house into a home....you go for it! Been there with the thick, horrible, layer upon layer of wallpaper though - stick with it!

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  2. I know exactly what you mean Emma - I lived with the previous owner of my houses choices for years and it never felt like MY home. Even the stripped look before decorating was preferable. I have wallpapered a few rooms purely because the plaster isn't up to taking paint but it's been with paper you can then paint over.

    It's not just a lick of paint, it's making it yours.

    Enjoy your new home :)

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  3. Its amazing how long you can live with something in your house you hate. I absolutely DETEST my living room curtains but somehow have never set aside the £150 (or so) it wud cost to replace them

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  4. We lived like that in our old house - we didn't really change anything and sold it (probably at less than we should have got if we'd made an effort). Now we're in our house for life - the stress of selling made me never ever want to go through it again! We have made changes, removed the hideous wallpaper and bought fancy new furniture and I love it. Enjoy your house, its worth the hard work.

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  5. It took us almost the same time to paint our girls' bedroom pastel pink, over yellow and a far too dark blue. Only to move them to another bedroom a year later and put our son in the pink one!
    Good luck with the painting and making the house truly yours :)

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  6. We removed awful patterened wallpaper bit by bit, but it took over 10 years to remove the godawful fireplace. Now the house is really ours and I'm never moving.
    (of course, everywhere needs repainted now and I won't stop looking at other houses)

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  7. Good luck. Removing wallpapper is not fun. Using warm water and vinegar helps to remove it. I had six rooms yo do. I will never buy a house with wallpaper again. Lol

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  8. You're absolutely right about how we 'bond' with a house or not.

    Our house is rented and the landlords have made it easier for themselves to maintain by painting everything the same colour - 'Muddy Puddle' - I have an overwhelming urge to bring some more colour in somewhere - orange perhaps!

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  9. You are so right and on a deeper level (check me!) it's all part of making your decision concrete/definite. No going back! Selfishly, I'm sad you're not moving closer to me but on the plus side, more meet ups in the Fat Gherkin now! Ax

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