It’s been a while since I’ve written about my house, and that is almost entirely because I’m hideously embarrassed to say that no renovations have yet happened. This is both because the amount of work that would need to occur to make the house pretty all at once would be immensely costly, and because I simply haven’t had time to really knuckle down to planning it all.
But it’s not all decay and depression. Clever investments have really taken the baton from scented candles and I now feel that once walls have been moved and floors retiled that I’ll have the lovely accessories all ready to go. Things to which I refer //
Victorian Cupboard / Remember how excited I got when I bought my twenties desk? Well this eBay find was like that but much, much better. I’ve always liked the way old fashioned cupboards stood away from walls proudly, showing off their woody beauty, and have also harboured a near-obsessive love for the Victorian era since girlhood. To own a piece with that history (and imagine the linen and corsets which might once have been stashed inside) really brings me daily joy. As the interiors of the drawers is fairly rough, I’ve lined them with Heathcote & Ivory Drawer Linings.
AEG Washing Machine and Dryer / I used to have a dryer that billowed condensation into the house like there was no tomorrow so upgrading to the more clever machine has been great. Clever, by the way, is absolutely the correct word when describing these – I hadn’t quite realised the value of an intuitive machine that switched off when things were as dry as I wanted them to be and didn’t just carry on going, resulting in shrunken sheets and baking bras.
Smeg Fridge / I made the mistake of googling ‘Smeg Fridges – any good?’ before buying and fell into a vast hole on the internet where handles and the short warranty and what not were being discussed. It boiled down to this: Smeg fridges are very pretty, but also huge and sometimes break. As I a) bought it with a warranty, and b) have a large, though ugly space, I went ahead. It was the right decision: two years on, my pretty fridge is still working just fine and shields the eye from the horrors of the utility cupboard.
Y-Cam / This is genius – and, fortunately, doesn’t require anything near a genius intellect to set up. Basically, plug in, sync up with phone app, feel much better about leaving home because if someone enters, you get an alert. Also, if that someone were then to clock the camera and nick it, you have footage of them saved so you can identify them. It’s a small thing, but having them around my house along with a decent alarm system has also made me feel a bit less afraid to leave the house. Thing that’s not quite so good about it? Hubs gets alerts every time I do something weird like squats by the back door or talking to Monty when I come in from work and then makes fun of me relentlessly.
Some other random house things / While I’m waffling on in this chatty housewifely manner, I wanted to throw a couple of other things that belong in that domain into the ring. First, cleaning. I’m still into Method, but have also found some other brands I love: KINN Natural Floor Wash and Yope Hand Soap. Both packaged nicely and do the job, while also coming in big containers (less waste) and, in the case of Yope, not drying out skin. I’d like to pretend I clean while looking like a goddess, but no – scrunchie in, make-up off, tracksuit on. Once I’ve finished and had a bath in something lovely though, out comes glam me, who now has a fancy pants La Perla dressing gown (GOD THE DECADENCE) to waft around in.