Ages and ages ago I posted about a vermin problem I was going through mainly mice and rats, the problem was constant. No amount of glue traps and poison seems to resolve the issue, they just kept going back. I knew what the problem was and it was our first massive mistake living here.
We extended the house a few years back and the new living room, we made a floor with beams and boards, so there was a huge space under the floor for air to circulate and prevent damp getting in, all good then or was it? We now realise why downstairs in the houses they put concrete floors in, to stop this stuff from happening.
Not really because we learned that is where the little blighters came in, literally tunnelling into the house. Then they would get up in the walls, there is nothing worse than trying to watch TV and hearing them running all around you.
I could not take it any more!
The one thing that kept me living in that house was fast unlimited internet, it was never our first choice and a last minute purchase after finding out internet was not as widely available as we were first told. Sure you could get mobile but the data was capped, Bulgarians could not understand the issue, but when you stream tv, movies, etc it soon mounts up.
Thankfully 2021 things changed when 5G came to Bulgaria, and people demanded more data because of its need for gaming, etc. So at the back end of 2020 we were told about a house that needed little work doing and we could get it for cheap from a welsh guy they knew. We bought it on the premise that we would eventually turn it into a AirB&B thinking we would get some small income. But the more I looked at this lovely little house in a sleepy village, the more I thought I wanna live there not here.
The new abode.
New windows put in.
So I decided early 2021 that we wanted to work on the house and make it ours with the aim of moving in October. Now I am blessed because of my position and managed to save a ton of money, so what mistakes I learned from so far I could rectify, plus we knew a lot more people who could tell us where to get a fitted kitchen, a good heating system etc.
I decided this time I didn't want a log fire, they're nice but god they are mess, everything you touch your hands are black the walls are black the ceiling its too much. Cosy in the winter, but far too much maintenance, so I wanted a pellet burner, which acts like a furnace heating all the radiators in the house, but runs off wooden pellets to keep us warm.
Those steps were far too steep, this was the hallway before.
Much better
Warm and cosy with the new heating system.
So when we found out that we could get internet at the new place, it was all systems go to be ready to move before the next winter.
So there were three big jobs that needed doing, the stairway to the first floor was too steep especially for the dogs, so we had to redesign them. The kitchen was mismatched, there was half of one kitchen and half of another, which made me more adamant that we needed a new kitchen, and then there was the heating. My other half loves doing things cheaper but hates it when there is a lot of work, but after all the problems we had in the current house I put my foot down with a firm no! I said I was getting it all professionally installed, and I would pay for it which I did.
The old kitchen, that had to go.
Now doesn't that look better.
Started off in March I got all the windows replaced with new double glazing ones, winters get cold here and the current windows were perished, they were old and would no survive much longer.
Then we moved the existing staircase around which made the downstairs seem a lot bigger than it was before. After that it was on with the kitchen around June time, I cannot tell you how much I loved seeing it when it was first installed, everyone should have a big kitchen with plenty of workspace.
The bathroom upstairs had no toilet, there was only one downstairs so we got to work putting a new toilet in and had to rearrange the waste, which was a small feat but we did it and it is so worth it.
Once the bigger jobs were done it really was a case of decorating, we decided that the living room oddly would be one of the rooms upstairs, but because of the layout of the house it made the most sense. One of the things I truly wanted though was a homely feel, the current house was ok but it never felt like home, I never felt comfortable in it, probably due to the pests but not only that, I could never picture it how I wanted it to actually look.
I like to watch vloggers on you tube and had a thing about watching people in America living in mobile homes, we in the uk know them as statics. But there was one in particular I watched called Fearfully Created, when there was a particular episode where she made a fake chimney breast and had a fire and tv above it. I loved the idea so we added it to our living room and it worked out so perfectly.
Credit Fearfully Created Youtube
Absolutely love our fake chimney breast.
Then after all the big jobs it was a case of painting, our bedroom and living room I went with a coffee and cream colour. In the last house I insisted on white but having three dogs it doesn't work and very very quickly it gets splashes of dirt everywhere. so the hallway downstairs and up I wanted a nice warm colour, which I found a fabulous orange, which really gives it a wow factor and I love it.
I just adore this colour.
I'm honestly so happy that we moved, so much so I have not yet been back to the old house, I feel I have no want to go there right now, enjoying the peace and quiet and why not when I have views like this picture below.
One of the views in our village
But the best thing, is sitting here now and not having to wait for the next sound of scratching in the walls or having something run past your feet every now and again. I spent a lot of money last year to get it to where it was but unlike the first house, there was a bathroom already, and a kitchen even though it had to be changed, so the work only too altogether maybe 4 months in total to get it to where we are now and I am super happy with the progress.
But the best thing of course is not hearing scratches in the walls or having something scurrying past your feet. I don't think I will be leaving here for a while.