The Norm Can Conform

The opinions you never asked for on the subjects you’re not bothered about.

Adventures Of A First Time Buyer – The First Bump In The Road

So here we are, we’ve only just begun and already I’m stuck. Yep, it was only a matter of time before I find myself getting stressed, regretting everything and curling up into a small ball to cry. But what could have triggered me? I’ll give you a quick run down of the two major factors.

1. The door doesn’t function properly

The door has been cracked at the bottom causing it to get stuck when you try and open it. When we viewed the house (twice) it wasn’t like this at all. To make matters worse, the lock now only works from the outside (which I learnt the hard way). I was stuck for 20 minutes before Tom managed to get to the house and unlock it from the outside. I’ve sanded down the sides a bit and now it seems to be a little more functional. Either way, I’m not going to worry too much. I’ll definitely be buying a new front door, but for now it’s highly inconvenient.

2. The previous owners fucked up the cellar

I only discovered this when I went to find take meter readings and was shocked by the sight that burnt through my eyeballs. It’s fair to say that the previous residents couldn’t be arsed emptying their cellar – lazy shites. It took them long enough to sign the paperwork which pushed my moving date back and then to find this had me shook.

How bad is that?! I know this didn’t happen after they’d left because there was numerous paw prints from the owner’s cat throughout the paint. Who seriously leaves something like this? To make matters worse, the paint can is upside down so the second I try and lift it, it’s going to start oozing out.

The whole cellar was filled with tat, pointless shite and and the remainders of somebody else’s house, from the amount of things down there, you’d think they hadn’t moved out. Either that or they have some unknown hermit living in the basement.

This is either going to be countless trips to the tip or paying for a skip – and I’m not happy with either of these options!

But it’s not all doom and gloom – On with the decorating

Tom decorating

After many dilemmas of where to begin (thanks to a lot of guidance from friends and family), we’ve finally got started. We kicked it all off with the first few coats of paint on both the bedrooms and I finally feel like we’re getting somewhere.

My dad and I have been working on the master bedroom, filling the crevices and painting the walls while Tom worked on painting the second bedroom. So far so good but it definitely took longer than we expected as the ceilings are around 10 feet tall. We also had my mum who helped with a deep clean of the kitchen, cupboards and units.

It started off pretty tragic, Tom and I had no idea where to begin, what to do or how to fill holes in from nails and screws left behind. This definitely got me feeling down in the dumps.

But alas, we conquered our fears, learnt the basics and got on with painting the bedrooms. Next on the agenda, the living room then the hallway then the kitchen.

A surprise house-warming present

As I got back from B&Q, I was greeted at the door by a delivery man with a large package “Oh, Matron” – not like that. I didn’t know who could possibly be getting me a present, I hadn’t told anyone my address yet as I’d only just got the keys.

From first glance, it looked like I’d been bought a fish tank. I never mentioned wanting to get fish?!

When I opened up the box, it turns out that it was from Nationwide (my mortgage provider). I wasn’t sure what it was, but there was a note inside:

“Welcome to your new home.
We’ve put together a few handy items to help you get settled in your new home.
You’ve probably got enough brown boxes, so hopefully the fish tank adds a bit of colour while you’re busy unpacking.”

They sent me a very generous care package. It had everything, kitchen roll, orange juice, tea bags, washing up liquid, noodles, popcorn, sponges, toilet roll, you name it. Everything to help get you settled in and make you feel more at home. Honestly, this was such an appreciated gift.

As I currently have no furniture in the house, I thought I’d get my fake fish tank displayed proudly on the fireplace to brighten up the yet-to-be-decorated room.

Harry J Bartlett

Digital Content Creator, lover of fashion, drag queen connoisseur and all around phenomenal human being. If I had to describe myself in 3 words I would say; Gorgeous, Talented and Humble.

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