The New House Tour

The internet is a miracle! When you've lived without it for 3 weeks, you suddenly learn to have a whole new level of appreciation for it's little wonders!! Anyway, we've had plenty of other things to fill the internet shaped void in our lives. Namely a wedding to plan (more on that later!) and a brand new house to transform into our home! And finally we're linked back up to the world wide web of wonder.

So, as I shared not long ago, we are proud new homeowners! Since we've been in our new pad for over a month now, I figured it is high time we shared a few glimpses of what we've taken on!

First up the kitchen. It was painted a peeling and bubbling shade of deep red. Nice. We have grand plans for this too, naturally. But so far it's just had a few coats of white paint all over and added a washing machine so far. The washing machine, another one of those indispensable gizmos of modern life, that I got far too excited about when it arrived! Alrighty, I agree, not indispensable, but I remember wearing every single shirt, pair of pants and socks until I'd have to hand wash one of each every evening in preparation for the next day and then lugging my entire wardrobe to the laundrette. Trust me it is MUCH heavier when wet for the carry home. Anyway, I'm digressing. Long term the plan is to knock through the kitchen into the bathroom at the back and create a big kitchen diner. But alas, we have to find a new home for the bathroom before we do that....and not at the end of the garden! 

We have three different bedrooms, one in blue, cream and grey. As you can see, the colour in each is vibrant and dark, the carpet is mostly dodgy and the period features are all hidden away!?! However, what they do all have is period features (yey!), lots of windows and lots of light.

Plus a few other rooms like the living room and hallway, that I'll save for another day! To give you a little idea of what we've tackled so far on the renovations front, this is what the first few days looked like. I have the most amazing family that have all chipped in to help and have done so much of the initial work. They are truly fabulous and we would still be living in chaos if it wasn't for all their help, especially my Dadio. Here are the men of the family looking busy doing manly things and working their renovation magic on day one! :) (Disclaimer: flip flops do not meet health and safety standards for labourers footwear!)

This is clearly going to be a five year project! We shall not be able to flip the house in a few months and in fact, this is not what we want to do. Having longed for a house for such a long time, now that we have one the decision making is all a little overwhelming! Having only ever been able to decide the colour of the bedspread in the past, making choices for the walls, curtains, furniture, floor...eeeeek!

Anyway, I'm pining my inspiration like a mad-lady and starting to try and pick out trends in the images I like. I'm car-booting like it is going out of fashion and generally finding inspiration in all sorts of strange places. So, watch along with us as the space becomes our home and evolves with us as we grow as people and as, well, interior stylists! Ha!

Reinventing myself

I may be showing my age a little, but when I read this article on the BBC, I couldn't help but feel a little bit sad! Has the signature really lost it's place it today's society? As someone who has always loved typography, calligraphy, script and even plain old fashioned joined up writing, I am teeny bit gutted that the signature is on the demise.

I can't help but agree that as a security control it is rather dubious. I'm sure I'm not the only one who, as a teenager that had to get her homework diary signed by a parent once a week, spent hours trying to perfect my folks' signatures!! It's uncanny how much a signature says about a person - my Ma's is swift, loopy, full of character, easy to read and long. Whereas my Pa's is controlled, restrained, clear and precise. If you know either of them you'd know instantly that all those words could be used to describe their personalities too.

I wonder what my signature says of me?!! That's a little harder that one! It's crazy that you have to develop a signature at quite a young age and live with it for so long - I remember getting my first bank account and having to do my signature. Proud moment. :) I remember practicing so many different 'M's and trying to decide on my favourite. But as attached as I am to my signature, I am also very excited about getting the chance to devise a totally new one - to reinvent myself!

This seems a good a point as any to justify changing my surname when we get married. I'm looking forward to starting a new phase of 'me'. One where I am a wife, a partner in crime and half of a new family unit! Whether we call ourselves the Eeles or the Needhams is almost arbitrary, what matters to me most is that we are in it together. My surname is just one of the outward symbols of that, it's not going to change who I am and all that I currently stand for. I'm just adding a few new strings to that bow. So, we shall be the Needhams and I shall be Mrs Needham. :) Eeeeek!!

And as part of this process, I get to re-design a little part of me I've had since I was 14! It's clearly time for a re-vamp. Keeping the core features but update it for the modern day and age, as the marketing spiel might go! Or a new twist on an old favourite?! Either way I'd best get practicing!

How attached are you to your signature and how would you feel about changing it?! :)