Five Years in Our First Home

We recently celebrated our fifth year in our house. Goodness me, how those years have flown by and so much has happened! We got married; went on the honeymoon of a lifetime; expanded our family with the additions of our cat Bella and our puppy Luna; changed jobs; decorated *almost* every room in the house; attempted to tackle the garden; had parties, BBQs and duvet days; had our share of DIY disasters and successes, the list goes on. Our home is far from perfect but it's just that, our home, and I love it.

Number 21 - our red brick Victorian terrace house

We were fortunate enough to be able to buy our first home at a fairly young age. I was 22, fresh out of university and eager to set down roots after living in three different cities in as many years. We found our perfect first-time-buyers home pretty quickly and fell in love with the location and the feel of the house. I can still remember viewing it for the first time and how we were both unable to hide the massive grins on our faces. We knew straight away that this was where we wanted to be. 

When you take on a house for the first time you don't quite realise what you're letting yourself in for. As much as you can prepare for all the 'what-ifs' you will never be ready for every eventuality. With that in mind I thought I'd share my top five tips for first-time buyers:

1. Live and learn - if possible you should try and live with the house as it is before making decisions about decorating. This way you gain insight into how you use the space and what you want and need from it. 
2. You can't do everything at once - plan, prioritise and save.
3. Take the rough with the smooth - things will inevitably and unfortunately break and go wrong. Keep calm and put the kettle on before panicking. 
4. Call on as many favours as possible - plumbing or plastering friend? It's time to give them a call.
5. Leave the hallway to last - this is advice that we will heed in every future house that we own. The hallway takes the brunt of the knocks and scrapes as you decorate the rest of the house. Don't put your time and energy into decorating an area which will get damaged.

What are your top tips for first-time-buyers? 

Claire x