Our house is up for auction this Saturday at 1pm. Gah!I have such mixed feelings. I want to live there forever, but it is so big and hard to clean. The location is incredible and neighbours are lovely. In a way, having the interior stylists prop it for us has been good as it feels less like my house and more like a display home, which helped me make the break. I really hope a big, sprawling, loud and messy family move in and fill it up. It is made for big family dinners and art projects spread out on the floor and napping in the hammock and gardening and walking to the shop after dinner to get ice creams.
What a journey it has been... here are some of my favourite memories of Project Beaconsfield Parade.
- At the auction when we bought it, I was so nervous and sweaty that I though I'd fall over. Mum and Dad were in Adelaide so we had to bid on our own. I hadn't been to a house auction before, let alone bid at one! Probably the most nerve-racking thing I've ever done.
- Our old kitchen with the lumps in the floor and the old pantry converted to my walk-in robe. I loved that- our shower was a garden hose gaffer-taped to the wall, but I had the luxury of a walk-in robe.
- After we first moved in, Lee and I had a burst of enthusiasm for renovating and demolished the whole bathroom in an hour and dumped it in the front yard.
- We used to draw and write all over the wall in the kitchen as we knew we were demolished the rear wall.
- Learning how to use most tools properly and how to build walls, lay floorboards, build a deck, paint, assemble scaffolding, tile a bathroom...
- Whenever a major milestone was completed, like we finished painting a room or pulled down a wall or laid the floorboards, it was really invigorating and exciting.
- Spending so much time with my parents (they came over every weekend to help). I learnt so much from my Dad and was constantly impressed with his work ethic and attitude, and it was lovely chatting to mum as we did the shitty apprentice jobs together.
- The last weekend we spent in the house, Lee and I literally worked two twenty-hour days cleaning and finishing things off. We were so exhausted and cranky that I was in tears as I scrubbed walls and scraped paint and repainted architraves. I collapsed onto our mattress- the only bit of furniture left in the house- and had literally the best sleep of my life.
I am having a massive freak-out out over whether we will get a good price, whether the sun will be shining for the auction, whether anyone will bid and where we are going to live next, but I guess it is all part of the journey.