WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!
/We sold our house!
Our sold house in Watford.
The floor plan of our victorian terrace, spread over three floors.
I’m a little behind on my blog posts, so I apologise if you already know, but in September 2019 we sold our beloved house.
After eight years renovating our gorgeous Victorian Mid Terrace, we thought the time was right to make hay as they say, and get it sold.
Dressing room doors - Farrow and Ball Hague Blue. Rug from The cotswold company. Wallpaper from House of Hackney.
In January 2019 we started talking about moving. Our son Otis was almost eight months old and he was starting to crawl, and life as we had previously known it was changing for the better. Everything was great, but our house started to niggle at us. We had fallen out of love with it. The steps up to our front door which I had previously loved started to grate on me every time I entered and exited with the buggy, the narrow 90cm wide hallway was a nightmare to navigate when visitors came over, let alone move a buggy through, and the three floors of town house living which I had longed for weren’t working for our young family.
Our old bathroom. Metro tiles and Wallpaper from Florence Broadhurst .
Plus, the local schools were, well, less than average and although we adored our direct neighbours, some of the other residences in the vicinity lacked respect for the community and I worried about what our sons future would look like in ten year’s time if we stayed living there for schools and after school clubs. Plus the lack of grass and garden space for him to roam and play saddened me deeply.
Walls in Farrow and Ball Railings. Green velvet sofa from West Elm, Navy velvet sofa from John Lewis, rug from West Elm, and drinks trolley from M&S.
Walls in Farrow and Ball Railings. Green velvet sofa from West Elm, Navy velvet sofa from John Lewis, rug from West Elm, and drinks trolley from M&S.
The temptation of looking on Right Move at properties for sale left me feeling frustrated that we weren’t in a position to make an offer so, in the February of 2019 we decided to see what happened and list it with a local estate agent
Loft extension bedroom. Walls in Farrow and Ball Railings.
Loft bedroom, painted in Farrow and Ball Railings.
We had it valued by four local estate agents and we were so blown away by one which valued it at a higher than average price, we decided to list it with them. After many viewings and lots of interest it wasn’t sold. Why hadn’t it sold in its first two weeks? Was it too expensive? Had we been charmed into thinking it was worth more than it really was?
I’m sure the uncertainty of Brexit wasn’t helping our situation. Were house prices set to fall? Was it the timing? We’re less people looking to move? Or were we just too expensive?
We were getting the footfall through the door, but just not the offers. Then an offer came in much lower than our asking price. Unwilling to act in haste we declined and decided to move estate agents, and lowered the asking price. Within two weeks we were sold, and we got (our new) asking price.
Grey kitchen from Ikea. Dining room Table, chairs and rug all from West Elm.
Grey kitchen from Ikea.
Wallpaper from Divine Savages - Deco Martini. Paint is all Farrow and ball Railings.
Our loft ensuite bathroom. Wall colour ; Farrow and Ball Pink Ground.
Otis’ jungle nursery bedroom. Wallpaper from Milton and King. All furniture from Stokke.
You’d think it was a time of celebration.
I’d love to say we were happy, but it was a strange time. Our house was finished. Perfect in fact. We started questioning if we had ad we done the right thing by selling it? Would we find our next dream home quick enough not to risk loosing our buyer?
The hunt was on for our next home. Our ‘forever’ home. And the criteria was bigger this time. A bigger garden, great schools, space for a utility room, a driveway. All the elements which we never had before and of course some that we did have previously; space for a dressing room, an open plan kitchen dining room and be close enough to a station for commuting to work. The only issue was our budget wasn’t big enough for most of the houses which ticked these boxes, and in order to get all of the above we would have to consider a renovation.
Would we find our dream home? Well, you’ll have to check back and see.. x
