Page 40 - February 2022

AT HOME WITH

How exciting for you! How did you How did you get started with making
know it was ‘the one’ for you? the property feel like your own?
I viewed this property and one around Everything needed a good coat of paint to
the corner on the same day. They were begin with! I also changed the carpet in my
both in my ideal location, and had almost bedroom before I even moved in, as there
identical asking prices, but this one felt was mould growing underneath it. About
more private. It had a small garden, only six months after I moved in, I renovated
accessible to residents in our building the kitchen and replaced the floors in the
(instead of a communal garden for four hallway, kitchen and living room. This hugely
tenements to share), and this one had helped with draughts, as I invested in decent
a kitchen with a large window, whereas insulation and floorboards that completely
the other one’s kitchen was internal. The sealed any gaps.
flat needed a lot of work, and I viewed it
on a really dark and rainy day, but I could If I were to do anything else to the property, I’d
instantly see its potential and visualise change the bathroom. It works perfectly fine,
what I could do with it. but it isn’t fully to my taste.

Three years on, what’s your favourite
thing about your home?
I love that every room has a big window, no
matter how small the room! It brings so much
light into the property.

What are the biggest lessons you’ve
learned since renovating your home?
Spend as much as you can afford on longer-
term items. I regret buying a cheap couch
from IKEA as soon as I got my keys, as I
thought I would need it immediately. I ended
up not even using my living room for the first
four months, as I had no other furniture or a
TV! I should have waited and saved up during
that time for the couch I really wanted, as I’ve
now replaced it anyway. You can save money
on smaller furnishings instead – I bought my
coffee table and side tables from a second-
hand furniture shop for £5 each!

What advice would you give to fellow
first-time buyers?
Add your desired locations to the ESPC email
alerts – it definitely helped me when this flat
came up for sale. You can follow Alice’s home renovations on Instagram @thepaleopeach.

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