You can't fight the inevitable...

In April 2006, we bought a house.
A 2 bedroom railway terrace with a few basic renovations and lots of original features. It didn't look like much to begin with - the paint job was shabby and it needed some love. We wanted to make it a home. And I began blogging my interior and reno adventures.
We didn't have much cash at first, but what we did have, we spent on paint.
And paint we did - some rooms twice (the lounge room ended up purple at first, and the hallway was painted blue and ended up looking like a Smurf's back passage). We learnt a lot about paint. I choose crazy colours. He hated the crazy colours. But he mostly liked the rooms in the end.
We decided that when we had the money, we'd finish the kitchen, and renovate the bathroom and backyard.
We gave the kitchen a mini makeover: installing new benchtops, sink and installing a washing machine under the bench. And painted a chalkboard as a feature wall.
Then we could get rid of the tardis (the makeshift laundry in the backyard).
We also got Stella - an American Staffordshire Terrier. And she really messed up the backyard.
She ripped washing of the line (so we got rid of the clothes line). She dug holes all over the yard (that was good enough reason to concrete the whole thing!). She jumped on us (and covered us with dirt). We loved her anyway.
Then we added another family member. Stanley, a mini dachshund. Stella and Stanley ruled the backyard with their dirty paws.
We started to renovate the backyard.
The dogs got boarded, and the builders moved in. They ripped out the tin fences and brought in loads of bricks. The council built a driveway. Walls went up and the garage door was installed. Pavers were laid. The backyard was almost complete.
The biggest design flaw in the house was that the bathroom and toilet were seperate, and that there was no proper space for the fridge in the kitchen because you needed to walk through the kitchen to get to the toilet. This also meant the fridge sat right outside the toilet door - and the thought of fecal matter floating into the fridge eventually got the better of us. So we decided to make the toilet and bathroom one room, and close up the wall in the kitchen so there would be a proper spot for the fridge.
I spent alot of time and energy designing the bathroom myself. This was harder than I thought, seeing as I had never designed a bathroom before. I chose everything from the fittings and tiles to designing the custom build vanity. Even harder was having no bathroom for weeks and weeks - which was extremely stressful. Having to go to the pub or friends houses for toilet and showers was awful. But it was finally finished (well - almost).
Unfortunately 'we' became 'me' about a year ago, and I was left on my own in the house when the renovations were almost complete. Even though I'm really proud of the work that was done, I'm still a little sad it was never quite finished.

For the last year I've lived here with the knowledge that maybe I wouldn't be living here forever. I never knew just how attached I would become to this house - maybe because this is the first house I really feel I can call my home. I knew that there was a good chance I'd be leaving it - but I decided to make the most of living here while I still could.

My friend moved into the about 12 months ago, and it was one of the best things that could have happened at the time. I think we really needed each other right then and we have become the best of friends. We turned the backyard into a canvas, and the lounge room into a studio. We've shared everything from secrets and tears to apple pies and beers since then. I can't really imagine my life without him now... :)

Sadly, it's time to leave my gorgeous little house. It's difficult to imagine closing the door for the last time, and knowing I won't have a place of my own to come home to in the early hours of Sunday mornings, or to spend some quiet time on my own in the 'reading room'.

But it's exciting too. Time for a new adventure...