After 30 years in Footscray we have decided to down size. With Celia still away and after my travels I need to spend a week or more on the garden and it just is too big for me alone.
So we are going to look in this area for a 2 bedroom unit ?townhouse with a small outdoor area for Spencer (at 14 he is still going strong)
So we are going to look in this area for a 2 bedroom unit ?townhouse with a small outdoor area for Spencer (at 14 he is still going strong)
The first advice I had was to let go of any emotion attached to the house, and get it ready for people to imagine what they could do in the space, Not what my ideas had been.
As you know this was emphasised by the demise of the pom Pom tree. The site of many a happy Blossom Viewing!
The first step is to declutter A word I have come to dread!
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| And just as I packed them up the bottom fell out of the box! |
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| Any excuse to clean this up was a boon |
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| My office desk and some already packed boxes |
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| Scrap book albums don't fit in any ordinary box! |
Having the stumps and the floors done a few years ago I had weeded some stuff out and as part of setting up a work room in the Bungalow (see last summer) a lot had been done .... or so I thought!
First the Declutter
Celia and I spent many a message flying between us 'What's in this?' Do you want these?" Are we keeping the trunks?" 'What about your snow domes?' "Whose is this?"
I became ruthless adn the yellow recycle bin has been in more use than it ever had. As well I am on first name terms with the guy at Savers donation centre (Brett)
After clearing the bookshelves I utilized the great Benjamin Andrew Footpath library; footpathlibrary.org donations at Kennards storage in Kensington, and then started to collect boxes and stuff for storage.
As well the nature strip donation centre worked well too!
The Bungalow was a challenge but thank
god I had started, even if Celia never got to use her workroom I
created. Still there was a lot to be done and a long list of repairs The
Pergola was the big one and a gap between the wooden house and the one
brick wall we have.
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| The side path The plastic bags stopped the weed fat hen taking over |
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| The garden bed left to look after itself! |
Used Jo's son in
law who is a builder and he got it done over 3 weekends. As well stained
the verandah and Porch when I was away.
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| All Spencer's excited scratches on the door are gone! |
After the declutter there is the Styling of the house. Seemed a wank at first but could see the merit of it as I compared houses on Realestate.com One place didn't even have the beds made or the dishes washed. (tenants obviously, but a turn off)
I had thought to put a single bed in Celia's room (Small) but was advised that it would be good to show that a double would fit well as a guest room.
The other thing pointed out was that everyone wants to know where they can watch TV. A problem as we don't have one,but I borrowed one and set up a spot.
We thinned our art work but I don't like it all bare so have some still around.
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| Yes! That's where m,y desk was! |
There were last minute items Like the kitchen window an old steel frame one, but found advice and paint at Bunnings, as well as for the bath where the old grouting at edge of tiles had come off. And the outdoor bench looked a bit sad compared to the deck .
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| The bungalow and vege /herb garden |
Had to replace the lights in the dining room and living room as they had non functioning globe socket. Used an electrician from a Fridge magnet in the mail box. Great service and work and reasonable fees.
And gone!
I had done the front path, but the pigeons resident in the tree seemed to enjoy sitting there, crapping on my car and the fence. So a scrub fixed that! I was advised to blast them out with a hose but that seems a bit cruel.
So had the house cleaned by a less than satisfactory company (better to have done it myself) and have gone over it again, have the gardener lined up for last tidy up and rubbish removal, and water clean the paving etc
Also a box of house paint. But have a place in Pascoe Vale to take it
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| Dining room |
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| The lounge (plus some clutter on the couch!) |
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| The bathroom with new white cupboards and blue china handles |
And something that has needed doing for 10 years
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| The black edged tiles grouting gone!!! |
Then waiting on Andrew giving me an agent to call me. He has done the Find the best agent work for me .
