Three Things We’d Do Differently In Our House
*This is a collaborative post on things we’d do differently in our house
It’s coming up to four years since we got the keys to our house and started our renovation. I still can’t believe it’s been so long, where has the time gone?!
During the first few months we had to make a lot of decisions, and while I’m happy with most, there are a few things we’d do differently in our house. Thankfully none of the decisions we made were massive issues, more preference changes. And they’re all things that are relatively easy to change.
Here are some of the things we’d do differently if we started our journey again.
Alternate window dressings
In our living room, dining room and my office we didn’t like the idea of curtains as the spaces were quite big and the bay window would have been hard to do with curtains. So we opted for blinds, but we chose some pretty cheap blinds. If we were doing the project again I’d prefer to have saved for a bit longer to get bay window shutters.
Shutters would have a sturdier and more hard wearing option (especially with our cats around). Plus they look much smarter. And they’ve had been much easier to clean. I really struggle cleaning the flimsy blinds we have.
Hopefully we’ll be able to upgrade these in the coming years.
Things we’d do differently in our house- ensuite shower screen
We have a open walk in shower with a shower screen that comes over about two thirds of the shower tray. It looks really nice and there’s plenty of space to walk in, but it doesn’t protect the rest of the room from water when you take a shower. Sometimes the floor outside the shower is soaked when I get out. And I’m afraid in time it’s going to damage under the tiles, or cause bigger problems around the sealant.
If we went back again I’d have picked one a little wider. You may have to walk into the shower at a slight angle but it would have made a massive difference. This is something we’re looking at updating in the next year or two.
Get solar power sooner
We knew we wanted to get solar as soon as we got the house, but we waited until March 2022 to get our panels installed. If we had tried to get our panels a year or two earlier (pandemic permitting) we’d have saved even more money on our energy bills. Although who knows how much would have been possible considering the state of the world when we got the keys for our house.
I’m really thankful we got it installed when we did (just before prices and demand went up), but any additional savings would have been great.
Overall there’s no huge structural things we’d do differently in our house which is the main thing. What would you do differently in yours?
19 responses to “Three Things We’d Do Differently In Our House”
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Rhian Westbury
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We’ve been considering getting solar. It seems like such a great way to save money and do better for the planet at the same time. We just found out we’ve got the perfect layout for it.
Yeah it’s great for both longer term money saving and doing good for the planet x
oh so you recommend solar power? We’re thinking about it seriously…This is good to know actually. Thank you so much…
I couldn’t recommend it enough, for us it won’t take too long to pay for itself x
Awesome share, Rhian. We’ve calculated the cost of solar panels installation vs the cost of electricity. And it was crazy, that a breakeven point would come in like 15 years. So, we just did part of our outdoors living with solar panels.
But we’ll revisit this issue as solar installation makes more sense in this part of the world.
Yeah I think for us it was 10-12 years, which considering that we’re in our pretty much forever home it was well worth it x
There is always difference in each house. And I am amazed that you have soalr panels, I am planning that to my house.
With the state of the energy bills getting increased consistently, having a solar power panels installed is a great idea to save money for a long term as well as doing good for the environment.
I would worry about the water thing too! Proper ventilation is important in a bathroom as well. Hopefully you can figure out how to keep all the water in the shower.
Yeah the ventilation is a slight issue as well as the room was originally a bedroom but previous owners turned it into an ensuite so something we need to look into x
Four years already, time flies! Your reflections on the renovation journey are insightful. Cheers to continuous improvements and upgrades!
Solar power is a good investment. we have it in our house in Sicily too, and it works very well.
I would love shutters too. I think that they look great – that is something I would definitely save up for in the future.
We have been in our house almost 20 years, and I think about all the things I would change. It is tough when you are a first time homeowner and don’t really know what you should be looking for.
There’s so many mistakes you can make as a first time homeowner, thankfully this wasn’t my first home so I had a lot of experience of what I’m looking for. I’m sure we would have made more mistakes otherwise x
The shower situation is actually such a big deal. I hope you are able to get that rememedied before it develops into a larger issue. There a lot of things I’d do differently as well in my house had I known then what I know now. It’s mostly stuff within the kitchen area. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences!
. The tip about opting for shutters instead of blinds in the living spaces is brilliant—sturdy, smart, and easier to clean.
I think they’ll make such a difference x
Solar pannels sound amazing. Thanks for sharing this with us.