I’m not feeling any motivation for house projects at the moment, but I really need to get started on the update to our small hall. It’s at the side of our house and embarrassingly grubby. So grubby that I’m horrified when visitors first set eyes on it.

It’s the main entrance to our house and so the place where we dump all our shoes and coats….and apparently where I store my vases!  It also houses the electric meter, the fuse box and the door to the under stairs cupboard, all which are damaged in some way. There’s quite a bit of work for such a small area, but it has to be be done….on a budget of course.

Here you can see the unpainted mdf shelf (unpainted since 2006!) and coat hooks

And the shoe rack underneath it.

Of course I have a little to do list:

To do (small hall):

• Get quote for woodwork
• Replace backdoor step
• Replace rotten under stairs door frame
• Box in meter (or remove all)
• Prepare walls
• Paint ceiling
• Paint walls
• Paint mdf shelf
• Undercoat door frame
• Gloss door and frame
• Clean floor tiles

At the moment the electric meter is half boxed it and we need to either have the job completed, or remove all the wood completely – it just depends on the cost.

I’m not putting a demanding time frame on this project, I just want to get started on it, and if possible, have it completed by the end of March. Hmm. Ten weeks. Should be long enough!

Are you procrastinating on anything house projects?

House Projects – Small Hall (Before) is a post from: Move to Portugal

I’ve updated our house to do list because our original goal of completing all our house renovations in 2011 is not going to happen……although I’m still quite happy with our progress in 2011 as a couple of the main jobs (replaced old windows and painted the exterior), have been completed.

I’ve split our new list into projects to complete in 2012 (below) and projects to complete right before our actual move – there are certain things not worth completing until we are ready to rent, so we’ve put these on the back burner for a while.

2012 List:

• Remove shed and replace with storage unit
• Replace back door step
• Paint small hall
• Paint mdf shelf in small hall
• Box in meter
• Replace under stairs cupboard door frame
• Re grout tiles around hob
• Replace small window dining room
• Replace breakfast room window
• Clean hall tiles
• Improve roof insulation

We estimate that all the above will cost £1,500 and as yet I’m unsure where this money will come from. We may use part of the move to Portugal fund or I may use this as a target amount for side income. Either way we do plan to  WILL finish up all these jobs next year.

(photo credit)

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House To Do – Updated is a post from: Move to Portugal

Good morning!  I wanted to share a few pics and a few links.

We’re making great progress on the house to do list and if you look you’ll see that I’ve moved things around a little.  I’ve put the list into two parts.  One, work to do now, and two, work to do just before we rent out our house as there’s a few things not worth doing until right before we move.

I made a start on the back bedroom.  It’s not quite finished (I still have to gloss the door) but it’s nearly there.  We furnished it with stuff we already had and left it quite simple, as we didn’t want to spend any money on it. At least now M has a desk he can work on.

And here’s a couple of recent purchases from Etsy.  My favourite place to buy stuff!

I’ve mentioned before my love for Orla Kiely, well now I have a whole wall dedicated to her.  Last Christmas my mum bought me one roll of her wallpaper as a gift; it’s so expensive and not at all frugal ,so I couldn’t bring myself to buy it….but I do love it.

The two prints are from Etsy seller Eloise Renouf, who’s quite local to me.  I could buy every one of her prints…but I don’t

Onto a few links;

• Travel Journal – Italy in September Part One at 101 Centavos
• Debt Free: now what? at Minimalist Mom
• One year into our RTW trip: Has it been worth it? at Married With Luggage
• Organising Days at Simple Green Frugal Co-Op

Around the home and a few links is a post from: Move to Portugal

I’ve been itching to start updating my son’s bedroom for ages and so as soon as he left yesterday we cleared the room ready for its makeover…..although it will be a (very) frugal makeover.  We plan to turn the room into a office/bedroom so that hubby can use it part time when my son is away at university.

The room is quite small and shouldn’t take much doing. And we already have some paint, which you can see I’ve already tried out, so it’s just a case of doing it!

Room to-do:

• Fill, sand, prime and paint skirting boards
• Sand, prime and paint door
• Paint ceiling
• Wash walls and paint x 2
• Clean light shade
• Clean radiator
• Clean carpet
• Fix bed finials (is that the right word?)

Updating the Back Bedroom {Frugally} is a post from: Move to Portugal

(Lisbon Design Museum – Life List goal completed)

Good morning!  We’re back from Lisbon and as always after a holiday I feel fired up and ready to go.  Our goals are at the forefront of our minds this morning and we can’t wait to continue taking small steps towards our ultimate goal of moving to the country that we love.

One of the steps is to keep working towards financial freedom, and for us that begins with mortgage freedom.  We want that mortgage debt gone.  With the current economic climate we can’t see ourselves buying in Portugal for a long time, so it makes sense to keep paying down our UK mortgage until eventually it’s gone and we own our home.

But we need to keep a balance.  We have to balance out being frugal with living our life.  So even though we’re stepping up the mortgage overpayments next year, we’re still going to travel and finish the house.  Finally!

Ok today which is all about cleaning and getting my son packed for university.  I can’t quite get used to having 3 adult children, which I have now.  I wonder how it happened.  And how it happened so quickly. Anyway my son leaving means we’ll be changing our budget again. All good as I love playing with spreadsheets

Have a great day!

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Saturday Miscellany is a post from: Move to Portugal