Hello

Hi and welcome to The Padstow Cottage!

My name is Deb and this is my first post so it's great to have you join me on my renovation journey.  I have no doubt there will be plenty of up's and down's along the way so it's good to know I won't be alone.

Before I tell you about our recent acquisition let me give you some personal background about me and my family.

I live in Edgbaston, Birmingham with my husband John and grown up son Jake and we are lucky enough to own a Victorian house located about 1 mile from the city centre.  Last year we did some major work to the kitchen which really whetted my appetite for renovating and I'm so excited to be embarking on a bigger project this year.

Neither John or I were born in Birmingham, I originate from Yorkshire and John lived all his early years in Cornwall (hence the Padstow connection), Jake strangely enough was born in Norwich but has lived in Birmingham since he was 6 years old, he's now 22.

As for hobbies John loves his sport (all sport) and live music.  Whereas I have an addiction to all things property related, and have an unhealthy obsession with programmes such as Homes Under the Hammer, Grand Designs and the 'amazing' George Clarke and his Amazing Spaces, plus anything to do with renovating, refurbishment or interior / exterior design. I'm in : )

So this project is a dream come true for two reasons, 1) we have been looking for bolt hole in Padstow for over a decade where we can escape to on weekends and holidays, 2) I have longed to do a renovation project for as long as I can remember.

John really isn't that interested in the mechanics of how a house goes from being a dump to the finished article although he enjoys the end result, whereas I want total immersion and I'm quite happy to get my sleeves rolled up and muck in!

So here we are eventually with our very own piece of Padstow, albeit small and (at the moment) uninhabitable.

I think now is as good a time as any to introduce you to Chidley Cottage!  We actually went to auction to buy this little gem and whilst the experience was extremely nerve wracking it was worth it in the end and the project I desired has now presented itself. 

I thought you might like to have a peek inside so here are a few photos to give you a flavour of what needs doing and what it looks like pre-renovation.

 

This is our wonderful living room, with faux pine boarding, a huge oversized fireplace with an original cooking stove and a rickety, dark stair case.

 

 

Welcome to the kitchen! The door on the left houses a WC (I didn't think you needed to see that).

 

Bedroom 1 - I think the previous owner liked Pine?

 

Bedroom 2 - Somewhere under that boxing in is a lovely window seat

 

Hmm...maybe a new bathroom suite is required : )

 

And here is the outside space!  Not big and not much to look at but scarce in the smaller cottages of Padstow so we are really pleased to have it.

It's perhaps worth pointing out that John is not a massive visionary and prefers a quiet life, and so I would like to applaud him for his courage and the faith he is placing in me to bring this rather sad little cottage back to it's former glory!

As you can see this isn't for the faint hearted and I may be wishing I had never started it, but I doubt it.  I will, however, be heavily reliant on the team I have around me to make it work (especially as I don't live in Padstow) and I'll be introducing everybody as we go along but for now I'll leave it there. 

Thanks for joining me and I'll hopefully see you on the next post when I'll outline the structural challenges we face - oh yes, it's not just cosmetic with this baby!