The other day I started to write
a post about my dream home. As I was writing I realised I kept changing things
because I didn’t feel they would ever be realistic for me, but then I thought,
“No, this is my dream home. It doesn’t matter whether it’s or
not realistic. It’s what I want. And if I have it all written down somewhere,
then it will give me something to work towards.” So here it is, my dream home…
First of all it has to be three
miles or less from work. Last summer I walked the three miles to work nearly
every day. If the weather was particularly agreeable I walked home too. I
didn’t always enjoy the walk, but I always felt better for it. It also gave me
the time to listen to a lot more music and audio books. So that is my first
wish. To live close enough to work that I can walk instead of drive. It’d save
me about £20 a week in petrol (that’s £1,040 a year before you start to say I’m
cheap!) and I’d get fitter in the process.
The next thing may surprise
anyone who knows me well as I want quite a big garden. I know I don’t have
green fingers and I tend to kill plants just by looking at them, but I’d keep
it quite simple. My main reason for wanting a garden of a substantial size is
because I want lots of space for socialising. And a mahoosive sheshed. Don’t
forget about the mahoosive sheshed.
The shed, hereafter known as the
workshop of dreams would take pride of place at the end of the garden. It would
be painted pretty colours, have curtains up at the window and bunting pretty
much everywhere! Oh and there’d be a rocking chair on the veranda. Yes, the
workshop of dreams has a veranda. Inside would be a crafter’s paradise and
would be where I escape to do my book folding and make bunting to my heart’s
content. I may even be able to learn how to do paper cutting once I have this
little place of tranquillity.
Anyway, back to the rest of the
garden. I know it’s the Guide Leader in me, but I’ve always wanted to have a
fire pit. Despite the fact I’ve been guiding since I was 11, I don’t
particularly enjoy camping, but in my mind there’s nothing better than sitting
round a campfire, toasting marshmallows to make s’mores and chatting about
anything and everything. Imagine if you could do that in your own garden on a
summer’s evening sitting around on giant beanbags playing Uno with your
friends. Actually, maybe not the Uno bit. Not with my friends anyway. Tends to
get a bit violent.
I would want the garden to be a
place that I could really relax in during the summer months so of course my
hammock would have pride of place and there would be a swing seat too. There
would be some plants, but they’d have to be easy to look after otherwise it
would spoil the whole effect. I nearly stopped myself from writing this, but
it is my dream home so it’s also got to have a tree house for
my niece and nephews to play in (OK, for me too!)
Let’s move into the house shall
we? Starting at the top, my room would be in the attic with an en-suite
bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. There would be skylights with motorised blinds
on a timer (seriously, anyone would think I still worked at Tropical Blinds) so
that in spring and summer the daylight could wake me up each morning, but not
until I wanted it to. The bed would be a Super King Size just for the hell of
it and I’d have a cosy armchair in the corner for reading of an evening. I
wouldn’t want too much else in there. Definitely no television! There might be
a Bluetooth speaker as I like to have a sing and a dance when I’m getting
ready, but that’s about it technology wise.
The middle floor would have two
bedrooms and the main bathroom. I say it would have two bedrooms, but really it
would be one as the other would be my office. My office would have bookcases on
nearly every wall and they would be filled to the brim with my favourite books
and those pesky language textbooks that are still hanging around from my
university days. My love of big bookcases stems from when I used to have French
lessons with a tutor and her study had a wall full of books that I just wanted
to pick up and read each time I was there. I’m reminded of it when I watch
Giovanna Fletcher’s vlogs and see her bookcases. My office would be nice and
roomy. The desk would be big and spacious so that when I am planning training
sessions I could have all my resources spread out around me and still type away
at the computer easily. It’d also be good to have a sofa of couple of armchairs
in there so that if a few of us wanted to have a planning meeting, we could
have everything to hand and still be comfortable.
There’s not much to say about the
spare bedroom except that it would always be ready for guests to stay. It would
be tastefully decorated and I wouldn’t inflict my obsession of all things pink
on anyone who came to visit. I quite understand that it’s not to everyone’s
taste. I wouldn’t have as many sets of towels as Monica does in Friends, but my
guests would probably end up with fluffier ones than me!
Continuing with the social theme,
the kitchen, dining room and living room would all be open plan. I like the
idea that if you have friends round for dinner, you can still chat to them
while you are preparing the meal instead of deserting them in another room. It
also means I would be able to keep the same colour scheme throughout that
floor. In my case it would be black, white and red (apart from the pink
NutriBullet – should have gone for red!). There is an amazing pottery shop not
too far from my parents’ villa in Spain and they have a beautiful range in
these colours. Every time I go out there, I plan to buy something else and set
it aside for when I get my own place. They do all sorts and the fact that
everything would match would be bliss.
Wherever you are in the house,
there would be something on the wall. Whether it’s photos of family and
friends, artwork (most likely by family or friends – I might be biased, but
they are fricking awesome!) or decals, I just couldn’t have blank walls. And in
case there was any doubt, you wouldn’t have to go far to find something Harry
Potter or Disney related! I love a fairy tale so you’d also find lots of
twinkling fairy lights and candles everywhere to make the place feel a little
magical. I’m also big on comfort so there’d be loads of giant floor cushions
for people to sit on.
Well that’s the tour of my dream house finished. I hope you liked it and I hope one day it will be more than a dream.
