February 2020 Chit Chat

PP = LOL! I know the feeling! Try a hot toddy and an extra pair of socks and stay inside!


PS - A tip I learned from a friend: Use your blow dryer to warm up your clothes before you get dressed - and your sheets before you get into bed. It really works!

Lizzy, they're only likely to have taken off on a break yesterday (remember Amal was delivering a report at Chatham House on Thursday) and that would depend on whether there flight could take off. Many have been cancelled due to the incredlbly high winds of Storm Dennis - but maybe going the other way would be fine.......

Jolly warm here tho for February - just hope your roof's still on, Katie!

PAN - Don't rub it in! We're not expected to warm up until mid-week, when it's supposed to rain! Seems like where the weather's concerned none of us can catch a break. (Is this week's storm as bad as last week's, "cause that one sounded like a horror?)

I suppose the Clooney entourage could be snuggled up nice and warm at home. I'm sure there's plenty there to keep them from getting bored. Getting to a beach might be more trouble than it's worth.

LizzyNY wrote:I wonder if G&A are still having flooding problems on their property. Maybe that's where George is - at home trying to pump the Thames out of his back garden!

I somehow have visions of him in green wellies doing this! Probably not, but it's a nice vision.

PigPen wrote:Katie- your projects sound fabulous.  It's your moment to do everything the way you  want it.  To hell with  considering re-sale value.  This is your castle, your dream.   Go for the gusto girlfriend!!

Oooh, it's terrifying. It's the first home I've ever bought (spent the last 20 years either in staff accommodation or renting. And it's going to be the last one too. Never doing this again. I worked out that I've moved on average every 9 months over the last two decades and I'm done with that shit. All those packing boxes I've collected over the years, all those suitcases, all those cardboard packaging for kettles, TVs, kitchen item and god knows what else, that's all going in the rubbish. I am home. Next time I'm moving, I'll be in my own packaging and carried out by six friends. Well, that's this year's plan, anyway. ;p

LizzyNY wrote:PS - A tip I learned from a friend: Use your blow dryer to warm up your clothes before you get dressed - and your sheets before you get into bed. It really works!

Do you guys not have hot water bottles or electric blankets in the US? And balance your clothes over the radiator before you go to bed so they're toasty the next day.

I know about hot water bottles but have never thought to buy one. As for the radiator the way mine is designed you cant lay any thing over it.

Katie - Very funny! Yes, of course we have hot water bottles and electric blankets. The thing is, the blow dryer is quicker and (unlike the hot water bottle) it doesn't leak! Nothing like a nice warm wet bed to send you off to dreamland!

Balancing your clothes on the radiator works if your radiator stands away from the wall (and your landlord provides heat for long enough to warm up your things properly). Our radiators are built into the wall so hanging things over them is difficult. On balance, I think I'll stick with the blow dryer.

I'm amazed at how often you've moved house. With all that experience have you considered a career as a  blogger or consultant for people moving ? I'm sure there are lots of people with questions about how to pack things and what problems to anticipate.

Don't know why, but I just pictured George standing on the dock in his green wellies dumping water back into the river with a little red bucket! I think it's time to sober up!

annemarie wrote:I know about hot water bottles but have never thought to buy one. As for the radiator the way mine is designed you cant lay any thing over it.

OMG... I am practically married to my Hot Bots, I have several even a travel size that actually does the trick even with water from hotel hot water taps...

Please do invest in one. a tip from a pro invest in a covered hot water bottle fleece or cotton hold the heat...

Your life will never be the same... enjoy...

Tut tut tut... green wellies .... and not even a hat, for crying out loud give the man some dignity....

Thanks, I will try one. I just looked and they have electric one's . The water is  pre - sealed in the bag and you plug it in.

Sorry guys, still not convinced.

LizzyNY wrote:Sorry guys, still not convinced.

About hotties or George in Green Wellies......LOL. ! 

I LOVE my "fake fur covered hotties".  They stay warm until the next morning.

Jo - "Hotties" of course! I can easily see George trying to hold back the tide all by himself - up to his knees in water with his little bucket in hand!

Seriously, I hope everyone is staying dry over there. That's one hell of a storm you're going through.

Katie - How's the roof holding up with all the wind and rain? Is the weather going to keep any of the work from getting done? I hope not. You said you have to move in in two weeks. I hope you can.

By the way, does anyone know who Hedgehog was on The Masked Singer?

PAN - Hope you're keeping your feet dry!

Hottie botties are a lifesaver - also have a fake fur covered one that's still quite warm in the morning. Best thing ever for period pains (and less calorific than chocolate).

Lizzy - have just confirmed the movers for Saturday.  My stuff will move in, but I'll go to my mum's for a week or so while I get the kitchen done.  Wasn't planning to get the kitchen ripped out quite this soon, but one thing led to another and . . . well.  

As well as the kitchen, I still need to paint all the ceilings, strip off remaining wallpaper, re-plaster most walls, repaint all walls, add a skylight window to upstairs bathroom, get flooring put down and add two radiators.  And then I'll be the proud owner of a perfectly empty house!

Katie - I was just about to ask you about the house when you posted. Good grief! Please tell me the house wasn't condemned when you bought it! It sounds like you're rebuilding it from the ground up.

I'm glad you have somewhere to stay while the work is being done. Once the kitchen and plumbing/heating are in you can move in. Just make sure you get a good bed and then you can take your time furnishing the rest of the house. It's going to be fun! I hope the weather doesn't create any problems for you.

No, not condemmed. Just hadn't been done since the 90s so needs a little TLC.  The previous owner had wall-to-wall carpeting but that's not my thing, so need to put in wooden flooring over the cement.    The kitchen was horrible, and I had the house fully rewired as some of the electrics and wiring still dated back to the 60s!!  There were switches all over the place and no indication what, if anything, they were for.  Now it's all gone.  What's really weird is that I'm only the third person to own this place, since it was built in 1961!

You know what it's like, you do up a place when you buy it and that's it till you move out again. I hope to live here till the end of my days, so it's funny to think that by then, all the stuff that I'm doing now will be horribly dated and will give the new owners conniption fits when they see it!

I know what you mean. I had the plumber in a while back and he (a good 20 years older than me) said "Oh, my mum had a hutch like that." Actually, so did my mum. That's where I got it.

Here, when you sell a house the realtor tells you to "stage" it so prospective buyers don't see your personality, but see themselves living there. They advise you to paint (to make the place look clean) and often to redo the kitchen and bath. Those are both expensive propositions and seem to me pointless since the new owners will usually do them over to suit their own taste.

Luckily (?) for me, I live in an apartment so I don't have to worry about any of that. I can decorate pretty much as I please (though nothing structural without consent) and when the time comes it will be the landlord's problem to get it ready for the next tenant.

Katie, I love reading about all your renos. It’s a pain in the ass for sure but all really exciting to see it come together. If you enjoy cooking you’ll probably be thrilled to have a new kitchen to play around in. We’ve lived in the same house for 35 years and gone through a few transformations including more than doubling the size of the kitchen. What a mess getting through the renovation but afterwards it was a joy to be in there everyday. Hopefully you’ll have fun decorating as you go to make it your special place.

Lizzy, that staging thing is so popular where I live. Realtors want everything neutral and unfussy. Like you said they want potential buyers to be able to see themselves living there without someone else’s personal style on display.

Donnamarie - I can understand wanting the place to look "neutral". If potential buyers don't have the same taste as the seller, it could influence their decision about buying the place.

What I can't see, though, is investing in renovating a kitchen or bath (unless it's a disaster). Whether you do it on the cheap or put good money into it, chances are the new owners are going to redo it anyway and you probably won't make back your investment if you really do a nice job.

When I sold my Mom's place the realtor found a buyer who was going to flip it, so I didn't have to do anything. He was planning to reno the whole place and re-sell. It was at a time when the market was very slow and prices in the area were very low, so I didn't want to pay to hold onto it and he could afford to, so it worked out well for us both. As I said, I'm glad I'm a renter now.

Lizzy, when we redid our kitchen it was almost 20 years ago. And at the time we knew we would be in the house for at least 10 more years. So it was worth the redo. It’s the best part of our house. We know that it added to the resale value. The original kitchen was 10’x10’. Crazy small for a young family.

Donnamarie - I just realized I didn't make myself clear. I didn't mean you shouldn't redo parts of your house for yourself. What I don't get is re-doing a kitchen or bath as a staging tactic in order to sell the house. The new owners will often turn around and redo what you have just done. You've spent the money and now they'll spend even more to undo what you just did.

Does that kind of thing actually work financially? Don't you have to up the selling price to cover the cost of the renovation? Or do you just accept that you'll make less on the sale? And if you raise the price, doesn't it limit your pool of buyers? Just wondering.

Gotcha Lizzy.  The only reason to renovate kitchens and baths prior to selling, and that are really dated, is if you want to attract buyers who aren’t interested in tearing it down but want a house that is move-in ready. You can price it higher in hopes of getting a better return.  When it goes on the market you keep your fingers crossed that you sell the property fairly quickly and make back the money you put into the renos.  Granted sometimes it works your way and sometimes not, especially if you’ve overpriced the property and won’t negotiate.

In our case we increased the square footage of the house and over time the value of the property has gone up quite a bit.  The housing values especially in or near urban areas have skyrocketed in the last 30 years.  We live in a fairly modest home but have kept up improvements.  Our house looks pretty affordable for a first time buyer in our area.  But redos payoff if you as the homeowner benefit from the improvements for 5 years or more.  For us we bought this property over 30 years ago so our investment has paid off tremendously.

I get what you're saying. I'm just thinking about my friend's son-in-law who inherited a house that had been adapted for an elderly wheel-chair-bound relative. When he wanted to sell the realtor suggested he take out all the modifications that had been made - which would have included re-fitting the bathrooms and some kitchen cabinets and appliances. He was smart enough to make the changes a selling point and the house sold to a veteran who needed the adaptations. Good deed done and a fair price paid!

As I said before, I'm glad I live in an apartment so I don't have to worry about resale value. That's my landlord's headache.

It's leap day, I'm prepared to leap into the next phase of my life.

Admin wrote:No, not condemmed. Just hadn't been done since the 90s so needs a little TLC.  The previous owner had wall-to-wall carpeting but that's not my thing, so need to put in wooden flooring over the cement.    The kitchen was horrible, and I had the house fully rewired as some of the electrics and wiring still dated back to the 60s!!  There were switches all over the place and no indication what, if anything, they were for.  Now it's all gone.  What's really weird is that I'm only the third person to own this place, since it was built in 1961!

You know what it's like, you do up a place when you buy it and that's it till you move out again. I hope to live here till the end of my days, so it's funny to think that by then, all the stuff that I'm doing now will be horribly dated and will give the new owners conniption fits when they see it!

In my neck of the woods, it's advertised as a fixer upper.    Alot of work, no doubt... but when it's done-  Casa de Katie, Katie's castle  where you reign as queen.