Choosing an oven

One of the things we definitely do need when we move into the new house is an oven. In fact, we are disturbing the current owners to measure up for an oven and a fridge on Saturday.

Ben and I love cooking and we have been plagued with the ails of a crappy oven for the last three years. We've done all right but it's time to move up in the world. We need a double oven. To be able to grill something while roasting something else seems like a huge, unknown luxury to us.

If I could have anything I wanted I'd have an AGA S-Series 6:4. It's basically AGA's conventional cooker offering. AGAs look beautiful but for someone like me a heat storage cooker just wouldn't be practical. The 6:4 has all the good looks of an AGA with the practicality of a conventional oven. The price is barely worth thinking about. Let's just say I couldn't afford it.

This John Lewis dual fuel cooker looks sleek and modern and at £879 it'll probably perform too. It's just a bit boring though. It sounds like it would cook well. The description says you can cook sweet and savoury dishes together without flavour crossover.

We only have one shelf and one oven in our current cooker. This seems like a whole new world!

This Cannon dual fuel cooker is probably the one we will go with, providing there's the space in the kitchen. Cream would match the yellow of the wall tiles and the pale flooring but stainless steel is a bit more modern. I think stainless steel looks cheap. This one is £587 at a quick glance but I'm pretty sure we've seen it for £509.

Beautiful Modern Thing

While researching items for magazine I came across Beautiful Modern Thing and was blown away by their products and website. It's relatively new venture, all powered by the brilliant Sweetpea & Willow. Take a look at the website, they've got some lovely stuff on offer.

Here are a few of my favourites, just click on the image to go to the product page.

Le Superflu

I was scrolling through the wonderul Decor8 blog when I came across an interview with the owner of Le Superflu, a gorgeous jewellery shop in Hannover. Some of the images are truly inspirational but this really caught my eye...

What a fantastic idea! I don't intend to go to Hannover any time soon but this shop looks exquisite! To see all the images and to read the fantastic interview with Owner Doris Meier go to the Decor8 post.

I was thinking of displaying my jewellery on a fancy coat rack of some sort but this is an ingenious and free idea!

Achica - £5 off for you

Buying a house is expensive but that doesn't stop me wanting to fill it full of costly, beautiful items. As a result I am always on the look out for bargains.

Achica works much in the same way as sites like Brand Alley and Secret Sales do, two sites I've bought a fair amount off (life savers last Christmas when I was trying to be frugal).

If you sign up through this link then you will get £5 off your first order. 

I wanted to share with you some of the fantastic sales they have going on at the moment. Hopefully this will give me either some inspiration for Christmas gifts or for my new house too!

Orla Kiely Bed Linen

 I love the patterns of Orla Kiely's work. It's bright, natural and instantly recognisable. There are florals, leaves and even the fantastic Car Park print. It may say bed linen but there's also some beautiful towels on offer.

OneWorld Trading

This sale is full of furniture and items that would befit an explorer's home office. Comfy chairs, weathered wood and pieces that look like they could be carrier off into some far off land.

Culinary Concepts

This sale is full of shiny dishes, wooden goodies and items that would last you through the winter then look perfect during any garden party as soon as the weather starts warming up.

Finding The House and knowing

I think house hunting is different for everyone. Some people see it as a chore, while others revel in it. I'm in the latter group whereas the boyf finds it dull. I have no idea why. For me, searching for a house is the most exciting thing in the world.

I'm very emotionally led when it comes to making decisions and for this reason I wasn't too worried about looking for a house. I just wanted to look at as many as possible because I was sure that when I'd found the right one I would just know.

Even Ben, who is all about being sensible and logical, stepped into that house and just looked at me as if he knew it was the one for us. He denied it later but I could see it. We both knew and that feeling, plus the fact that The House (minus the blue carpet and orange wall) was perfect, led us to putting an offer in.

There are two things you need to ask yourself:

1. Do I like it?
2. Could I see myself living here?

If the answer is yes to both then listen to your heart and really think about what you are feeling. I wouldn't worry too much about trying to make lists of pros and cons or over analysing every detail. If you like the house hold onto the feeling, go home, sleep on it. Then arrange a second viewing a week or so later.

On that second viewing, if you walk in and all those feelings of the house being right come flooding back then it probably is.

When making such a huge decision it seems silly to follow your heart but, really, do you want to be in a house that is right only for logical reasons? It's likely that house will be with you for a long time, you need to love it so you can look after it.

I thought that the whole 'oh, I'll know' thing was just me. A real girl thing. But Ben's dad agreed with me as did my mum.

Homeowners, when you found your house did you just know? Or am I talking crap?

Owl paperweight

I didn't want to post more today but I couldn't help myself! This owl paperweight is from Not On The High Street for £30. I really want one.

A sneak peak - My Mum's house!

 

More on this gorgeous kitchen at a later date. It's my mum's recently renovated and extended kitchen/dining/snug area.

Want: Rock hand hook

This hook from Rockett St. George is to die for! It epitomises my life, I think. Rock and posing. It would set you back £100 but I really want it. At least it's practical, it would look great with shiny necklaces of varying lengths hanging off it.

Welcome

I'll go more into this at a later date but for now, welcome! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm in the process of buying a house. It's scary, wonderful and exciting.

We've finally exchanged contracts so all of this is set in stone unless someone in the chain decides to pull out. We should get the keys on December 16th. It seems so far away.

It was the end of September when we first put an offer in on The House. Once we get to the end of December it will have been 12 weeks to get everything sorted.

Your estate agent might tell you things typically take six to eight weeks. Just be prepared that it might be a bit longer than that.