January 16th - the grim reality.

Having been given the keys to our new house, we trotted up to have a look - this was the first time I had really seen some of the rooms, and the first time we had had the chance to look closely.

When I review these photos online, they don't really show just how dirty and sad the house was. There was a musty mould smell when we walked in - particularly strong in the laundry, but generally throughout the whole house.




The grime on the wall behind the chimney was actually in heaps of places throughout the house..




I had never seen such an archaic stove - the top was all rusted, it was feral.


Fortunately, although they previous owner had installed a piece of shit cheap as kitchen bench and cupboards (and not bothered to replace the stove), he had been too miserly to update the kitchen cupboards - such a relief, as they are really lovely. You can see the black grime on the walls here again..

..and that space beside the stove is the gap for the fridge - hmmm, might have to rethink that, ours will never fit.


The tiles had this really strange coating, so Matt took some photos to take into a DIY store and get some advice on fixing..



The windows were so skanky, we could hardly see through them..



..that is black grime at the edges of those steps.


And it turned out the main bedroom was painted entirely in purple!


But again, fortunately he had left the woodwork alone.


The bathroom smelt gross, damp and musty.


And the cupboards in the spare room were painted a strange yellow.



The toilet cistern upstairs was broken and the cork tiles were rotten and smelly.





And the black grime in the stairwell had left an odd circular shape, presumably outlining a mirror or painting.


The walls in the laundry were covered in mould. And the cork tiles were again rotten and mouldy - most weren't even stuck to the ground anymore.






So, it was a bit of a shock. What had we done! Where to begin?