Decorating and DIY

It doesn't take long for me to call a place 'home'. One week into a holiday and I'm already calling the hotel room 'home' instead of just 'the hotel room'. However, I think this is out of pure laziness than any real sense of affinity with the place I'm staying in. I called the box room with three tatami mats and nothing else in it 'home' for two weeks in Tokyo, so you can see how freely I dish out that label!

It takes a special mix of things to make a place really feel like home though. Even though I've lived in Manchester for four years, when I go back to my parents' house that I grew up in - that really feels like home and it always will. I think it's got something to do with the fact that the places I've lived in during my student years (and first year as a grad) have all been very temporary or not very 'homey' - by which I mean they either contain fire doors for safety or are a bit bodged together by dodgy landlords.

Thankfully, me and my boyfriend will soon be moving in together in the centre of Manchester, which means lots of homeware shopping and busy weekends at B&Q! I can't wait to make a place in Manchester feel like a proper home and add personal touches to the place - which means paint! The only mishap so far is in finally deciding on a blue for the living room, but then it only coming in gloss not matt. Which meant that we had to go back to B&Q and get some especially mixed up instead.

We finally managed to decide on colours for most of the rooms and set about painting the bedroom and en-suite last weekend. I barely got a spot of paint on me, but Courtney got it everywhere - on his face, hands, on the carpets (old ones), all over his clothes. I think he secretly rolled in it too.

I got a bit sentimental and wrote our names on the wall before painting over it. It's definitely my favourite corner of our soon-to-be home. And it makes me feel like a real proper grown up adult. Until we have to find a carpet fitter or a plumber. How do you find these people?! Is it just a case of pointing your finger into the Yellow Pages and hoping for the best? I've clearly watched far too many Homes from Hell episodes. We'll probably end up with a cowboy builder that will wee in our sink - that's what builders do isn't it?

Anway... we were pretty pleased with the final product, although it needs another coat and the edges need tidying up. It's nice to see some actual progress, so it's almost on its way to the final product! Can't wait until we get onto the soft furnishings side of things. And I secretly LOVE putting together flat pack furniture. Yipee!