Our First House
Hello everyone! Welcome to our latest blog post. We’re happy to have you here, as always.
In this post, we’re going to take you back to the year 2000, when we embarked on an exciting new chapter of our lives by moving into our very first home.
Our journey began two years earlier, in 1998, when we first connected on the internet.
Our initial meeting took place in a chat channel dedicated to the subject of Yorkshire, which happens to be the place we both call home.
Nick hails from South Yorkshire, while I come from West Yorkshire.
As we got to know each other, we discovered a shared love for Star Trek within the first few moments of talking and rest is history.
After spending two years building a strong foundation and marveling at how we had managed to survive for those two years, we decided it was the perfect time to take the next step and buy a house together.
Our search initially led us to consider renting, and we explored a few options. However, we soon realised that buying a home would be the right path for us.
We began exploring new housing developments and stumbled upon a house that instantly caught our attention.
It boasted three bedrooms and was detached from the neighboring properties.
To top it off, it was even available at a discounted price since it was the last one remaining.
When we purchased our first home, we were still in our early twenties, although not that much younger than we are today π (time flies, doesn’t it? ).
Taking on a mortgage at such a young age was a significant undertaking for both of us.
Nick, being the diligent researcher that he is, went above and beyond to find the best mortgage option for us.
After thorough consideration, we had a mortgage advisor visit us, who agreed that Nick had indeed found the most suitable option available to us.
Since our home was one of the last houses on the estate to be sold, we didn’t have to wait too long to move in. The process was surprisingly swift.
We hired a van and began the exciting journey of moving our belongings into our new abode. We didn’t have much to move, as we had been living in our respective bedrooms at our parents’ houses prior to moving.
The Living & Dining Room
It was time for us to embark on a new adventure: furnishing and decorating our space. It was the first time we had actively gone out looking for furniture and choosing color schemes.
One item that stands out in our memories is the sofa, which had a lovely (or perhaps not so lovely) unique color.
Although we can’t quite recall where we found it, we made the decision to go with a dark red color for some reason.
Looking back, it’s interesting to think about the choices we made in those early days.
For the rest of our furniture, we turned to the trusty Swedish retailer, Ikea. Its wide range of affordable and stylish options made it the perfect choice for furnishing our new home.
Continuing the random redness we went with these lovely custom-made curtains. We had to wait weeks for these to be made and they cost a fortune.
They looked fabulous π€
The living room ultimately acquired a cosy ambiance once we completed the furnishing process.
The eclectic and diverse mishmash of vibrant oranges, rich reds, warm woods, timeless stones, and creamy hues, didn’t quite gain widespread popularity in the mainstream, though. πββοΈ
The Kitchen
We never really did much with the kitchen. Added a few accessories here and there and had a lovely-looking place to keep carrier bags. It added to the design flair of the whole house.
We didn’t even have a dishwasher. We washed up in there each night. Thank god we discovered the wonders of having a Dishwasher when we moved to our second home.
For some reason, we decided to wallpaper the whole house. Thinking back, wallpapering brand new walls was a tragedy, we should have just painted them. It was a very 1980s decision
My Dad helped us wallpaper the living room as we had never done it before, and then we tackled the rest of the house ourselves as far as I can recall.
The Hallway & Stairs
We decided to wallpaper the hallway and stairs in a lovely shade of orange. It went so well with the stone-coloured carpet π
The Alladin-style wash basket added a lovely charm to the top of the stairs.
Thankfully, we realised what a mistake it was, it looked horrendous. So we ripped it all off and went with a cream colour instead.
The black and red curtains looked amazing with it π€
The Alladin snake basket made a reappearance once the cream transformation was complete. π
Next on our list of home decor adventures, we made a decision to infuse some personality into our cream-colored walls by adorning them with movie posters.
To enhance the visual appeal, we framed them with stylish blue wooden borders. The combination of the cream walls and the striking movie posters exuded a unique charm and showcased our distinct taste (or lack of)
Continuing our orange tango look, Nick decided he wanted the same wallpaper in his computer room. To be fair, it didn’t look quite as bad in there.
It had a nice warm feeling to it. He spent hours in there working away at projects and chatting away to friends on IRC (chat channels back in the day)
At least the curtains kind of matched in the computer room.
We saw the three clocks with different time zones somewhere and liked the idea so we went for that on the wall. Design masters we were
The Main Bedroom
Now this is where the design really started to show professionalism. The lovely maroon colours against the Chinese beige and grey wallpaper.
The deep blues of the Ikea wardrobe. All went together like peanut butter and jelly. The wave-style TV cabinet just topped off the look
Here, I used to spend many an evening, looking super comfortable with my laptop. Wired in, of course, as we didn’t have Wi-Fi back then.
We had a ten-meter Cat 5 cable that we would drag around the house whenever we wanted to access the internet on our laptops.
To help drown out the sound of tinnitus, we kept a sound machine by the side of our bed. It provided soothing sounds and served as a distraction during those pre-Alexa and pre-Spotify days.
The second coming of the bedroom
At some point, we decided there just weren’t enough random colours or Ikea furniture in the bedroom.
So we added a new quilt cover with a lovely chunk of red and an Ikea bed frame which made us feel claustrophobic.
Two lovely red lampshades and for some reason a red model VW beetle above the bed. The design was complete.
We could happily rest knowing our bedroom wouldn’t look out of place in a Hello magazine home photoshoot.
The Bathrooms
If the design of our main bathroom doesn’t leave you breathless, then nothing will.
Beautifully done out in a mint green with squiggles patterns. Finished off with our own cut-out dark green border.
The lovely brass taps, wood-framed mirror, and a black shaving mirror complete the look we were going for. Mint wood fusion. Perfection.
For the en suite, we opted for a unique color choice that could be described as a lovely, umm, yellowish-creamish hue.
While the description may sound unusual, it added a distinct character to the walls, creating a bold statement in the space (A little like a Vomit colour)
Added to it was more red (We really liked red back then). We didn’t bother with a toiletry cabinet, we just threw everything on the widow ledge.
A random black and white photo of New York by the looks of it on the wall. Probably cut out from a magazine.
The Spare Bedroom
For the second bedroom, we went for a kind of dark, dismal student kind of look. The only room in the house that was saved from having wallpaper thrown at it.
We didn’t bother to paint it either, it was just left to its natural freshly built look.
The bedding started our love of grey which of course continues today.
Just for the heck of it, we threw a red chair in there.
Random photos
Here are some of our book and DVD collections. Among them were a few medical books, as Nick used to be a hypochondriac.
We also have the complete works of Shakespeare, never read of course, it was just for show.
My Terry Pratchett Discworld books (Those books are so good) and dictionary and encyclopedia as Google (on phones at least ) wasn’t a thing at that time.
If Nick needed to prove someone wrong he had to look it up in a book in those days.
Thank goodness for digital these days. All my books are on my Kindle and we stream films. It’s such a beautiful minimalist time we live in now.
Whilst we waited the weeks (it may have even been months) for the wonderful red handmade curtains to arrive, we went with these so we had something up at the windows.
I don’t know why we just didn’t leave these ones up, they were superb.
We had a cabinet with glass doors to show off the rest of Nick’s Star Trek VHS collection. His pride and joy.
Our very expensive hifi system with its many tiers (which we kept for many years and it went to our second house with us)
A random buddha to the left and some Chinese-designed candles to the right.
A beautiful orange-painted splodge above the fireplace. We were in heaven.
The back garden. We never got around to doing anything with it apart from buying a couple of chairs and sitting out there in the sun on the odd occasion. We also painted the fence
Why we moved after 18 months
We moved into the house, filled with optimism and happiness, but unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last long. Our neighbors moved in shortly after, and they turned out to be quite a nightmare.
Their kids would play soccer against our walls, followed by intense games of tennis, also against our walls.
They even set up camp in their backyards, leaving behind beer cans on our grass. To make matters worse, they would recklessly run over our gardens, and on one occasion, they even used our car as a toilet.
After enduring these challenges for 18 months, we made the difficult decision to move out.
It was a bittersweet moment, leaving behind the beautifully designed walls (π) we had created, but we knew we were moving on to better things.
We would love to hear your thoughts on our designs. Please feel free to share your comments below.
We hope you enjoyed reading our blog post and had a few laughs along the way. Thank you for joining us on this journey into our past.
If you enjoy these kind of throwback vlogs please let us know in the comments below. We have lots of old photos we could dig out and share in future blog posts.
TLG
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Leigh, you need to write a book! This was a really amusing read, and also brought memories of Colin and I’s first house, ( cream, gold, brown- and plenty of black furniture- not forgetting patterned carpet as it doesnt show marksπ€£)
Loved it!
WOW! You guys went from orange wallpaper and a red sofa to relaxed grays, what a complete switch! I prefer the relaxed grays and your more mature color palette.
What a lovely blog ! I had all that ikea furniture – our daughters STILL have ikea ( not our original ones) furniture in their rooms – it never really dates!
All the colours were so 2000 but fun.
Love this sort of blog – a bit of nostalgia is good for the soul x
Wow, I think that orange wallpaper was what I had in my first house in 2002. I mean we were obviously just super trend setters back then π
Love your blogs guys aothis one was fantastic to read. X
Very interesting, that was quite an achievement at that age, a three bed detached .
The colours are so late 90s, the terracotta we had that at that time too.
Imagine back then if you knew where you are now π©·
Ah, youth. As newly independent young adults we can now make our own decisions. We want to make statements, even if we don’t realize how immature they really are. Impulses, once controlled by our parents, can now run wild. I, too, look back and wonder, “WHAT was I thinking?” Maturity usually brings calmness and our design choices begin to reflect that. Your places now, including your van, reflect that maturity and calmness.
Jay you really captured youthful total lack of taste! LOL You shoud write books
God this brings back memories when we bought our first house in 1996. Oranges and reds, green carpets, blue and pink curtains….not all in the same room but how we ever thought these colours were the bees knees, more colour the better!! π
I even spent hours stencilling a border in the hallway.
Loved reading your blog and how most of us who bought a house back then can relate to the decor choices we made.
Loving the vlogs also.x
I know now why your homes are all grey & white lol! ππ Those were some bold color choices!
Loved the blog. My first house had 3 bedrooms – one pink/grey, one red/black and one navy blue/light blue. All had matching bedspreads, curtains and lampshades. I thought I was so stylish! Please tell us about your second house xx
This was a very fun read and I can see how a house of that size could have led to multiple visions of what you and Nick were trying to achieve. So while I was reading I kept thinking how different your current homes are to your first home. To be fair, it’s slightly unfair to compare anything to the Lodge because I really love the cleanliness and sparseness the Lodge invokes. I was wondering, did the Lodge change the way you feel about design or were you looking for something of that style? Isn’t it just so nice we are at an age we don’t have to sit on the floor for hours and put our own furniture together? That made me laugh thinking about my first apartment and my husband and I falling asleep on the floor next to our half assembled IKEA furniture. One more point, isn’t it amazing how having bad neighbors may have actually led you where you are today? If that hadn’t of happened you may have never had the Lodge. Thanks Leigh, as you can tell I really like the blog!
Had such a giggle at your comments about the decor in your first house. Loved the photos. Our house was the same… no matching colours at all and after getting inspiration from watching ‘Changing Room,’ I decided to add stencilled fruit and flowers to walls like a 1980’s tacky Italian restaurant!! Thank goodness our tastes have changed.