At Home with Sarah Beeny 2013 - (Page 68)

Diary of a WORDS: Jo Willacy | JO USED DIAMOND REMOVALS WWW.DIAMONDREMOVALS.COM (020 8445 8575 /0800 085 9820) WHO CARRIES OUT REMOVALS ALL OVER THE UK house move DEPUTY EDITOR, JO WILLACY, RECENTLY DECIDED TO MOVE HOUSE. HERE, SHE DETAILS HER YEAR-LONG JOURNEY, AND WHAT SHE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY… S tatistically speaking, I felt the urge later than most. The urge, that is, to move house. According to industry insiders, most people stay in a home for ﬁve to seven years before they think about moving on. My husband, Gavin, and I had lived in our ﬁrst house – a two-bedroom Victorian character cottage with four ﬂoors – for 11 years before I began to feel it was time for a change. It was the little things that were becoming an issue. The lack of a porch or hallway, with our front door opening straight into our lounge (no storage space for coats, shoes or Gavin’s muddy football boots…). Too many ﬂights of steep stairs. A kitchen in the basement and a dining room one ﬂoor up, making entertaining impractical without a dumb waiter! A bathroom we couldn’t swing our cat in, even if we tried! And difﬁculty ﬁnding a parking space anywhere near our own front door. Gavin can take a while to come round to new ideas – and certainly to a major life event like moving house, which is said to be number three on the list of most stressful experiences, following bereavement and divorce. So, in January 2012, I began the drip-drip effect, calmly and logically presenting my reasons for wanting a change. To my surprise, Gavin didn’t take much persuading. Before long, our plan began to take shape. We didn’t want to leave the area – we love it here. So our requirements were just a little more space, but still in a period property. Simple. Or was it? 2012 SATURDAY 7 JANUARY ASSESSING THE MARKET I’ve taken the plunge and signed up for alerts from www.rightmove.co.uk as recommended by friends who’ve recently moved house. Within hours, messages began to arrive telling me ‘eight new properties have been added which match your search’. So began the process of seeing what was available within our price 068 | APRIL 2013 68-71 diary of a housemoveFINALJW.indd 68 4/3/13 16:53:27 http://WWW.DIAMONDREMOVALS.COM http://www.rightmove.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of At Home with Sarah Beeny 2013

Editor's letter
Sarah's Welcome
Notebook
It's a date
Mellow yellow
Blooming wonderful
Proper copper
Rent revolution
Home upgrade
Leading locations
Property virgins
Safe as houses
On the move
Good on paper
A distressed look
Turn up the heat
Fire it up
Trendsetter
Another 48 hours
Something old, something new
Suite dreams
Inside the box
Bathtime
On stylish ground
On the rise
DIY for girls
The blueprint
A glass act
Final draught
Heat beneath your feet
Silent enemies
Real-life renovation
Eco exclusive
Hot stuff
How very cultivated
Turn over a new leaf
Lofty deals
Keep your antenna up
What Sarah says
How bizarre
Colour cocktail
Last word
Stockists

At Home with Sarah Beeny 2013