My New Home

As I’ve mentioned twice very recently; I moved home last month and I’m now living alone in a small flat (without a workshop). It’s in a village known as Wrington; between Bristol and Weston-super-Mare but still only a few miles from the area in which I have grown up in. Wrington is a new village to me. I mean, I’d not even driven through this area before the initial viewing last month. It’s all exciting and scary at the same time. I could go on about a lot of things but for now, I’ve decided to share with you some photos I’ve taken this evening, which should give you an idea of the what I’m living in and the layout.

Welcome to my new home!

In a future post, I intend to take you around the village to show you what it has to offer. A couple of weeks ago, I filmed some video footage for a ‘flat tour’ that I’m yet to upload to YouTube.

Straight away, you can see my door in to the flat from the hallway with my kitchen area to the right. It’s a rather ‘open’ arrangement and if these photos present the idea of the property being spacious, well, they’re certainly not deceiving you!

I was surprised to find something so spacious available for the money I’m paying. What really surprised me though, was the apparent lack of interest from other home-hunters (that definitely worked in my favour at the negotiation stage).

To the left of the door, I keep my recycling bins (yes, we’re now required to have two green bins in addition to the food and general waste bins) and currently, a growing collection of unecessary items that are being offloaded through sites like Freecycle and eBay. To be honest, I could fit another bed here if I really wanted to!

I do like having the bar across the kitchen. Not only does it divide the floorspace but it presents me with a place to sit and eat (I still intend to acquire a pair of bar stools). The bottom line is that I don’t need to acquire a table or chairs. I live alone and can keep this space very open and largely clear.

Both the fridge and the cooker were provided with the property but I don’t use the latter. When I last lived alone, there was no cooker and no means of fitting one directly. I have a ‘combi’ microwave oven that actually works very well and I complemented that with an induction hob that heats up instantly. Everything else in this property runs off electricity (heating, hot water).

Away from the settee, I have half of what I like to call my ‘living space’. This side is where I can sit and relax. I don’t often watch TV and I feel less likely to renew my TV license in a year’s time but I have two boxes full of (largely un-watched) DVDs in the far corner and I’ll also be sorting through those soon. That Ikea unit is NOT mine. I think it was left behind by a previous tenant but I’m currently attempting to repair it before offloading.

Oh dear. Am I STILL registered on that website?!? :-S

On the other side, I have my ‘working’ space. You can see my meditation stool in the bottom-right-hand corner with the computer area beyond. At the back, I have an overgrown CD collection that needs trimming. I’d also like a neater storage system that’ll at least hold more items.

Moving in to the bedroom, it probably looks quite small by comparison but I have a double bed in there (I like my space) and it’s not a space in which I would ever try to ‘live’, you know.

Through Freecycle, I came across an Ikea clothes stand and for me, that makes for an ideal compact, knock-down wardrobe (yes, a piece of Ikea furniture that I am proud to own, as it doesn’t even try to look like wood!). I haven’t had the time to try to make anything but I still need to get my clothes out of those black bags and in to a tallboy/chest of drawers very soon…

Wanted: One Tallboy/Chest of Drawers

I’ll explain the reason behind the two oil-filled radiators another time. You can probably guess why they’re here but I may need to be careful with what I say…

My bathroom is pretty much what you would probably expect from a one-bedroom flat.

I recently installed a cheap thermal/blackout blind over the window which has the benefit of reducing some of the drafts (all windows are only single-glazed). There is a shower, I can get hot water from a sink to the right but there is no heating source in this room.

So, it’s a spacious property in what I’ve always assumed was a sought-after location (although, it probably has less appeal for a younger person like myself). There are many positives and after my initial six-month tenancy, I feel as though I like to stay put for longer, as that option should become available. All I can add for now is that there is work to be done.

Thanks for reading.