Building the dream

After 20 years of planning our self-build dream home, September 2017 marks the official commencement of our exciting new build.  Struggling through the planning process, was reminiscent of my dreaded leaving certificate, but enough said - we are finally there!  

Delighted to share some of the highs and lows (here's hoping not to many) of this journey with you via regular blog updates on our new blog page titled "NO PLACE LIKE HOME".

Might be well before your time but as the lyrics of Paul Young's song goes "wherever I lay my hat, that's my home".  Home can be many things to many people.  Whether it's a bedsit, townhouse, apartment, country cottage, semi-detached, detached, it's YOUR retreat.  Your home is a safe haven for you, your family and pets, a private place to relax, be yourself and live.

Feeling so blessed and grateful to have this opportunity to create our home exactly as we want it!  Having spent my childhood in a self-build, somehow seemed to fuel my desire/ambition to go down this very road.   Growing up surrounded by nature, with a large garden to run free, pets galore and fruit and vegetables growing aplenty certainly planted the seed!

Needless to say, we have had years to plan our new home - which in hindsight wasn't a bad thing!  Initially, (a few years back) we were opting for a fairly traditional design mainly because we felt this is what we had to do.  However, along this journey, we were fortunate enough to engage with some great individuals (more on them later) who made us realise what we truly desired - a modern contemporary design.  We know our design is definitely not for everyone - but we absolutely LOVE IT!   

Nature's gold

Our site is a blank canvas, a green field surrounded by nature.  We planted the perimeter with a lush hedgerow some years back and this has matured beautifully.  Other than that, we have some thriving fruit trees and a small berry plantation to the rear (which tasted delish this year)! Below is a photo of the natural meadow site, which we hope to maintain in places and introduce a wild and herb garden when landscaping.

We have all heard that saying "putting the cart before the horse", but how about "the pillows before the foundations"!!  Picked up some fab "feels like down" plump pillows from Julian Charles recently for our new home!  Very tempted to put some of these into use as sound sleep will be a must over the months and year ahead!

Okay so back to the build - need to concentrate on the mammoth task in hand!  All going well, we hope to soon turn the sod and start making this dream a reality.  Fingers crossed this pleasant calm weather holds out and gives a bit of breathing space.  Will be in touch soon, with hopefully some real ground breaking progress (excuse the pun)!!

If you are self-building, we would love to hear from you!  Lets get a self-build conversation started!  Or perhaps you know somebody who starting or in the midst of a self-build whom you could share this blog.