I MOVED HOMES // 5 THINGS I'VE LEARNED SO FAR

 

Everybody MUST know by now that over the past few weeks, I have been moving into my very first independent home, away from my parents, with my boyfriend, Jamie. The property that we've moved into is a 2 bedroomed flat and we've been waiting a mighty long time to officially move in.

As August flipped over, we finally moved into this flat and have been hard at work sorting everything out since. So much so, that I've barely been on social media and haven't had an ounce of time to write a blog post until now. And I know that a bunch of people are dying to see the new place in all of its glory but, as there are still, boxes, bags, and bare walls all over the place, I'm afraid I'll have to keep you all waiting that little bit longer.

Anyhow, as this is my first 'independent flat', I've learnt a lot even though my journey is just beginning. Some of the things I've learnt are specific to rental properties and some will stretch to other grades of property too so if you're moving anytime soon, you might want to know the 5 things I've learnt from moving into my first rental property.

New knives are sharp.
For those of you like myself that seem to be lacking a bit of common sense or have recently found themselves going delirious from tiredness, it's worth learning that new knives, straight outta the packet, are very sharp. It's also worth noting that I probably should cut bread in my hands going towards my fingers... yup, that might prevent future sliced fingers too. 

'Professionally cleaned' means nothing.
Every viewing that I attended taught me that, before I moved into the property that I chose, it would have been professionally cleaned. Bullsh*t. My mum and I pride ourselves as rather good at cleaning but were a challenged when we first got the keys. So, as soon as we got into the property, we were scrubbing, wiping, bleaching, hoovering and whatnot. There were so many absolutely disgusting things around our flat and, only thanks to our hard work, the place is now on its way to being a lot more spotless.

It's a very tiring process.
As I mentioned before, I've been going a little delirious from tiredness lately. Not only is lugging boxes and bags, cleaning top to bottom, and general living and breathing tiring, I have also been losing sleep over the amount of activity going on in my brain. One night I was awake between 2 and 4AM just wondering how to organise a set of shelves. Half of it was out of overwhelming excitement and the other half was just frustration of not being able to organise shelves in the early hours of the morning. I'm pleased to say, however, I'm starting to get caught up with sleep - a few well-needed naps have been very necessary. 

Things will challenge you along the way.
A lot of the time, landlords, agents, and contractors are fine-tuned to do the very bare minimum. Luckily for us, our estate-agent/landlord is pretty helpful and active but, across the whole process, there have been a few occasions where nothing has been done with ease. We're currently tackling awaiting a boiler fixture, expecting a roofer at some point, and trying to understand the mindset of whoever left one of the walls magnolia in a white room. Things are slowly but surely coming along and, if anything, I'm learning to have patience.

There's always something missing.
No matter how much I packed and planned before moving in, there was always going to be something missing. For some reason, we seemed to acquire 2 cheese graters but were lacking a few basics like a sponge, a feather duster, and a kitchen bin, to name a few. Despite the fact that we took trips to shops to get all of these missing essentials, we still find a few things are missing. Next on my list is a shelf. Yep... it really is simple little things like that.

Undoubtedly, there is still a lot to learn but I'm open to the adventure and excitement for what is to come. I can't wait to share more about my new space with you all - just hang in there, it'll be coming soon. In the meantime, what piece of advice can you give me for living in a rented flat?