The house to home challange.

In a few weeks time we are going to be moving house, and I am really looking forward to it. Since we got married (almost 7 years ago) we have lived in rented accommodation, each address chosen solely for the low rent.

I have found our most recent house the hardest to be content in, and to be honest I haven't been truly content at all. It has many flaws, damp, mould, single glazing, a very old back boiler, ill fitting doors, terrible condition carpets, artex (3 different patterns in our lounge alone!), very old badly fitting kitchen, a smelly toilet (we have been here over 18 months and I still cant figure out what the cause is) and some very loud and aggressive dogs next door, and that's just to start. However, we have been paying way below the area average so its truly a case of getting what you pay for.

So its time for a move! and guess what? we are moving to a friends old house! (our lovely friends and their 3 boys have moved away and they sold their home to another couple in our church who are going to rent it to us). Amazing!! we are moving into a home rather than a scruffy rented house, with landlords who want us there for as long as we want to stay!

But its not just the fittings that are important, the family that has just moved out are wonderful, God uses them, and they reflect him in their lives and because of that we have hope that we will be building on the foundations they made and quickly make connections with the neighbours.

Now our new place is going to cost us a fair bit more a month and it took a lot of prayer and thought to be certain that we are doing the right thing but we are sure we are where God wants us and see it as a huge blessing.

For the first time in my adult life I can really think about making a house our home. Since I was 18 I have moved 16 times! this will be move 17!! So I cant wait to get creative and decorate and furnish our home in a way that we really enjoy rather than with the first most cheapest thing we can find.

And so to the BIG CHALLENGE, how to do it all on a tiny budget? and when I say tiny I mean £50 per room. At first I thought that would be loads, far more than we have ever spent before but actually its going to take time, planning and a lot of trips to charity stores and car boots but what a great challenge!

I am hoping in the process I will be able to share with you some tips on how to make do and mend, up-cycle, recycle, and generally consume less new and love whats already out there. I am going to be trying out some new skills, I cant DIY at all and think that the only way to get this done on a shoe string is to get very hands on, so be prepared for a few epic fails along the way!