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Old Posted: 15-12-2008 , 05:01 PM #61
MandyD
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Location: Naas, Kildare
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Hey Kiara, I was in the exact same position four years ago, with a one year old boy and a three year old girl. Trying to furnish and otherwise make a house liveable with no partner and two babies toddling around. There were concrete floors and bare plaster walls. Not even a lick of horrible paint I could paint over lol. The grant I received was paltry and hardly supplied half of what I needed - in fact, if it wasn't for my family, I'm quite sure I'd still be walking on stone floors! Do take whatever advantages you can - St. Vincent de Paul, Community Welfare Officer, MABS even! JT can be a great help to you right now. Just remember, as long as you have somewhere to sleep and something to cook on, you'll get by if you have to. If you can't find any old lengths of pole for a rail in your alcoves, you can always use curtain wire...cheap as chips and will at least last until you can find something a little more permanent. Choose your floors wisely - I picked any old thing at all to cover the concrete and regretted it in the end. I'm still trying to replace it all. I have the kitchen, sitting room and hall floors replaced...one room every few months is my aim.
As for curtains and the rest of it...I had cardboard boxes celotaped to my window in my bedroom for a while lol..not pretty..but it done the job and at least I could get changed without worrying if there was someone seeing me! Actually Argos do some really nice bamboo blinds for 7.50 each and they can be cut to size with a scissors! I have them all over my house now.
If you have floorboards upstairs, sand them down and varnish them up...they look fantastic. Your local carpet showroom will have offcuts of lino for half nothing for your bathroom floor.
And you can get paint cheap enough in your local hardware stores because some tins are mixed wrong and the person they were intended for refused them. Take advantage!
Instead of buying expensive curtains, buy unlined ones and use old bedsheets to sew some lining into them. If you need to cordon off a part of your garden, or need to erect some fences, you can use pallets - free from any place. Simply take them apart and put back together inside out!


I think that's your lot lol...my brain is shutting down now...
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Old Posted: 15-12-2008 , 09:33 PM #62
kiara
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MandyD
Hey Kiara, I was in the exact same position four years ago, with a one year old boy and a three year old girl. Trying to furnish and otherwise make a house liveable with no partner and two babies toddling around. There were concrete floors and bare plaster walls. Not even a lick of horrible paint I could paint over lol. The grant I received was paltry and hardly supplied half of what I needed - in fact, if it wasn't for my family, I'm quite sure I'd still be walking on stone floors! Do take whatever advantages you can - St. Vincent de Paul, Community Welfare Officer, MABS even! JT can be a great help to you right now. Just remember, as long as you have somewhere to sleep and something to cook on, you'll get by if you have to. If you can't find any old lengths of pole for a rail in your alcoves, you can always use curtain wire...cheap as chips and will at least last until you can find something a little more permanent. Choose your floors wisely - I picked any old thing at all to cover the concrete and regretted it in the end. I'm still trying to replace it all. I have the kitchen, sitting room and hall floors replaced...one room every few months is my aim.
As for curtains and the rest of it...I had cardboard boxes celotaped to my window in my bedroom for a while lol..not pretty..but it done the job and at least I could get changed without worrying if there was someone seeing me! Actually Argos do some really nice bamboo blinds for 7.50 each and they can be cut to size with a scissors! I have them all over my house now.
If you have floorboards upstairs, sand them down and varnish them up...they look fantastic. Your local carpet showroom will have offcuts of lino for half nothing for your bathroom floor.
And you can get paint cheap enough in your local hardware stores because some tins are mixed wrong and the person they were intended for refused them. Take advantage!
Instead of buying expensive curtains, buy unlined ones and use old bedsheets to sew some lining into them. If you need to cordon off a part of your garden, or need to erect some fences, you can use pallets - free from any place. Simply take them apart and put back together inside out!


I think that's your lot lol...my brain is shutting down now...

Oh my god, you really were put through it, thankfully things are starting to look up for us, with help from family friends and fellow jumbletowners we will get the basics done soon, and everything else we can work on gradually. I hope things are starting to come together for you now and that you like your home. One question though can you pm me about MABS I don't know what they do? Did you know that if your not happy with your grants you can appeal? Kiara x
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Old Posted: 15-12-2008 , 09:43 PM #63
kiara
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Gillo and bluecurlygirl, I know I shouldn't be doing too much... but tea duty? lol! Ah no I know they're just minding me and everyone really has been great, it's just annoying that I can't do a whole lot when I 've been waiting for this for so long! Kiara x
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Old Posted: 15-12-2008 , 09:58 PM #64
summersun
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Well K, you are looking for garden ideas ... I have the best idea ever.... you can come and help me do mine and that will give you lots of practise ha ha , and by the time baby number 2 has arrived you will be an expert. We built a new house and have been living in it 2 years now, i have a big garden loads of plants and trees that i have been collecting and growing but lack the expertise to turn mine into the wow factor..... Diarmuid Gavin if you are reading this please come to Clones or any other like minded gardening experts.... you can have a free reign...

K, i replied to your thread in your wanted add re: material.... let me know sometime

take care
Summersun
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Old Posted: 15-12-2008 , 11:40 PM #65
kiara
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Quote:
Originally Posted by summersun
Well K, you are looking for garden ideas ... I have the best idea ever.... you can come and help me do mine and that will give you lots of practise ha ha , and by the time baby number 2 has arrived you will be an expert. We built a new house and have been living in it 2 years now, i have a big garden loads of plants and trees that i have been collecting and growing but lack the expertise to turn mine into the wow factor..... Diarmuid Gavin if you are reading this please come to Clones or any other like minded gardening experts.... you can have a free reign...

K, i replied to your thread in your wanted add re: material.... let me know sometime

take care
Summersun


Sent you a pm, thank you, xxx
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Old Posted: 16-12-2008 , 11:44 AM #66
MandyD
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kiara
Oh my god, you really were put through it, thankfully things are starting to look up for us, with help from family friends and fellow jumbletowners we will get the basics done soon, and everything else we can work on gradually. I hope things are starting to come together for you now and that you like your home. One question though can you pm me about MABS I don't know what they do? Did you know that if your not happy with your grants you can appeal? Kiara x


Well as I said, when I moved in, the house was a total empty shell and I kinda bought things on a whim thinking 'oh they'll do' when in reality, when I stood back and had a good look around, I didn't like it at all. So I worked on replacing things gradually. I had blue, white and grey lino in the kitchen which worked well with the royal blue carpet and blue, white and grey walls in the sitting room - open plan - but I quickly grew sick of looking at such bachelor colors, so I painted cream with red trims like red silk curtains and some canvas pictures. I recently built a wall to seperate the open plan kitchen and sitting room as I hated it with a passion! So now my kitchen is black and cream - black floor tiles with a center mosaic in black and white, which only cost me just over a hundred smackers cos I know a guy who works for right price tiles. A black glass and leather kitchen table and chairs for fifty quid in kavanagh's in newbridge - a veritable goldmine of a place - and some new kitchen presses from my partner's sister as she bought a new kitchen and wanted rid of her old one which was perfect!
As I said before, my family have been a great help to me, and recently bought me a new washing machine, cooker and fridge, on the condition that I pay back 25 quid a week. I painted the window wall black and the rest cream, so that's the kitchen done! All I need to do is hang the beautiful pine door that a JTer so kindly gave me.
The sitting room floor has been changed to some antique pine laminate and the three peice suite I had - which was totally buggered due to children hopping on them - I replaced with the help of the travelling community who gave me a suite on the premise that I pay them in monthly installments from my children's allowance.
The carpet in the hall - a biscuit color was soooo not the right choice - has been changed to cream tiles with cream and brown center peice - approx 80 quid from my friend at right price tiles!
I still have plenty left to do - my kids rooms were built totally wrong, with my son basically having two chimney breasts in his room, because they thought it would be nice to put an alcove in the other room for a wardrobe, which would be fine if his room was bigger than a postage stamp! (Council houses!!!!) So I'm knocking down my daughter's alcove and building my son a nice new STRAIGHT wall in his room lol and then I can paint and redecorate their rooms.
It's hard going, but every couple of months, when I see one more room taking shape, it heartens me for the scrimping and saving for the next one!

I think it helps a lot that my partner is a painter and one of my best friends is a carpenter! lol

So to your question about whether I love my home... I do now.

Will PM you regarding MABS.

Hope my tale of slogging it out with my own home gives you a bit of relief in that you're not the only one out there trying to get things done and achieving it slowly... xx
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Old Posted: 16-12-2008 , 12:14 PM #67
Mary G
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Default Hi Kiara,

Quote:
Originally Posted by kiara
Hi all, Im finally moving to my very own (council) house, Im really excited as Im getting the keys next wednesday!!! I cant wait!!!

Thing is the house is completly empty so im wondering if any of you resourceful jumbletowners have ideas for low cost renovations, reusing stuff that i might have or am able to get for uses that i might not have thought of??? (unfortunatly im not a visionary- to say the least)

Im usually a dedicated shopper but thats just not an option lately so hopefully you all have some bright ideas???

I would like to recycle/repurpose anything I can!!!

***Garden ideas also welcome***


Delighted you are getting keys to your new home. I hope you and your family have a great Christmas and keep in touch as I am not forgetting baby clothes.

Kind regards,

MaryG
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Old Posted: 20-12-2008 , 06:36 PM #68
kiara
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mary G
Delighted you are getting keys to your new home. I hope you and your family have a great Christmas and keep in touch as I am not forgetting baby clothes.

Kind regards,

MaryG


Thanks Mary, Not long now once I have my scan I'll let you know, Kiara x
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Old Posted: 30-12-2008 , 11:35 PM #69
kiara
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Default Whoo hooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my grant today and I was shocked and delighted at how much it covered! Anything I've collected on jumbletown that I won't need now will be passed on (on jumbletown of course!) thanks to everyone who has helped us and happy new year to all, Kiara xxxx
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Old Posted: 06-01-2009 , 03:28 AM #70
magiceight
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That's great news Kiara, thrilled for you :D
Happy New Year!
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Old Posted: 06-02-2009 , 09:17 PM #71
kiara
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Most of what went into my house was bought new as most of the furniture on here was too far away, I did try some of the craft ideas though and will post them on another thread but I think it's time to close this one, x
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