Should I buy a tiny, less-than-ideal flat?

[Alex321]

Well done.

It seems you probably did the right thing in hanging on for something more appealing than the first ones you looked at.

I hope you can be happy in your new home - it should certainly be a lot less stress now that you have completed, even if there is still some way to go before you can live there comfortably.

 

[davidif]

Congratulations wafter!

I do hope to continue to hear about your Brompton commute-if that will still be a thing.

 

[wafter]

Well done I'm hopefully following in your footsteps!

It will be a new start and a boost to your wellbeing!

Thanks and that's great news with your situation! As you suggest it's got to give an enormous boost to your wellbeing and it sounds like you could cetainly do with a break. Best of luck with it all

Well done.

It seems you probably did the right thing in hanging on for something more appealing than the first ones you looked at.

I hope you can be happy in your new home - it should certainly be a lot less stress now that you have completed, even if there is still some way to go before you can live there comfortably.

Thanks and yes; on the one hand I'd have saved some money but IMO what I ended up with is easily worth the difference.

I'm cautious but life's certainly been a lot more pleaseant in the past when left unsupervised in the city and this time the circumstances are a lot more favourable - the property is "mine", I'm employed, I'm not flogging the increasingly obviously dead horse of a failing relationship..

Congratulations wafter!

I do hope to continue to hear about your Brompton commute-if that will still be a thing.

Thanks

To be honest the Brompton will most likely be retired from commuting duties since they'll no longer involve the car (thank feck) and a full-size alternatives would bring a lot of advantages in terms of reliability / maintenance / cost..

I suspect I'll hang onto the little bleeder though - it seems we've been through a lot together and as testing as it's been at times I do owe it a lot.

 

[Gunk]

Nauseatingly long and convoluted story cut deservedly short, after nearly a bloody year of frustration, anxiety and exhaustion the purchase finally completed earlier this week

Congratulations!

 

[wafter]

Congratulations!

Cheers!

You might be relieved to know I'm a good distance from you

 

[wafter]

I think that's the living room done

 

[fossyant]

Space for more bikes !

 

[wafter]

Space for more bikes !

lol - I did briefly consider just rolling over and devoting one whole wall to a bike-shop-esq staggered display of them all... but suppose I'd best leave some room for some grown-up furniture. I'm currently in negotiations for a table but it's not proving easy!

Ultimately the Fuji (far left) will probably go back to the homestead as it's better suited to country roads than urban streets; to be replaced by the flat bar CdF once that's in a useable state. That will probably live inside (at least to start with) along with the curly-bar CdF if I ever get the parts to make it rideable. The Routier (middle) will probably end up outside under a cover in the garden or in a shed, the Brompton folded in a cupboard somewhere waiting for all the city breaks I tell myself I'll be taking to justify keeping it. Finally the Ragley will have to remain at the homestead until I can sort a secure shed as even I'm not silly enough to keen a massive, likely filthy MTB inside..

I did originally plan to mount 2-3 bike holders to the wall by the door where the Brompton is in the pic, however have since re-thought that approach since the walls are apparently made of cornflakes packets. Something freestanding would be good but I can't find anything off the shelf and realistically would struggle to knock owt up from scratch.

Ideally I'd have something other than super-absorbant deep-pile beige carpet by the door, but I'm too tight to put my hand in my pocket to have laminate or tiles fitted instead. I did wonder about a massive rubber mat or some sort of laminate sat on top of the carpet, but that's one of many things on a long list of things to look into..

 

[Gunk]

I think that's the living room done

View attachment 771448

You’ve obviously completed, congratulations 🥳

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Having only just found and read this thread, it's nice to see an eventual outcome to this after so much time.

Well done and enjoy the house!

 

[wafter]

You’ve obviously completed, congratulations 🥳

Thanks!

The sale finally completed about six weeks ago, however thanks to the delay with the mattress I've only had a functioning bed for the past three or so. The sparse appointments suggested by the pic are representative of the whole place currently - progress is slow but it's live-able in and most importantly gives me access to the city / escape from the misery of the commute and being stuck in my childhood bedroom

Having only just found and read this thread, it's nice to see an eventual outcome to this after so much time.

Well done and enjoy the house!

Thanks and yes - it's been a long time coming.

It's not all roses but it's fixed a lot of stuff outside my head and I'm definitely much less of an peanut as a result

 

[icowden]

The sparse appointments suggested by the pic are representative of the whole place currently - progress is slow but it's live-able in and most importantly gives me access to the city / escape from the misery of the commute and being stuck in my childhood bedroom

That's what counts. You have your own freedom.

If money is short, you can often source furniture:

• On your local NextDoor
• Your local tip will usually have a recycling shop where you can get stuff that people didn't want but is still quite usable.
• You may have a local furniture charity shop - they can have some good stuff

 

[Pblakeney]

I did wonder about a massive rubber mat...

I got a cloth topped rubber mat from Costco to go in the hallway of digs for commuting while working away from home.
Not expensive and very effective*! It is now in our carpeted under staircase cupboard maintaining duties for my "good bike".

*Effective as the cloth absorbs any liquid until it can dry out while the rubber undersurface prevents further contamination.

 

[wafter]

That's what counts. You have your own freedom.

If money is short, you can often source furniture:

• On your local NextDoor
• Your local tip will usually have a recycling shop where you can get stuff that people didn't want but is still quite usable.
• You may have a local furniture charity shop - they can have some good stuff

Thanks and indeed!

I'll look at NextDoor - hadn't thought of that. I don't know of any recycling centres round here that do furniture, although there is one nearer the homestead that I have a nose around occasionally when I'm out that direction.

I think I'm pretty familiar with all the furniture-bearing charity shops in the area and aim to hit them once a week with a big circular on the Fuji - so far I've not scored any big items but did find a cosmetically-damaged but still-good-value stereo locally as well as a dirt cheap posh toaster from FB Muppetplace.

I'm that unproductive and demand-averse that it's more appealing to live with no furniture for a while than get stuff that will eventually need to be disposed of when something better comes along (especially with the logistics of moving bigger stuff), so I'm happy to sit on my hands.

Given the size of the place it's also challenging trying to figure out a layout / fit everything in, so I remain unsure of exactly what I want.. certainly for the main room while I'm yet to find anything that ticks all of the boxes for the bedroom. My bedside table is currently the box my duvet came in

I got a cloth topped rubber mat from Costco to go in the hallway of digs for commuting while working away from home.
Not expensive and very effective*! It is now in our carpeted under staircase cupboard maintaining duties for my "good bike".

*Effective as the cloth absorbs any liquid until it can dry out while the rubber undersurface prevents further contamination.

Thanks for the heads-up - that sounds ideal. I'll take a look!

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

I have recently had to set up a second home for work and found local charity shops, Facebook marketplace and Freecycle all very good for picking up decent things cheaply, or even free.