If you get the chance.

Today is a very special day for me as it's my 7th anniversary, not my wedding anniversary as that comes next month but the anniversary of when myself and my family moved into our new home.  Its not just any home, it's very special as it was designed by my dad and we then had it built. Trying to get on the property ladder is virtually impossible nowadays and due to low wages buying was never going to be an option for us.  Thankfully my In Laws had a garden which was big enough to be a building plot. So after purchasing the land and sorting out all the legal side of things and the paperwork we started on our new build. It took just under a year to build but the wait was worth it as we now have a lovely 3 bed detached house in a lovely area and my In Laws live just next door! The advantage of building yourself is that you get it exactly as you want it.  There are stressful moments but also I remember the exciting times we had going into stores, looking and choosing furniture and fixtures and fittings for the house. At the time of building my son was 11 and it was all change for him as not only was he moving into a new home but 2 days later he also was starting comprehensive school.  Previously to moving in I had never lived anywhere else except at my parents house which is 10 minutes away from where I live now.  I have always been fortunate enough to get on with my parents and they have never turned their back on me, when my son was born he also lived with me at my parents for the first 11 years of his life, and I can never thank them enough for all they have done for me and Matt.  I remember the night I moved out of my parents and into my new house, I cried as not only was this was a big step for me but I knew I was in for exciting times ahead.  I got married the year before we moved into our new home, so for a year after marriage not only did my parents have me and my son living with them whilst we were in the middle of building, but they also had my husband, it's as well we all get along! Getting married the year before also meant we were fortunate enough to have some amazing wedding presents to take into our new home with us.  It's funny because at the time you have ideas of what you want but 7 years later my husband and I do look back and say we may have chosen differently on some items, for example we realise now that we didn't need a microwave that is also a grill etc and a washing machine that does all sorts of fancy things, and at the time we wanted silver appliances where as now we are quite happy with white! We were very fortunate before moving in as we bought some furniture and were also given some by friends of my parents who were selling up and moving to Cardiff, and also friends of ours were changing their bedroom furniture so they gave us a whole load of furniture including bed, wardrobes, drawers etc and 7 years later all the furniture is still going strong.  I won't lie, building your own house does have it's ups and downs but it's worth it and I recommend it to anybody who gets the chance to do it!