A lot of hot air

A few weeks ago we had to move all our furniture out of the hallways and the bathroom cupboard. The house looked like this for a day or two...

We just slid the wardrobe out of the way as we can't really put it anywhere else, we put a blanket under it to avoid damaging the floor.

We covered the turtle tank for dust, and just threw all the stuff out of the bathroom cupboard in the bath.

Where was all the other furniture? Piled up in the bedroom...

 And it was all for this...can you see it?

It's the vent on the top left, we finally got our mould solution fitted!

Back in this post I mentioned the mould problems we have had, and the landlord had promised he would sort something as opening windows didn't seem to be doing anything.

So 2 weeks ago we had this PIV unit fitted. The part in the hallway is a lot more noticeable!

We have a decorator coming to possibly box it in, and tidy up all the plaster and paint. The switch was originally lower down but the landlord wanted it moved higher. Gives us more freedom with furniture and does look neater. Well it will do once it's all tidied up.

I've cleaned all the walls again and the furniture that was affected. See those light grey/green streaks on the table? They're not wood grain, they're mould. Lush. Everything has been bleached within an inch of its life to kill off the mould (other than the bedroom ceiling as I can't reach it) and fingers crossed it won't be back.

The unit brings fresh air into the rooms which don't have windows to try to get some air movement in the flat and avoid the condensation issues we have been having. I'm not really 100% sure how it works but also it exchanges the air, through the existing extractor fan flue in the hallway. There is a switch we can put on for it to heat the incoming air too so it won't be too draughty in winter. It apparently will work for a 3 bedroom house so we're hoping it will solve our problem. I have noticed that the air in the rooms with no windows feels less stale, but only time will tell over the winter if it helps with the mould.

The decorator will also repaint the rooms affected by the mould. This is the whole bedroom, one wall in the living room and the bathroom. Apparently the bathroom was just painted in matt paint, so this time it's going to be done in bathroom paint, as it is peeling but with being a basement bathroom with no windows that's to be expected.

All in all I'm just happy something has been done, it's good to have a landlord who actually acts on issues!

Sponsor me to climb Kilimanjaro! 

www.justgiving.com/katie-kili 

 

Decking the halls

We put our Christmas tree up this week, how late are we?? I know everyone has already done the whole 'look at our tree' thing but here is ours. Apologies for the rubbish photos but the camera doesn't do low light very well and I didn't want to put the flash on so you could see the lights...I am really not a photographer!

I don't have a tree skirt or anything to cover the base as I will soon be putting presents under there to cover it.

It isn't stylish or modern or different. It doesn't have a colour scheme other than 'christmassy' colours like red, gold and silver. Basically it looks like Christmas threw up on our tree. I love it.

I love the family traditions of Christmas and I like quite a traditional looking tree (i.e. traditional to us like the trees we had as kids used to look) we have quite a mish mash of decorations that we have collected along the way and I make it my mission to use all of the decorations.

I like these wooden figurine ones, they were from paperchase a few years back and I had some similar as a child.

The rest are all baubles and tinsel bought from either supermarkets or DIY stores in packs.

We bought this owl one from the Christmas market the other week as we have a random private joke about a bit from Phone Shop where they say 'A Owl? A owl bruv'.

I don't really do too much other than the tree as we live in a smallish flat so I don't want to crowd it but I did throw some tinsel over the picture frames and put up my usual few sentimental ornaments and little touches.

We don't have a fireplace so don't have stockings (we have only had fireplaces in half the places we have lived) and I don't have a mantel to dress. The only other place so far to get decorated is the table, I couldn't find anywhere to hang the wreath so I used it on the table. The snowman and santa salt and pepper shakers are from Avon years back when we had family round for Christmas dinner the first  (and so far only) time at our last house.

Now I'm off to have a massive present wrapping session while listening to carols and maybe having a cheeky glass of wine!

That's probably about it from me here before Christmas, working Monday and Tuesday and then looking forward to some family time. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas however you are spending it xx

Staying Snug

The heating is on in our flat, and today is the first day we have extended it from the 2 hours in the evening we start with as it was too cold to turn it off at 8pm! Luckily the flat seems to be pretty efficient and, other than the bedroom which does get a bit chilly, is quite a nice warm place.

However we once lived in a house with single pane windows and night storage heaters. I have never been so cold! I really learnt there to appreciate the central heating and use it sparingly, and especially with all the news of energy prices going up this winter I thought this was a good time to share and discuss energy and heat saving measures!

Most of them are pretty common sense but they are all definitely worth checking you have before we really get into winter:

1. Were you born in a barn? My parents always used to tell me to close doors (and ask that infamous question), but it helps to keep the heat in when you are spending all evening in say the living room closing the doors will help to keep it snug. Especially doors into rooms which have external doors, for example we always keep the door to the hallway closed as the front door isn't very energy efficient so it can get a bit draughty in there. Closing the door keeps that draught confined to the hall, so we don't have to compensate by heating the flat more.
2. Obviously this also applies to the actual external doors, try to avoid opening and closing doors and windows a lot when you have the heating on. If you have to go in and out a lot (when we were smokers we were in and out every hour) close the door straight away. Jazzie cat is a bugger for dithering over whether she wants to be inside or out, but in winter the door gets opened for her for about 2 seconds and if she doesn't choose the choice is made for her! We don't leave windows open for the cats in winter either, they use the litter tray.
3. Think of your property like a tank and heat like the water inside, where are the leaks? Insulate every last place you can. If you are a tenant you may not have control over loft and wall insulation, or be able to get better windows or doors (If you own the place definitely something to consider - Landlords listen up too!) but you can still keep as much heat in as possible. Draught excluders on doors, especially external doors are great. Also lined thermal curtains on all windows, and external doors if possible, will help. You can also get foam insulating tape that you can run around the inside of door frames which helps to keep any draughts out (my mum used this with good results). 
4. Ventilation - some air circulation is needed for ventilation, and depending on if you have a gas fire and the age of the building may be necessary for safety reasons like carbon monoxide etc. Don't block off any vents or permanently seal them unless you have consulted an expert on whether they're still necessary. You will also need to let some fresh air in to prevent damp if you don't have any ventilation vents or bricks, I like to throw the windows open when I can in the daytime if the temperature is decent and let some air circulate...use a dehumidifier to draw out any extra moisture in the air to avoid damp in winter if you can't bear opening the windows!
5. Good old solutions like hot water bottles (pop one in the bed 15-20 minutes before you get in), nice PJs and slippers or blankets work just as well to keep you warm especially in the evening when on the sofa or going to bed. It is natural to be cold in winter (it's cold outside after all) so we don't expect to be sat around in shorts, I regularly put a jumper on before considering putting the heating on. After living in our freezing house blankets on the sofa (and occasionally the duvet) has become a habit for us, now more about comfort than warmth as it's just nice to snuggle up sometimes.
6. Heat reflecting foils behind radiators reflect heat back out into the room rather than letting it get absorbed by the walls. Also don't block radiators off with furniture or washing.
7. I began to treat heat as a precious resource when living in our cold cold house, so anything that gave off heat became valuable to us! When cooking I would leave the oven open afterwards and let the heat out into the kitchen/living area, we would also use space heaters when we just got too cold - but they cost a fortune on the electricity.
8. Speaking of electricity - try to avoid energy wastage on electricals by leaving things on standby (you are paying for that little red standby light to be lit!) or leaving things on. Make sure to switch everything off when not in use, properly off at the switch not on standby. Things like electric clock displays are also a waste, do you need your microwave and oven to both tell you the time? No, unplug the microwave when not in use.
9. Monitor your timer and thermostat - don't put the heat on high and long from the start, start at your most conservative estimate of what you need and go from there. We start off the heating with just 30 minutes in the morning before we wake up to make it bearable, then it comes on again at 6pm and off at 8pm - the last few weeks we have been turning it off early if anything but now it has started creeping up. Start low and leave the thermostat low for as long as you can, just enough to keep the place warm (not roasting) and just for a short time while you are home. Try to only extend the times for short bursts rather than just whack the heating on for all evening straight away, it doesn't need to be on at all times while you are home, we tend to leave the timer at 6pm-8pm for as long as we can but during really cold spells it can go up to 5pm-9pm, however we reduce it again as soon as the temperature picks up a bit.
10. I find having the heating on low for longer is more efficient for our property than having it on for short bursts of higher temperatures, hence why we always start with the heating being on for at least 2 hours in the evening but on a low temperature. Try to keep the place and even warm temperature, rather than having it roasting hot for a few hours then freezing for the rest of the day...think about how much energy it takes to heat the place up rather than just maintain a reasonably steady temperature. This takes a bit of trial and error, we got into our timed routine last winter after a month or so of faffing (do we want it on at 5 or 6pm? What time should it go off, how early can we do it before being cold going to bed?).

If you are really struggling to keep warm shop around energy supplier and see if you can get a cheaper deal or contact your current supplier and see if there is anything they can do. We moved out of our cold house in the end (to a bungalow with central heating a double glazing, it was like a luxury!) so speak to your landlord if the place is unbearably hard to heat, or shop around for somewhere new if it is impossible to make improvements.

Keep warm! xx

Autumn is here...

Well summer left quite rapidly didn’t it? Last Monday we awoke to rain and cold, the temperature hasn’t really recovered since, and the mornings and evenings are getting darker by the day. We can get a few nice days still in September (actually it’s often quite nice) but even if it is clear and dry the temperature is considerably lower.

I actually quite like this time of year (although not as much as summer!) because being cold is still a novelty and it’s not too cold – just enough to need a jacket and to close the windows, not cold enough for central heating just yet! Things like getting snuggled in a blanket in the evening, putting on thick warm socks, cooking Sunday roast dinner (I never do this in summer) and getting out the winter coats seem new and cosy, I’m usually bored of it by November though!

The question is, do you change your décor for the seasons?

I know soon enough it will be Christmas decorations, but do we make any other changes to account for the change in the weather? Our only allowance seems to be that we get the blankets out on the sofa more, they’re always there just through summer are usually folded up on the arm or down the side of the sofa, and we have them out more once it gets colder. I’d like to get some nicer ones one day, with a nice pattern or a bit bigger or thicker. However with the cats they often just end up covered in hair (Minty loves to get under them with us for some reason!) and being used to cover the sofa cushions.

We also have less flowers and plants around, so the monthly flower posts might drop off (I’ve already not done one for August and September as I’ve not had any!) and the garden will go into hibernation (I’ll do an update on our outside preparations for winter soon).

We naturally spend a lot more time indoors over the winter, so it seems an ideal time to start thinking about projects and home related things. I want to get my home organised this autumn/winter, starting with the big declutter then moving on to rearranging some rooms once we are free of some of the rubbish cluttering them up. I think we have spaces, like the hallway, which we could use better, and we have a lot of things we do not need cluttering up other areas.

We are also going to be busy this winter sorting wedding stuff and squirreling away money, so I’ll be saving up and trying to maybe get some extra income (you may have noticed ads have arrived at TenantChic). This also means there might be more posts on the wedding blog, although that is really just a sideline so I’m not making any promises. Projects will also be very low budget for the near future!

The main thing I do to prepare for winter is I’ll rotate my wardrobe and my hair/beauty products soon, probably once we’re back from our holiday (which is coming up, yay!), to move the colder weather stuff to the front and put my summer stuff in storage or move it to the back. Although I try to not have too much season/occasion specific stuff some is unavoidable. I try to have dresses I can wear in the summer but also in winter with tights and maybe a top underneath, and also things I can dress up or down.

I’m also really into clothes swapping at the moment, after my wardrobe cull back here I’m sending off anything that didn’t sell on eBay to this website. It’s a great idea for saving money and also being more eco friendly. They’re quite strict on what you send in and it is all approved before sending so you don’t get the usual tat on there (Primark T-shirts that cost about £2 originally and have been worn, what’s the point? Just give it to charity!), it’s all as new stuff. I got a Next dress with the tags still on from here a while ago and had a large delivery last week of holiday stuff like a few sun dresses and shorts. I’m sending in more stuff regularly (you have to pay to post it in of course so I’m kind of sending it in dribs and drabs when I can get to the post office and have a few quid spare) and then when I want new clothes I shop on there with my credits rather than spending money. It helps keep my clothes to a minimum and makes me refresh my wardrobe more often as it makes me to get rid of one thing to get another. I do still shop outside of there though! For example they didn’t really have any sandals I liked or any maxi skirts which were the 2 specific things I wanted for holiday so I bought those from ASOS in the sale.

All in all not much change other than trying to maximise our space still and reorganising which seems to be an endless task!

How do you get ready for the colder weather? Do you have any winter décor that you bring out once it gets colder? Or does your home stay pretty much the same?

p.s. I'm taking part in this - head over to see a round up of some good projects!