INTRODUCTION

I spent more than 2 decades living in Australia before returning to my childhood home in England in order to become not only a daughter, but also a carer, cleaner, cook, gardener, nurse, secretary, shopper, wheelchair chauffeur, - and numerous other necessities for my aged father. His home has never been 'my' home, but I began to make a few minor changes to the house under the role of housekeeper with further ideas and plans forming.

In the future, this house should become my inheritance and whether I stay on, rent out, or sell up - or Dad himself sells if he chooses to move into a home rather than continuing to live on here - it will need much attention as it has been much neglected over the past 10 years.

As current owner, I have also begun to investigate some of the piles of dusty junk left behind in what was once my childhood/teenage bedroom – some of which were once my own treasured possessions, but most of which is now unwanted garbage. Some of these items may be worth enough to consider selling rather than tossing them all out, though.

Over the next 5-10 years there will be a lot of renovating, redecorating, restyling, and, when/if I inherit, sorting out of the house's other piles of dusty 'stuff' to distinguish treasures from junk. (My room is currently the neatest and emptiest.) Hopefully, at the end of this time, the 'dump' will be a pleasure to live in if not a perfected 'palace'...

I decided to document the various stages in a blog, not only for those interested in DIY and styling to enjoy reading, but also to encourage me to stick with it. I am not an expert at renovating, fairly inexperienced with decorating, good with ideas but unique and eccentric in my idea of style, and have no idea how much of the dust-ridden junk will be antique treasures rather than total garbage.

I will step into the adventure ahead by describing a few minor changes and small purchases that have occurred over the past year, as I am ready to begin the larger renovations when a roll of lino arrives next week...