It's like a "Through the keyhole" blog post today!

We had a second viewing this week (It seems surreal to have offered on a house after only seeing it once for an hour!) to really scope out the potential for our offices in the barn, measure up the rooms, I can never work things out looking at a flat floor plan, and let the boys explore.

Sammy was at school when we saw it and has felt a little left out when we have been discussing it. So half term holidays came at the perfect time for a day out to the Somerset countryside. He ran straight in, shook hands with the owners and blasted out of the conservatory door to the garden.

Making himself at home already!

We know we have an anxious couple of weeks ahead, as we negotiate the contracts and move towards a quick exchange, but I want to enjoy every second of the excitement. I really believe it was fate that we found this house, after such a long search, so I don't think it's tempting fate to share some more photos!

You can see the others here.

I have a thing about gates and have always dreamed of having a house with painted gates at the front! What do you think? Would you paint them?!

There's a little door to the utility room and a perfect area for washing off dirty dogs! The pathway leads to the barn above the garage and will be a wonderful separate space for Rich and I to work in.

There are 2 offices back to back and I love that you have to duck under the low beam to get into the back space. Natural light pours in from the sky light and at the opposite end is a cloakroom with the potential for a shower at some point in the future. Perfect for our teenage nephew and nieces as an overflow guest suite! 

It needs a little sprucing up.... but nothing a little bit of paint and some cheap flooring won't fix. The day bed will come out and I can finally have my lovely wooden desk back up that's been propped in the garage for 6 months. Beyond the back office is an untouched store room that with a little imagination, a good feather duster and some shelving, could be an amazing prop shop! I can store all my excess crockery, backdrops etc in there and it's almost the same size as the offices, so has great potential for the future.

A little staircase leads down to the garage and from the garage you get into a workshop! No idea what we will do with that but it may make the perfect space for workshops of my own in the future.....!

It feels so wonderful to find a space that's already full of creative life. The owners sculptures and artwork and I adore the mustard pot of old brushes on the window ledge.

Standing at the office you can peek through the trees to the house and it will be wonderful to have a clear distinction between a working space and home. I know that will help with our work/life balance that has tipped in the wrong direction of late.

The kitchen is a painted wood rustic farmhouse style with..... an AGA! I have no idea how to cook on an Aga but I am excited to learn. A cooker that never switches off?!

The utility room will be a godsend and we are planning to rejig the pantry layout to fit our big fridge freezer in but still keep the feel they have created of a boot room.

There is a large dining/family room off the stable door in the kitchen (Yes - a stable door!!!) and the boys borrowed some of their grandchildren's old games and kept entertained whilst we discussed the house in more detail.

To the right of a false bookcase wall is a glorious fire that almost rivals the whole wall of fireplace in the living room. In time, I'd love to take out this little wall so we can have our sofas in front of the fire and make it feel like a snug with the dining table behind. We learnt that under the carpets is the old wood block flooring so we definitely want to pull up the carpet!

We are in love with the mullion windows (and the window seat) and the stone window frames. The french doors lead out onto the patio and off to the left is a little potting bench and what we have nicknamed the secret garden.

The vegetable patch and the amount of flowers in the garden makes me giddy. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, they mentioned that they had built a climbing frame especially for everlasting sweet peas. I almost fainted.

Award winning flowers no less! 

The view from the boy's attic bedroom is stunning and they have already decided which sides their beds will go and Ollie is desperate to keep the pink!

On the other side of the stairs is a little landing space that I'd love to make into a reading nook with beans bags and their sling bookcase. And there's a loft space beyond the landing that will be ideal for all our Christmas decorations and suitcases!

I can't wait to fill up the deep window ledges with photos and little vases of flowers from the garden. I am dreaming of sitting under the pergola with a basket of flowers and a glass of wine.

I'll share some more photos again soon and you can keep up with our journey to the countryside by following my Instagram account #foreverhouse #foreverhome.

Send us your best wishes for a quick exchange! 

I thought I'd give you a little peek into where we are living whilst we house hunt.

I have been a little mean to this house, when actually there is lots of space and I have to keep reminding myself the pink bathroom isn't forever!

It's time to unpack, appreciate how lucky we are to have found a house to rent, so close to preschool and in a village full of families, with a real sense of community.

For the first time ever, we are able to walk to pre school. And it is a joy. My 2 year old chatted widely the whole way there and everyone we passed, walking their woofers, or popping for a paper at the local stores, gave us a wide smile and a hearty good morning.

It may only be the 17th January but already I need to remind myself of my new year motto.

And suddenly it is becoming a happy home. With more unpacked boxes ready to be filled again and a chance to have another much needed sort out. 

I may have gone a little mad on matching bits for the boys in 2013. Excess!

My mother has worked like a dog whilst I recovered from a sick bug, to get us straight! Wonder woman!

So we have a lovely dining area, flowers on the mantel and planning friends to stay. Who cares if you sleep on a mattress on the floor just for one night? I know our friends don't.

The dogs are happy as pigs in muck. Rich has a new pair of wellies and walkies now means a muddy trek in the woods!

So from now on we have big smiles!

Because we can sort over time. There is no rush. Just shut the door!

And we can walk to pre school. Happy days!

I was so happy when Carpetright contacted me to work together as we are on a countdown to the big move now and carpets and flooring are on the top of the to do list!

It all hinges on tomorrow and the big question is, will we or won't we exchange?!

I am so glad that we plan to stay in the new house for at least 20 years because I am not sure I could take the stress again!

The first room that we will be getting up together is the boy's play room. The sooner they have all their toys around them the more settled I think they will feel.

We have big plans for the kitchen (which I will share soon) which means the current dining room can be transformed into a play space for the boys.

The room is a great size at almost 12" by 10". It has a large window over looking the garden and when we have finished the works in the kitchen the 2 doors off the hallway and current kitchen will be replaced with large french doors to let even more light in.

This is the boys current play room (in our dining room). 

It is almost the same size and as you can see bursting with toys! We are taking all but one of the bookcases with us as well as the green chest unit that fits lots of baskets in.

There was no real theme to this play room just a mis match of colours and I rather like that. But with the boys planning to share a new aeroplane bedroom this time, I have an abundance of gorgeous nautical themed accessories from Sammy's current bedroom.

So the question is, do I go for a red, white and blue theme in the new house or stick to a deluge of colour?! You can find all these images on my Pinterest board here.

Here is my current inspiration, if we abandon the nautical theme!

The one thing I know is we will be sticking to a laminate floor! With small children and dogs carpet in a play room is a no in my opinion! The boys love messy play, play dough and paints and it's so easy to just clean it up at the end of a play session.  

With two smelly dogs with scratchy claws I would always go for a laminate finish too, really hardwearing and if you fancy a change bring in a small rug in one corner for a cosy reading area.

What other ideas would you have for an awesome play room - I've seen some wicked ideas with swinging trapezes and hanging chairs.... on the dreamy wish list!

You can follow my Pinterest board for the play room here and I will definitely share the finished room once we are in! 

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