I made an unscheduled visit to the house today to remedy a small issue with the tiles we had chosen for our en-suite. Back in November 2006 we had chosen two different tiles – one for the shower cubicle and another for the remainder of the bathroom – but just as they we about to be ordered it came to light that they were not of matching sizes. I donned my superhero outfit and sped down the motorway to select some new tiles, of matching sizes, while my wife waited patiently at home to criticise my decision.

“I trust your choice,” were the words my wife left me with, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. This was about to be the single most important day of our entire relationship, and the pressure was on. After arriving at the sales centre I took a deep breath and began looking through the tiles. Mobile phone picture messages were sent home, but I received very little commitment in return (“Whatever you think, I’m sure they’ll be fine…”). The wall tiles were an easy choice, but the shower cubicle was a different matter. When I narrowed the selection down to two choices and sent a picture message of them back to my wife, there still wasn’t much in the way of feedback.

My brow was sweating, my heart was pounding, and my marriage was on the line. I made the decision purely on impulse and then drove home as quickly as I could, armed with better quality photos on my digital camera. On my return we went through the photographs and I nervously told her which one I had selected. Her reaction? “I’m so glad you didn’t pick the other one – it was absolutely disgusting.” Crisis averted. Marriage saved. Tiles ordered.

Way back in November 2006 my wife and I found the perfect house. It was only an artist’s impression at the time, backed up by a brick outline in the middle of a muddy and cow-less field. But after searching in vain for a ‘used’ house that we liked, it seemed like the perfect option. We paid our deposit and reserved a 4 bedroom, three storey end-terrace from Bloor Homes. Contracts were to be exchanged within a month, and completion was estimated to be in March/April 2007.

We exchanged contracts in late January 2007, with a slight delay due to the holiday period and some absent paperwork from the information pack sent to our solicitors. By the end of February we had sold our previous house and moved into a rented apartment, thinking that our stay would only be for a couple of months at the most. But we were soon informed that completion had slipped to May/June and so I settled in for another few months of “I hate this flat” comments from my good lady wife.

We visited the new house in April and all 4 walls were in place, together with 3 floors but no roof. Walking around the entirely empty ground floor everything seemed so small, but I knew that it would look much bigger once the partition walls were in place.

We saw the house again in late May (we live around 2 hours away so regular journeys are not that simple!) when the roof was on and all the internal partition walls were in place, together with an assortment of cables and pipes. We were then informed that completion would probably be at the end of June 2007, and so the end almost appeared to be in sight.

Our inspection was arranged shortly afterwards, with a tentative date of Thursday 21st June, whilst completion is scheduled for Friday 29th June.

I will be using this blog to share the new home experience with you in all of its financially crippling glory. Together we will go through the ups (“…darling, I think we need a 42 inch TV for our new lounge…”) and the downs (“…a granite worktop costs how much?”), the highs (“…maybe even 50 inches, I’m sure it would fit…”) and the lows (“…just for a worktop, are you sure?”), as well as the joy (“…42 inches of pure plasma pleasure – I’m so happy!”) and the tears (“…it’s a piece of rock for god’s sake – how can a piece of rock cost so much?”).

I hope to cover snagging issues, moving in, settling in, buying things, installing things, breaking things, fixing things – basically, anything and everything related to buying and living in a new home. I hope you can join me for the ride.