Opening the door to your first home is an unforgettable feeling - what follows in the next weeks and months can be just as memorable, but perhaps not for the same reasons.
Here are a few things we've learned when it comes to first time home owning...
Related: Top 5 home-buying headaches revealed
Other people's version of ‘clean' doesn't quite match your own
When you walked through the door you were so relieved to see that they did indeed clean the bathroom and vacuum through the house. But on around day three of living there you're discovering that cat hair knows no bounds and is in fact all over the curtains, skirting boards and kitchen cupboards.
You have no idea how the heating works
Spending hours twiddling dials on the boiler is your new hobby. Surely one of these magic buttons will make this house warm? New homes should come with instruction manuals. Fact.
You have nowhere near enough cutlery or crockery
When you lived alone, only owning 4 of everything was totally fine. Now everyone in the world wants to come see your new pad and you're swiftly running out of mugs. Apparently drinking tea out of a Pyrex jug is not acceptable. And neither is plastic cutlery.
You have a million plans for the place and absolutely no funds
You've used all your worldly savings to buy the place and will be living off beans on toast for a while. That walk-in wardrobe, hot tub and jazzy ceiling light will have to wait.
Every home has it's own scent
And it's not necessarily bad, just foreign. Unless it smells like damp dog. Or hamsters. Scented candles, reed diffusers and a good airing should sort you right out.
You can't find the right key for the windows
You've moved in and are loving the amount of space you now have. Feels a little stuffy though - best air out the rooms. But no, the previous homeowners have turned finding a key for the window into a game of Fort Boyard. Good luck with that.
You made a rash decorating decision you now regret
Just wanting to put your mark on the place, you painted a wall, just to make a change. However the colour you chose definitely looked better in the pot and doesn't actually go with anything.
You realise you have no concept of how to tend a garden
All of a sudden you are responsible for green things that don't just grow in pots and pretty much tend for themselves (air plants, take a bow). Now weeding, raking and mowing have to fit into your weekend tasks.
You grow to hate other people's wallpaper choices
You thought you could live with that shiny silver wallpaper in the master bedroom for a while. Wrong - after two weeks of staring at it, it's absolutely got to go.
Related: The ultimate house viewing checklist
You discover things in the loft that you least expect
You thought they were meant to empty that when they left. Apparently that didn't include tonnes of broken Lego, a three-legged table, and a rather creepy looking dolls house. Yes, really!
But despite all this, it's yours and you couldn't be happier!
Are you a first-time homeowner?
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