Let’s start at the very beginning. .

We never wanted a project.

So exactly how we find ourselves with a project home is still a cause of wonder for me.

Interior renovation we can do.  Paint charts, curtain fabrics, rugs and carpets - I am all over it.  Give me Instagram, Pinterest and a Powerpoint mood board for each room and I am in HEAVEN.

But an entire house?!  Mr Rhubarb & I don’t like change or upheaval.  Our home is our sanctuary and anything out of place makes us jumpy.  Please don’t think this means our home is an organised pristine show home - with two small children and a puppy it is anything but.  We just aren’t very good in chaos.  When we had our bedroom painted at Rhubarb Cottage and had to sleep in the spare room with all our usual bedroom furniture on the landing, we struggled.  We are that pathetic when it comes to home renovation.  So why have we decided to take on a house that has been much loved for forty years but is a bit tired??

Two reasons really.  

1/ We wanted to stay in our village.  It’s a really gorgeous place to live and we feel so very lucky to have found it. There’s a running joke in the village that once you’re in you can never leave. People upsize and downsize but always stay in the village. When this house came up it meant we could have a bit more space but remain in this village we call home and we absolutely leapt at the chance.

2/  On our viewing as we wandered through the garden, we came across a huge old tree.  A massive branch hung over the lawn and underneath it there was a groove where years of a tree swing moving back and forth had made its mark.  It’s funny the things that speak to us when we look at houses, but for some reason, that groove in the grass really spoke to me.  I could hear our children’s laughter and joy and knew we could make this our home.