Nosy parkers!

Mike started work today at 11am which was a bit of a shock as he normally goes in at midday! I woke him at 10.15am and by some sort of miracle he was ready to go half an hour later and was (almost!) on time!

In the afternoon, Sophie and I went to pick up my Mum as we were off looking at showhomes...and therefore being very nosy! The weather today has been atrocious - constant rain and heavy, grey skies. We are all really fed up with it now and the day we had in London seems like a miracle!

We went to a new sprawling estate on the outskirts of Kingsthorpe and looked at a five bedroom, three storey house from Martin Grant Homes. I have no intention of moving, we just wanted to have a look at the latest trends in decorating and what colours are currently "in".

The house we looked at had a very small layout downstairs - I'm sure our living room was bigger - with a kitchen/dining room to the right of the front door. There was no utility room, which would be something I'd expect from a house of this size. On the first floor were four bedrooms, one of which was being used as an office, while on the second floor were two more large bedrooms and a bathroom. To be honest, we weren't impressed!

The house was decorated in neutral shades but I would have expected more living space for the price, which was a jaw-dropping £530,000. Five bedroom, three storey houses on our estate have recently sold (albeit a couple of years ago) for just shy of £500,000 with a lot more space!

We then went across the road to David Bloor Homes but their show homes were closed so we got back in the car and drove to the outskirts of Moulton, to a new development called Morrisse Fields. They had two five bedroom homes open to look around and we all fell in love with The Kirkham. The difference in layout and finish was amazing!

https://www.avanthomes.co.uk/find-your-new-home/morisse-fields/plot-35/

The house was beautiful with two large living areas and a huge landing with five bedrooms. We particularly liked the downstairs cloakroom as Sophie said it reminded her of a spa.

I loved the huge sink even though this was the cloakroom!

The house next door was equally beautiful but we preferred the first for the finish and the decor. We all knew that this had been done by professionals and that if you moved into one of the houses you wouldn't get the same specifications, but it was nice to dream for a while! We all like the baths which had an integral shower:

Very clever! I like it!

On the way out we had a chat with the saleswoman and she knew we were just having a look around, but we still complimented her on the houses. If I win the lottery I would be tempted!

From Moulton Sophie drove us to Beckworth where we had tea and cakes. Amazingly, there was no queue! Perhaps the horrible weather had put people off going out! I enjoyed a cheese scone with cream cheese and chutney while Sophie had a normal scone with jam and cream. My Mum chose a slice of lemon drizzle cake and it was great to sit and chat about the houses and get some inspiration from them for our own houses!

After buying a few trays of violas to brighten up the garden we sloshed home along the sodden roads and dropped Mum off before going home. Mike was back from work which was a bonus as now we didn't have to go out again!