I love moving house. I think change is good and for many years I moved house every 6 months. I’ve been in my current flat for around 2 years and for me, that’a a long time, too long actually. It’s a little difficult at the moment as both P and I are constantly on trains travelling to various cities throughout the month. However, it would be really nice to find a house or flat (apartment sounds much nicer, doesn’t it?) where we can settle in-between all the travelling – even if it’s just for a couple of years. I’m in the process of researching new areas to live and for somewhere to potentially buy. I’d like to have somewhere I can really make my own and somewhere which accommodates my work too.
I’m not alone in my love for moving house and home improvement. My parents are big fans of it too and they’re are the reason I’ve learnt the basics of DIY and home interiors skills. I had fond memories of watching my dad turn a house shell into a modern and cosy home. I personally think general DIY skills are something which everyone needs. Actually, the very basics like changing a light bulb and knowing how to turn off the water supply and also really important.
As well as being equipped with the basics in DIY I also think it’s important to know about the risks and how you can reduce them. Even if you don’t fancy moving into a fixer-upper you’ll no doubt want to make changes and improvements to your home. Slater & Gordon dropped me a message earlier in the week and asked if I’d like to share an infographic all about the risks to be aware of when considering your latest home improvement project. It’s rare that I’ll share infographics here on Prettygreentea but I immediately learnt a lot from this one and I think it’s very useful. It’s also really well done and easy to read.
Other than asbestos I’ve never really thought about the hidden health risks of home renovation. Asbestos was legal to use ’til 1999 and as I’m a sucker for mid-century modern homes I’ve always been aware of it. It’s most likely to be found hiding in the walls, loft, shed or garage. If I manage to find my dream mid-century modern home then I’ll certainly be having an asbestos survey.
Despite being fully aware of the risks of asbestos I had no idea that the resin MDF is made with can contain harmful substances. I’m really glad I now know about this as I love up-cycling furniture. It’s something which is very on trend at the moment and one of the reasons why I thought you’d all find this infographic useful. I think any future projects I work on will be well researched.
I really feel like I’ve learnt a lot from this and I’ll be making sure my friends who are in the process of moving house check it out.
Thanks to Slater & Gordon for collaborating with me on this post.