Hoping you all had a gorgeous Christmas and are looking forward to the the dawn on 2017. As you may have noticed from the title, today’s post recaps on the team’s favourite purchases of the year. We ran a similar post at the the end of 2015 and the accounts from the Rock My Ltd team were, well, fairly random to say the least. This year they have been just as practical and just goes to show how much we love our homes.
Lolly
If we’re talking from a wholesome, cost per use, family enjoyment perspective then it’s got to be our family membership to Winterbourne Gardens. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, since the best thing we bought in 2015 was a membership to Birmingham Botanical Gardens, it’s been worth every penny. The gardens are beautiful providing both Ste and I with tonnes of inspiration. Hector loves hiding in the various nooks and crannies dotted around the place and watching the honey bees in the Walled Garden and he’s partial to the tea shop sandwiches too.
From more selfish perspective then it’s got to be the purchase of our bath from Lusso Stone and a huge double sink too both of which we managed to bag in the sale! For me it wasn’t so much the objects themselves but the fact they represented that we were actually moving forward with the house refurb project. As it stands we have chosen our floor and wall coverings for the bathroom and have a tiler booked in to start work. We’re actually going to be moving in during 2017!
Laura
From a completely selfish perspective (because there have been some very boring practical purchases this year, along with lots of lovely things for Bertie) something that has really brought a smile to my face is my letterbox flower subscription from Freddie’s Flowers. I’m getting a beautiful and cost effective pretty fix fairly regularly now and I love the entire concept. A family run business which carefully packages and delivers British grown blooms direct from the grower – what could be better? It’s safe to say this purchase will be continuing into 2017.
Charlotte
Ok so…..I now want Freddie’s Flowers AND Lolly’s bath.
My best purchase of 2016 has to be with a shadow of a doubt, our “forever” family home in the countryside. The village is stunningly beautiful and we have been made to feel so very welcome by all of of our neighbours. It has been a long time coming and we are loving every minute of having much more space and new local areas to explore.
We have a lot of renovation work to do during 2017 starting with a kitchen update in January, I hope to share progress with you all (as well as my inability to decide on paint colours).
Fern
Our best (and biggest) purchase in 2016 was adding a second bedroom to our apartment for Elle. We deliberated over the decision for a really long time – do we just buy a house instead?! Do we have the space to add a second bedroom?! Will we ruin an already lovely apartment?! But we LOVE the location of where we live, our building is really warm and friendly and I feel really safe here if Matt’s ever away for work so we took the plunge. I’m pleased to report it was most definitely the right decision. It ended up being a big project, walls came out, a new bathroom went in, we had new floors and the kitchen was moved. And of course, unexpected issues meant that the budget ended up taking a bit of a beating. But our apartment now works perfectly for our little family. Elle loves having her own space, Matt and I are pretty happy to have our bedroom back as a child-free zone and the kitchen/living area is much more warm and cosy. It was a big risk, but it’s certainly paid off in terms of our happiness. Every time I walk through the front door I feel calm and happy and I’ll be sharing more on RMS next year.
Lorna
Rob and I are literally as I type having our ensuite refitted, which is such a treat. It’s predominantly white metro tiles, grey grout and chrome finishes, but I’m hoping I might be able to sneak a few blush accessories in there and have my eye on these from John Lewis. I’m also in love with this square shower mat. How incredibly soft does it look? My toes would definitely be grateful.
Lisa
It sounds silly but the best thing we bought this year was a door. Yes that’s right, a door. Well it’s actually a door that we’ve had installed to connect the garage to the rest of the house. No longer do I have to lug all the washing outside in the rain when I want to put a wash on and when it comes to tidying up at the end of the day, I can just open a door and chuck Lyra’s shopping trolley/scooter/hideous giant yellow dog toy straight in there. Hurray!
Me
As for me the best thing we bought was a steam cleaner with our excessive amount of Clubcard points which has been amazing for getting rid of a lingering pet smell when you walk through the front door. I never knew such a mundane item could bring so much pleasure (and save me from buying scented candle after candle).
What’s the best item you’ve bought this year? Any purchases you can’t get enough of?
For me this year it had to be shutters! I’ve wanted them as long as I can remember and in March when we moved to our (potentially “forever” home – still struggling to commit to this concept because this house has no woodburner which is my only gripe!) I decided it was time to shutter it up!
It’s made me so happy and truly given our new build a bit of character! I want wood floors next but my husband has sensibly suggested they aren’t great for a one year old learning to walk (fair point!)
Ps Oh my… I’m loving that bath!
The best thing I bought this year was a round of IVF as I am now sat with my baby boy asleep in my arms as I catch up on your posts! Having a 9 week old baby is far more hectic than I ever imagined though. However I can very safely say that round of IVF was worth every penny 🙂 xxx
I think we have a winner!!! Congratulations!
This brought a tear to my eye! Congratulations!!
Oh Sarah – this is incredible! Huge, huge congratulations to you x
What a great post! It really got me thinking. I even asked my husband what he thinks is the best thing he/we bought. Turns out it is the roof for our terrace. It is so light and pretty, but made us enjoy the outside so much more since we could stay outside longer and earlier!
Love this! I like how everyone’s top purchases are so varied. I think my fave purchase would be my sub £50 kindle fire – it means I can sit and read in the dark while ensuring my little one sleeps. Thanks Santa!
On an unrelated note – I can totally understand Lisa’s life for her new door. It really perplexes me how few houses in the UK have doors through from the garage so you don’t have to go outside in all weather. It’s fairly common in most other countries but quite a rarity here, I wonder why!
My best purchase this year was our holiday cottage in Cornwall. We have just spent a week in the cottage doing DIY over Christmas and it’s been amazing seeing it transformed. We didn’t know (still dont) if we were doing the right thing financially but the joy it is bringing so far is so worth it. It’s a place we have been coming to for over ten years, it feels like home and I place we can relax from our stressful jobs.