Is a question you might think slightly insignificant but perhaps you need to rethink how you decorate your bedroom.  It seems that the colour you choose could impact how you sleep. If you paint your room blue it should slow the heart rate and help reduce your blood pressure. Purple rooms on the other hand can stimulate the brain making it more difficult to get to sleep. I wonder whether lilac being closer to blue has the same benefits, either way, it’s the colour I am going to paint my bedroom.

Living in Sevenoaks I was interested to see the town came third in a list of the 10 richest small towns in Britain. I am aware that parts of Sevenoaks are extremely affluent so wasn’t surprised to find that it made the list of towns where most millionaires are located. Perhaps less surprising is that Windsor topped the list and Weybridge came second. Ascot which I would have expected to feature somewhat higher was number 10. The full list is as follows:

1 Windsor
2 Weybridge
3 Sevenoaks
4 Beaconsfield
5 Henley on Thames
6 Marlow
7 Hale
8 Alderley Edge
9 Bray
10 Ascot (including Sunningdale)

I obviously live in an affluent area, now to work on that millionaire status. 

A Rightmove survey has concluded that Harrogate is the happiest place to live in the UK. The town topped the list in a survey based upon factors such as neighbourliness, safety, amenities, cost and the amount of space people have in their homes. Stockport in Greater Manchester came second with Ipswich coming third. The unhappiest places to live were mainly in London with East London, Croydon and East central London coming top of the list.

I never fail to find it amazing what developers feel they can fit into some spaces. This 14ft wide house is being built in a small space between two houses that was once used as a car parking space. The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a dining room. At 14ft wide it is one of the thinnest houses in Britain.

With property prices in some areas reaching record highs and silly prices being paid for parking spaces and plots of land I found this article interesting. It looks at the most expensive addresses in the UK, most of which are not surprisingly in the popular area of South Kensington.

The most expensive street in the UK is Egerton Crescent where a terraced house with a communal garden will set you back over £8 million. At 32.5 times the typical house price you are certainly paying for location in this instance.

The 10 most expensive streets in the UK are as follows.

1. Egerton Crescent, Kensington and Chelsea, London, SW3, £8.1 million
2. Parkside, Merton, London, SW19, £5.2 million
3. Campden Hill Square, Kensington and Chelsea, London, W8, £4.9 million
4. Blenheim Crescent, Kensington and Chelsea, London, W11, £4.7 million
5. Lansdowne Road, Kensington and Chelsea, London, W11, £4.7 million
6. Home Park Road, Merton, London, SW19, £4.7 million
7. Drayton Gardens, Kensington and Chelsea, London, SW10, £4.4 million
8. Eaton Square, Westminster, London, SW1, £4.4 million
9. Lancaster Gate, Westminster, London, W2, £4.4 million
10. Duchess of Bedford's Walk, Kensington and Chelsea, London, W8, £4.2 million

This is an interesting idea, it’s a proposal which could see disused garages turned into housing for homeless people. Under the scheme sheds and garages could be turned into temporary accommodation. It it thought that a 11.5 sq.  bedsit could be created inside a disused garage for around £13,000. The structures would be manufactured off-site and delivered as a kit which could be assembled through an apprenticeship scheme. The homes would includes a bedroom and shower room with every fifth garage housing a communal laundry, kitchen and dining area. The picture shows how the layout of the home could look. It’s certainly an interesting idea.

When a parking space can sell for £50,000 I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to see a beach hut on the market for £70,000. The hut in Norfolk has views over the beach as well as a close by water tap and access to a lavatory block. Hardly luxury accommodation for your money.

With property prices at a premium in many parts of the country it may come as no surprise that £50,000 is the asking price for a parking space in Cornwall. Based in St Ives the space has lovely sea views and not much else really. The five parking spaces that are on sale are nicely placed, however, with a 30 second walk to the town centre so I’m sure someone will snap them up.

It seems more and more people are living on their own as marriage rates continue to decline. That’s according to the Office for National Statistics. 2.5 million people aged between 45 and 65 now have no spouse, partner or children living with them. This amount has grown by 50% since the mid 1990s according to an official analysis with the number of men on their own increasing more than women. According to the article the rise in people living alone has increased the demand for housing. It appears that there is also a trend towards people claiming they live alone to get greater benefits payments and tax credits. Either way it seems there are a lot of lonely people out there.

That’s the claim of this article which suggests the sea air in places like Bexhill plays a big part in the residents longevity. In a recent census Bexhill has been found to have more residents over the age of 100 than any other town. In fact there are 66 people over the age of 100 in the borough of Rother which encompasses Bexhill. There are also a further 1,722 residents in their 90s and 7,000 in their 80’s. Whilst this does make interesting reading, I wonder whether the ageing population in the area is simply down to the fact that Bexhill is simply a popular place to retire.

I was interested to see that a couple who shot some burglars breaking into their home will not face charges. The couple were arrested after shooting two masked men who broke into their isolated cottage in the middle of the night. After being confronted in their bedroom by several masked men who had smashed into their home, one of the home owners had used their legally held shotgun to fire a shot, leaving two of the intruders injured.

The fact that the home owners have not been prosecuted may signal a change in how these types of cases are dealt with within the UK. Personally on being confronted with intruders inside my house I would use any means to defend myself, as I’m sure would most people. Whether the intruders were injured would not be my concern, in my view they are in the wrong and are clearly somewhere, they shouldn’t be. Hopefully this case will mean home owners who are forced to defend themselves and their property are given a fairer time in court.

This is a nice story, it’s about a couple in North Yorkshire who spend their time covering their house with flowers. The result certainly looks colourful, it must have taken ages to create, but thankfully they have installed an irrigation system to help with the watering.

This is unusual it’s a house which has been built around a railway carriage. The bungalow looks fairly normal from the outside but inside is a 130 year old restored railway carriage. Jim Higgins has nearly completed the restoration of the carriage which he hopes to open the public once it is completed. The house was built around the carriage because planning rules stated it had stood there so long it couldn’t be moved. The property was originally built by his ex father in law, who tried to get planning permission for a retirement home on the spot. Finding the carriage could not be moved he simply built a home around it using the carriage as the bedrooms.

If you are looking for property in Knightsbridge then you probably already know the answer is not much. This garage measuring just six metres has recently gone on sale at £525,000. At considerably more than we paid for our 3 bedroom house in Kent it seems an exorbitant price for a garage. Even at that price the estate agents selling it expect to receive a lot of interest from those living within walking distance of the garage particularly as many of the large houses nearby have no off street parking.

One avid Star Trek fan has recreated the inside of the Starship Enterprise in his flat. Including a full scale replica of the transporter console his one bedroom flat includes a computerised flight deck and flashing lights. It certainly looks impressive, I’m not sure how practical it is for everyday use, however.

This is interesting its the story of a mummified cat that has recently been found in a property in North Yorkshire. It was found when the owners removed the ceilings from their 18th century property. It is thought the cat has been there for around 100 years and that it was positioned in the roof as a good luck charm to ward off evil spirits.

If you want too purchase a slightly different property then this observatory might be what you are looking for. It has been put on the market by Swansea city council who say they are looking for imaginative proposals for the future of the building. Built in 1988 the building includes a stained glass roof by artist David Pearl and panels of carved poetry by Nigel Jenkins.

The stone mason from Farmington visited this week to fit the new fireplace. Made from natural limestone it has been cut to fit the area exactly and makes a real difference to the room. The colour will change somewhat as the stone dries out and settles and it will be a little while until we can actually use it. We now need the inside of the fireplace to be fitted and within 3 weeks should be able to light our first real fire.

The wood floor is also nearly finished with just under half of it still to do. We hope to have this completed this weekend. Then we need to fit and paint the coving and paint the skirting boards and door frames. The rest of the furniture will come later as we put aside funds to pay for it but for now the bulk of this room is done. Time to start on the nursery.

Since my last post the decorating has been coming along more quickly. Three coats of white base coat have now been applied to the walls followed by two coats of our chosen colour natural wicker. The ceiling has also had a coat of white ceiling paint. This should now complete the bulk of the painting. We have also started laying the floor, a process that started off going fairly quickly. Until that is, we came to what was the join between the old living room and kitchen, which now runs along the centre of our living room. Unfortunately this part of the floor where the old wall used to be was not level requiring parts of the floor to be chipped out so the new wood floor would lay flat. This process has set us back a little bit in our schedule and we now hope to have the flooring finished this coming weekend but the room is finally starting to look like we have done something. I can finally see an end to the project, whether we will have this and the nursery finished before the baby is due in six weeks time is anyone's guess but I am hopeful that the living room will at least be completed.

After many of weekends of work getting to the bare walls, the decorating finally seems to making progress. Rory booked a day off work this week and decided to spend it sanding. The process went surprisingly quickly and we now have nice smooth bare walls. The next step is to apply the base coat. All being well, we might actually have the walls and ceiling painted by the end of the month. Perhaps the end is finally within sight.

We have now been decorating for about two months and progress is still slow. Taking the wallpaper off the walls and ceiling was fairly easy and was completed quite quickly. Taking the several layers of peeling emulsion off the walls has proved to be more time consuming. After spending every weekend scrapping walls it has finally gone. We now have a room with bare plaster walls and a bare ceiling and it has only taken two months of preparation. Based on the time spent so far, I am beginning to see why some people hire firms to do the work for them. I am starting to get a bit sick of living in one room and having no comfortable place in which to relax particularly as I get fatter and less mobile during my pregnancy. It, does, however, feel like we are making some progress. Now the walls are bare, we can begin to fill the holes, before sanding them smooth, hopefully a job for this weekend. If things go to plan I hope to be painting within another couple of weeks. We also have decisions to make, such as what lighting to put in and what to do about the fireplace, both of which require thought now before we start the final paint job on the walls. I estimate another two months of work in total, taking into account we also want to lay new flooring. It’s a long process but hopefully the end results will be worth the effort.

In a moment of madness I decided it was time to start decorating the house. We have been here two years this weekend now, and so far the decor is as it was when we purchased it. As it’s the room we spend most time it seemed most logical to start with the living room. The wallpaper was very easy to take off and just peeled away nicely. What we were not prepared for, was the layers of old emulsion behind it. Unfortunately because it is peeling we can’t just paint over it so it has to come off. We have tried a number of techniques to do this so far with limited success and it really is progressing slowly. Three weeks into the project and we have managed to remove the paint from one wall, with the other three still to do. So far the only thing that really works is to wet the wall and scrap it off. We could be here some time. The plan is to remove the old paint, then plaster any holes and prepare the walls for painting. Once painted we intend to put wood flooring in the place of the nasty pink carpet. With time limited to weekends I estimate a good 2-3 months of work ahead but in some ways it’s nice to have made a start even if it’s taking longer than expected.

That’s according to this article which suggests a million more people now employ a cleaner compared with a decade ago. It seems the main reason is that in households where both partners work there is simply not enough time left to do your own cleaning. I don’t have a cleaner but I must admit finding time to clean the house can be difficult and when I am busy with work, then it simply doesn’t get done. Perhaps I should look into employing a cleaner for a couple of hours a week to make things a little easier.

If you have a bit of spare cash and fancy spending it on something a little unusual, then you might be interested in this article. It highlights two mountain peaks that have recently been put up for sale in the Austrian Alps. The peaks are being sold by the Austrian federal real estate company Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft. Potential buyers will not be be allowed to fence off the mountains or deny a right of way of them so it is unclear what they could be used for. If you are interested in buying them they are on sale at 121,000 euros, approx. £107,000.

This is interesting, it’s a story from Auckland where a mystical swamp monster may end up halting a building project. The project a multibillion dollar railway tunnel has been planned for the city. The problem, however, is that it runs through a swamp which is the realm of a taniwha. The taniwha  is a dragon like creature which plays a part in Maori folklore, using it’s powers to protect the tribe and causing destruction if it in angered. There have already been other problems involving similar monsters. In one incident in 2002 a development on a stretch of road was halted because it ran through the domain on a one eyed taniwha. The local Maori population have since attributed the high number of road deaths in that area to the creature being angry, however, the road was diverted around the area at extra expense. It will be interesting to see what happens in this situation.

According to this article home buyers do not expect to be able to afford their first house until they are aged 38 or aged 43 in London. It seems that for many the fact that house prices are so high and that they need a large deposit mean they simply cannot not afford to buy a property before this, and many have given up trying to buy a property altogether. Although the number of mortgages available for first time buyers has increased during the past year, it seems there are still a limited number of deals available for those looking to but their first home. First time buyers also now need a large deposit with most needing around 23% of the homes value.

This is interesting it’s a functional house with a double bedroom, lounge, shower and kitchen all packed into a 10ft cube. The house which has been showcased at the Edinburgh Science Festival is certainly compact. Despite this the the lounge has a table a and two chairs, it includes a 4ft wide double bed, a full sized shower and a kitchen. It also includes solar panels on the roof to generate electricity. It has been designed to be carbon neutral and is thought to be the smallest eco-home in the world. It certainly looks cosy.

That’s according to this article which suggests it can add as much as £20,000 to the value of the average home. Second on the list is a room extension which can add an average of £16,069 to a homes value, whilst a conservatory adds around £8233. Smaller improvements such as a new kitchen can add around £5617 and new windows £5265. Generally, however, people need to spend a minimum of £10,000 on a conversion or extension in order to see  a return on your investment. Still, it’s interesting reading if you are thinking of doing any home improvements.

That’s the claim made by this article which suggests despite the government spending £4 million to persuade people to eat five a day less people are doing so. Official statistics show that between 2006 and 2009 the percentage of adults actually eating five portions of fruit and veg a day has fallen from 30% to 26%. This is a fall from 12.1million to about 10.9million. Figures found that richer households are more likely to meet the target with 32% of men and 37% women in the highest-income households meet the target, compared to only 18% of men and 19% of women in the lowest income brackets. Personally I eat quite a bit of fruit of veg but I don’t think I manage five portions every day.

That’s according to this article which features an aquarium built by a man called Jack Heathcote. He has built a custom made aquarium underneath his living room. Measuring 12ft 6in x 12ft 8in x 7ft it is the same size as the room above. It also has a viewing window so you can see the fish inside. It currently houses two chainsaw doradids, three 2ft long Pacus, some Pangasius, a Red tail hybrid catfish, two alligator gars, eight enormous stingrays and two Fly River turtles.

Is probably how you would describe this property. At just 7ft wide and 308 square foot inside it is one of Britain’s smallest houses. The house in Framingham, Suffolk has one bedroom with a kitchen, shower room and toilet and sitting room. It was originally part of an Victorian steam mill but the rest of the mill was redeveloped and made into new buildings.

According to this article 2.6 million Britons used their credit card to pay their mortgage or rent last year. The figures come from a report by the housing charity Shelter and suggest that many families face a daily struggle to keep a roof over their heads. I find the figures surprising and would be interested to know whether these people have other outgoings that are taking a greater portion of their income or if they simply don’t earn enough to cover the mortgage payment.

As someone who lived in Staines for a few years I was interested to see that some people are considering changing the name of the town. It seems that there are those who want to lose the association with the Ali G character and the Staines massive and instead call the town Staines on Thames. Some feel the town will do better under the new name. Councillors will be meeting to discuss the proposed change and what it might mean for the town.

An artist has created a life sized Monopoly house as his latest project. An Te Liu built the Monopoly house around a condemned home. Measuring 36ft by 44ft the work of art took two months to build and cost £9,000.

If you have a few million to spend and fancy a flat in town then you might be interested in this one. On the market for £140 million this is One Hyde Park. The flat has a prime location in Knightsbridge,Central London with views over the city. It has a private wine tasting facility and an underground passage to what will be Heston Blumenthal’s new restaurant. The flat itself is a two floor apartment with floor to ceiling windows. It has its own car park and panic room. Security features include bullet proof windows, SAS trained security guards and an air purifier to counteract poison gas attacks. It also has access to spas and squash courts. Whoever buys it will need to pay a massive £5.6 million just in stamp duty.

This is interesting its a new solar cell technology which has recently been developed by a Norwegian company. The company EnSol AS have created a unique patented film which can be coated onto glass and walls to turn them into power generators. The film which they hope to release commercially by 2016 effectively means that you would be able to turn a window into a solar power generator. It is likely to be much cheaper than conventional devices and it is thought the coating could be built into windows and other building materials as part of the manufacturing process. It certainly sounds interesting but I wonder how much more expensive it would be to replace your windows with these. If the price were not a concern I would certainly consider it.

If you have a bit of spare cash to spend then you might be interested in this bath tub. Made out of white crystal it is certainly not any ordinary bath tub and neither is the price tag of £530,000. It has been carved out of a single block of pure white rock crystal which was mined in Brazil. Places have been left rough to maintain the natural beauty of the rock. The tub is 7ft long by 3ft deep. It certainly would make an unusual bathroom centrepiece. The bath tub will be on show at Harrods until the end of July.

This is an interesting idea, it’s a village where the residents have to be over the age of 45 to be able to live there. The village of Firhall is on the outskirts of Nairn in the highlands and requires it’s residents to abide by certain rules. To be able to own a house here residents much be over 45 and have no resident children. Grandchildren and the children of friends are allowed to visit but there are limits on how often this happens and how long they can stay. Residents are not allowed to keep ducks, rabbits, pigeons or bees but each household is allowed to have one dog. The village has attracted some rather negative media reactions which have branded the residents as child haters but I can see why older people who perhaps don’t want children would like to live in a child free haven. It looks like a lovely area and I bet it’s really peaceful.

Tesco have recently started selling a flat pack house for £9,999. The Finnlife home has four rooms and an upstairs storage area with some models also including a terraced decking area. The log cabin style homes are self assembly and can be adapted for a number of uses from a gym to a playroom. They are made of Scandinavian whitewood and are constructed with tongue and groove boards which slot together. Measuring 32ft by 16ft 10 the building has eight double glazed windows, French doors and a shingle roof. They are available online only and customers are advised to check planning permission and building regulations before installation.

According to this article this could be Britain’s biggest wasps nest. The size of a double mattress it was found in the attic of a pub in Southampton. It measured 6ft by 5ft and was around 15 times bigger than the UK average. Apparently it would house up to half a million wasps. The nest was removed by a pest controller who cracked open the top and squirted the colony with a powerful insecticide.

Tesco are backing a new online estate agency. The agency called Spicerhaart is launching the website iSold.com. It will launch initially in the Bristol area and will be advertised to users of the Tesco website. The service offers a basic online selling service for a flat fee of £999 rather than charging a percentage of the selling price as is the norm. All dealings with buyers and sellers will be conducted over the phone and online and the business will be kept separate for the Spicerhaart high street outlets.

According to this article the AA is to launch a new service to help people within the home. The AA will answer calls from householders who have problems with issues such as leaking pipes and broken down boilers or even those who need help putting up a fence or hanging a picture. Householders will use the same call centres which are currently used to dispatch the AA’s breakdown service. People will be given a time of arrival and a reference number and repair men will use an AA van but without the flashing lights. AA members will get a discount on the new service which will also be offered to new customers. The service is split into two parts. The AA Home Emergency Response which is an insurance policy against domestic problems and will tackle burst pipes and leaks. The AA Home Assist will tackle smaller jobs such as putting up curtain rails, mending fences and picture hanging. The service will have a stand alone network of patrolman and vans, separate from the existing fleet of roadside patrol vans. Typical prices for the Home Emergency Response are expected to be £9.95 per month for AA members and £11.95 for non-members.

If you have a bit of spare cash and want to purchase something a bit unusual, then you might be interested in this nuclear bunker. Currently on sale on ebay the bunker is based in the Peak District and comes with a plot of land. It has panoramic views over the Derbyshire Dales and includes much of the original equipment. If you are interested the current bid is £24,100.25.

This article is interesting it points out the impact that globalisation has had on crime statistics within the UK. It seems that it has been responsible for bringing down the prices of household goods as cheaper electronic goods are made in the Far East and so making them less desirable to criminals. As they are likely to get less return for selling stolen goods such as TVs or DVD players, criminals are turning instead to more lucrative crimes such as mugging and car crime which promise better rewards. Trends show that during the 1980s and 1990s staple crimes were usually burglary and car crime as it was easy to break into a house and sell an item for profit. However, trends now show that criminals are increasingly targeting high value portable items such as iPods and phones which are carried on the person and so muggings are becoming more common. The good news for home owners is that you are less likely be burgled.

According to this article St Austell in Cornwall will get £9 million of government money to help its eco-town project. St Austell was named as one of four areas that has been chosen by the government to have eco-towns with the others being in Rackheath in Norfolk, Bicester in Oxfordshire and Whitehill Bordon in East Hants. In all, the four areas will support up to 2,000 local jobs and introduce thousands of people to green living. The project in St Austell will regenerate the china clay area being used to create a number of carbon neutral homes. The homes will initially be used as show homes to help give residents in the local area an example of green living. Other houses will be given a green makeover and will feature water saving systems and smart meters to monitor energy use. They will also have renewable power and electric car charging points.

According to this article cat owners are more educated than dog owners. That’s according to a study carried out by Bristol University. A poll of 2,524 households found that 47.2% of those with a cat had at least one person educated to degree level, compared with 38.4% of homes with dogs. It is put down to the fact that those who work longer hours are generally in better qualified jobs but that these people find their lifestyle makes owing a dog impractical so opt for a cat instead.

An Austrian millionaire is giving away his fortune after realising it doesn’t make him happy. Karl Rabeder who is worth around £3 million is gradually disposing of his fortune. He has put his £1.4 million villa up for sale and is also in the process of selling his farmhouse, six gliders and an luxury Audi. The proceeds of the sale will all be going to charities which he has set up in Central and Latin America. Once everything is sold he will move into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a bedsit.

I have always been sceptical about the claims that fortnightly bin collections will cut waste. I’m not surprised then by the results of a report recently commissioned by the Government. It suggests that fortnightly bin collections do not help to cut waste and in fact it forces people to dispose of their waste in other ways such as driving it to the local dump. The report which was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found that although fortnightly bin collections did reduce the amount of waste left in the street it had a knock on effect of home owners taking more rubbish to the tip. According to the shadow Local Government minister this has the effect of increasing congestion and pollution from traffic. Based on the findings the Conservatives have said they will work to establish weekly bin collections if they are elected.

If you have some extra money to spare and fancy buying something a little unusual then you might be interested in this hole. It has recently been put up for sale by the owners for the first time in 150 years. The hole was once used as a quarry and has since been filled with water. It measures 142 metres (466ft deep). It is thought that it might attract interest from people wanting to use it as a leisure site for diving or perhaps to drain it to use for climbing. If you are interested in purchasing it, it is expected to sell for offers over £30,000.

According to this article the number of people advertising for a lodger has risen by 27% in the first two weeks of the year. According to Spareroom.co.uk the rise is down to people looking to raise extra income because they have over stretched financially after the Christmas period. The group have said that they saw a record number of people advertising for lodgers during 2009 and that it expects the trend to continue this year. With the average weekly rent costing £87 it seems like a good way to bring in some extra cash if you have a big enough house to be able to do it.

If you have a bit of spare cash and fancy a home with a difference then you might be interested in this house boat. On sale for £1million it has a 577 square foot deck and includes a roof top pool. Inside it has three en-suite bedrooms, a dressing room, a modern open plan kitchen and dining area, reception room, study and utility room. The boat is moored at Cadogan Pier on the Thames near to London’s Albert Bridge so is well placed for central London.

At first glance this might seem like quite a good buy for £3,000, but the bungalow is actually a condemned property. The bungalow at Knipe Point near Scarborough is situated dangerously close to the edge of a cliff and is likely to fall into the sea within 6 months. Artist, Mr Cunningham has brought the property so that he can spend his time painting its descent into the sea. He also intends to set up cameras inside the house in order to film its destruction. Many of the neighbouring houses have already gone over the edge and the property has recently developed cracks in the past few weeks so it seems the artist may need to paint rather quickly to get his moneys worth.

According to this article light bulbs could soon become a thing of the past as light emitting wallpaper is introduced. This is according to a government body that supports low carbon technology. The wallpaper would work using a chemical coating on the walls which illuminates all parts of the room with an even glow mimicking sunlight. It will also avoid the shadows and glare of conventional bulbs. An electrical current will be used to stimulate the chemicals in order to produce light but the voltage would be very low meaning the walls would be safe to the touch. Dimmer switches would control the brightness of the light. The product is still in development but the Carbon Trust has recently awarded a grant to Lomox, a company that is developing the technology. They claim it will be two and a half times more efficient than energy saving bulbs and will make a big contribution in cutting carbon emissions.

It has been nearly three months since we moved into our new home and we finally have a working shower. What seemed a simple job has taken a lot more time and money that we expected. We were really pleased when we managed to purchase a shower for £35 and a screen for just over £40, particularly as I paid for them using my Nectar points. Whilst the initial cost seemed very reasonable what we hadn’t taken into account was how difficult the shower would be to install.

As there were no plumbing or electrics in place there was a fair amount of work that needed doing. We called the plumber first who had to install the pipes needed. He found that the pipes in the house were old steel pipes and these needed to be replaced with copper pipes. The plumbing and tiling took several days due to various other problems that occurred and with labour this cost just over £350. Next we had to get power to the new shower. My husband routed the cable through to the unit which involved removing tiles and parts of the ceiling and took several weekends. Then we finally called the electrician who came to connect the power and install the new consumer unit. This cost another £100 plus £80 of materials. All in all our bargain £75 shower ended up costing just over £800. I’m really going to enjoy that first shower.

This giant Lego house is being built in Dorking in Surrey. So far it contains over two million Lego bricks. It comes complete with a Lego toilet, bath and bed. Once it is finished Top Gear presenter James May intends to stay in it for several days or until it falls down.

Moving house can be quite stressful especially if you have pets. Having four cats this was one of the main concerns we had about the move. Not only did we have to get four cats into four boxes (a miracle at the best of times) we had to do it whilst they were stressed out because of the strange people in the house and we had an hours drive ahead of us to get to our new home. One thing that made the move easier was that we had decided to do it over the course of two days. On day one we locked our furry friends in one room in the old house. The removal men then moved everything out of the the other part of the house. Once they had left for the day we moved all the remaining furniture out of the “cats room” so that the following day the removal men could take the rest of our stuff and just leave us four cats in an empty house.

On day two the rest of the house was cleared very quickly and the removal lorry set off to the new house with all our belongings packed up. We then proceeded to catch the cats starting with Willow and Oscar, the most docile and leaving Lucy and Oliver (evil hissing balls of fur) until last. Surprisingly we managed the near impossible feat of getting all four cats into boxes within the hours and even more surprisingly we still had all of our fingers. We then packed the boxes complete with cats into the car and set off to the new house accompanied all the way by Oliver howling at the top of his voice. Just over an hour later we arrived at the new house, with Oliver still howling in protest. Once again we put aside a small “cat room” and put the cat boxes into the room. We set up a clean litter tray and some food and water, opened the doors of the cat boxes and put a sign on the door on the room reading “do not open cats”. With the cats taken care of we moved all of our things into the new home.

We then used the “cat room” as a base for the cats. Once the house was free of removal men we opened the door and gradually one by one the cats plucked up the courage to come out and explore. They were initially very nervous but curiosity quickly gets the better of even the most nervous cat. Now nearly a week later all of the cats have left the “cat room” and now spend most of their time sitting on the windowsill hunting the fat pigeons in the garden. The next step will be to let the cats outside to explore but we will leave it a few weeks before we introduce them to the outside.

Its been just over a week now since we moved into our new house and the place is just starting to feel like home. Whilst the inside of the house has all of our old things in it I must admit I am finding it hard to get used to being in a different location. Having been away from Sevenoaks for nearly ten years its strange to leave the house and not see the familiar surroundings of Egham. In many ways Sevenoaks is as I remember it but there are some changes and it frequently surprises me when I find a building has disappeared or its usage has changed. It will certainty take time to get used to the area again but it is nice to be just around the corner from my family and be able to just pop round for a cup of tea rather than facing a long drive on the motorway.

Like most people our mortgage is by far our biggest outgoing with most of our income going towards it before we have paid any other bills. Bearing this is mind we are always looking of ways to reduce the loan and try to overpay when we have any spare money. We do find, however, that we are able to do this very rarely as most months expenses come up that we are not expecting. I found this article interesting because it suggests that if you save just £2.50 a day then you could save £13,500 from the cost of your mortgage over the life of the loan. It seems like such small amount that you wouldn't expect it to make much of a difference. Most people can probably afford to save what amounts to slightly less than £80 a month but like me don’t consider it will make a great deal of difference, I guess it does all add up, perhaps I should start putting this small amount aside every month.

Some lucky bats in East Sussex have got a nice new luxury heated house to live in. The £20,000 bat house has been built by a property developer who was told he needed to protect the bats habitat. The developer was given permission to demolish two houses in order to build nine flats on the condition that he provided the brown long-eared bats with an alternative home.

We recently put our house on the market and received an offer after only two weeks. Since then we have been frantically viewing properties in various areas with limited success. We thought we had finally narrowed the search down to just two properties in Egham where we currently live. However, at the last minute a new property was thrown into the mix in a totally different area. Despite our reservations about changing areas as well as moving house, my husband fell in love with it. It now appears that not only are we moving but we are relocating to a completely new area, something that proves to be quite a big decision and is exciting but also quite frightening.

We ordered some new sofas about a month ago to replace our very old moth eaten ones and the new ones arrived yesterday. We brought our original sofas when we moved into our house about eight years ago and not being the most expensive or well made they had got to the point where the seats has dropped and springs were sticking out of the back. Coupled with the toll of four pairs of claws (the cats) it really was time to replace them. The new sofas were ordered from Furniture Village and made to order hence why they take up to a month to arrive. We were slightly concerned that they were going to make it in tact because our doorway is too narrow for sofas so unfortunately they need to go over the garden wall and through the patio doors at the back of the house. Whilst this manoeuvre is not hugely difficult, in the past we have encountered problems because health and safety rules do not allow delivery drivers to lift items over a certain height. Despite us informing Furniture Village on three occasions the drivers were not aware of the potential problems when they arrived. However, unlike last time when Argos left our sofas on the lawn they quickly agreed that the sofas needed to go over the wall and after about 20 minutes the new sofas were unwrapped and in the living room. As I am typing this I am sitting here enjoying that new sofa smell.

In an unusual incentive a Spanish property company is offering customers a free divorce lawyer when they purchase a new home. The offer is open to couples who buy one of their three bedroom houses priced at 68,000 Euros. The company Geimsa realtors are hoping to cash in on those people who are delaying divorce proceedings because they cannot afford to set up a new home in the current difficult economic climate. The same company is also offering brand new apartments for 100,000 Euros which includes an all expenses paid wedding. In other schemes around 30 estate agents in Spain are offering discounts of up to 40 per cent for buyers who are going through a divorce or separation. Some deals also include a years free mortgage.

If you have a few million to spend then you might be interested in this house which has recently gone on sale. At $150 million it is America’s most expensive house. It is so big that no one is really sure how many rooms it has but it is thought to be more than 100. It covers 56,500 square feet with grounds of more than 4.6 acres and has a library, gym, media room, wine cellar, wine tasting room, barbers shop and beauty salon. If you are interested then the closest neighbours include the Playboy Mansion and the Los Angeles Country Club.

This is interesting its an idea created by visionary architects which they say could help combat global warming. Put in simple terms the idea is to build a skyscraper that includes 400 trees in an effort to absorb dangerous pollutants and convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. The devices would be built near factories or other major sources of pollution in order to clean the air. Evergreen trees would be mounted on the 400ft tall structure along a series of floors so that they could filter air hundreds of feet above the ground. To the right is a diagram showing how the system could work. Looking at the comments at the bottom the article it seems most people object to the fact that the structure is rather ugly, I certainly wouldn't want outside my house. What do you think?

As someone who is rather fond of red wine, I do find myself cleaning up rather a lot of spillages, so a stain remover is an important product to have in the cupboard.  I found this article quite interesting, it looks at a test carried out by the consumer watchdog Which? They tested various stain removers to see which ones performed best. 17 different stain removers were tested on red wine, coffee, blood, Ribena and chocolate. What is interesting, however, is that budget washing up liquid was used as a comparison alongside the products. Surprisingly the washing up liquid was better than half of the branded cleaners, so it appears you might be wasting your money buying an expensive stain remover. The product that performed best overall was Sainsbury's carpet and upholstery cleaner which costs £2.43.

This article suggests that despite a Government pledge to crack down on developers who build new homes on flood plains, the number of new homes built on flood risk areas is increasing. The article points out that local planners gave the go ahead for 16 new developments in danger areas in 2007/2008. In each of these case although the Environment Agency raised objections, these were ignored and many were approved after the floods in the summer of 2007 when thousands of families lost their homes and possessions. There are now around two million homes built on flood plains in the UK and the insurance industry will no longer cover people who move into new homes in at risk areas unless the builders have installed flood defences.

It just seems ludicrous to me that despite the bad floods of the past couple of years developers are still choosing to build on areas that are at risk of flooding. The flood plains are called that for a reason, they are there primarily to take the excess water when an area floods. In fact two definitions of the term are "All land adjacent to a watercourse over which water flows in times of flood or would flow but for the presence of flood defences where they exist" and "The area around a body of water which may at times be under water and may at other times be dry land, depending on the level of the water in the lake, river, pond, etc." It seems to be me that if they developers insist on building on flood plains they need to stop building conventional houses and look at other solutions. Something like this Eco-home might work. It is built on stilts so that the water simply flows underneath the house. It also has no foundations that will be swept away by flood waters. Another interesting idea are these floating houses made by Dutch company Waterstudio. One thing is for sure building conventional style houses in an area which will flood is a dumb idea and developers should be looking at the long term implications.

This is quite funny, its a show home with a slight difference. Whilst most show homes are pristine and look and have like they have never been lived in, this one is set up to look like a teenagers bedroom, to give the room that authentic feel. The room features an unmade bed, a half eaten pizza on the carpet and a pair of smelly trainers as well as crisps trodden in the carpet and clothes spread all over the floor.

A run down pub in Liverpool has doubled in value due to some graffiti on the side of it. The pub was originally worth around £495,000 before the graffiti appeared. It is now worth around £1 million after the graffiti was found to be the work of Banksy, an artist who is known for his images of vermin. The estate agents overseeing the sale have been inundated with offers from buyers looking for an investment.

I cam across this article about a man in Grimsby that filled his house with rubbish. According to the article the house was so full of rubbish that it was not possible to walk through the front door. The man was housed in a hotel whilst his house was cleared. An amazing 100 tonnes of rubbish was taken away in a clean up operation which took three weeks. Suddenly my house seems really really clean.

We seem to be spending an awful lot of out time at Homebase at the moment. Last weekend we went four times and so far this weekend we have managed three visits. Each time my husband promises he won't have to go back again and each time he forgets something. As the only driver in our household, I get the job of driving him there and sitting in the car park waiting for him. With any luck he now has everything he needs and can get on with the job of finishing the laminate flooring, but knowing Rory there is some essential piece of kit we will need to go back for.

We spent last weekend fitting laminate flooring in our dining room and today I am in pain. My whole body hurts so I guess I have used some muscles that don't usually get much use. I thought fitting laminate flooring was meant to be easy. All the instructions say that the pieces simply lock together. What the instructions don't tell you is that "lock together" actually means you have to hit them very hard with a mallet until they fit. The instructions also fail to mention the challenges that you face fitting the floor when the walls in your house are not straight. Sure the walls look straight but when it comes to lining up the first the few planks of flooring you suddenly realise that they are not. The job does get easier after you have put the first three rows of flooring down but it certainly took a lot longer than I expected. I now have another thing to add to my list of hated DIY jobs. Next time I might just buy a carpet.

If you believe this article then we could all live on floating cities in the future. That's according to an architect who believes that floating cites could be the answer to rising sea levels. In theory each city could house 50,000 inhabitants in a self sustainable home which would have a lake at its centre. It would also have artificial marinas and mountains and would be powered by wind turbines and solar power. The architect has not yet estimated a cost for his design but believes it could be a solution to provide housing for refugees from islands that have been overtaken by the sea. It all looks very interesting, a bit like a massive lily pad.

This is quite interesting, its a revolving skyscraper. It has been created by an Italian architect who wanted to create what he calls dynamic towers. In the towers each of the floors can fully rotate up to once an hours. The rotating floors will be made from prefabricated apartments that spin around a concrete floor and owners who buy an entire floor will be able to activate the rotation with voice commands to change their view. The towers will also generate enough electricity to power themselves and other nearby buildings because they will be fitted with solar panels and wind turbines. Two of the buildings will be built in Dubai and Moscow by the end of 2010. It all sounds very interesting except that the architect has never built a skyscraper before. I wonder whether it will work.

If you have £3.2 million to spare then you might want to spend it on an island. Sanda island in Scotland has just been put on the market. The new owner will be able to issue their own postage stamps and even mint their own gold. The price also includes two smaller islands Sheep and Glunimore. Its just a little bit out of my price range.

We always find that no matter how many times we clear out the shed it always becomes full again very quickly. I think I have finally found the answer this huge shed. It costs £13,000 and is available from Argos. The only problem is, its just a little bit too big for our garden.

An extended end terrace property situated within a cul de sac and located within half a mile of Egham high street amenities and mainline train station. Accommodation comprises entrance hallway, lounge, kitchen, dining room, shower room, double bedroom, first floor bathroom, mezzanine study area, own private rear garden and off street parking.

Nationwide has reduced its maximum loan size for new customers to £500,000, half the previous limit. It has also raised its minimum deposit from 5% to 10% on all but two of its mortgage deals. These measures will not affect existing customers but are being introduced as what Nationwide describe as managing its business "in a prudent and sustainable way". In contrast the Royal Bank of Scotland has recently announced a reduction of 0.3% on its fixed rate mortgage deals at a time when most other banks are putting their rates up. It's hard to know what's happening with the property market at the moment but one thing is for sure, if you are looking to buy having a big wad of cash for a deposit will certainly help, otherwise you might struggle to find mortgage.

Nationwide have increased the minimum deposit required to secure its best interest rate. Previously anyone putting down a 10% deposit could secure its best rate but this has now been increased to 25% of the value of the property. The move will mean that anyone with less than a 25% deposit will pay 0.2% more interest.

A homeowner who awoke to find a burglar in his house could be arrested after the burglar fell from a window. Patrick Walsh startled the burglar who fell out a top floor window and later died. It is not yet clear whether the home owner will face any charges. Stories like this make me rather angry, yes its unfortunate the burglar fell and died but he really should not have been in the house in the first place. It seems we should welcome burglars into our house and make sure they are safe whilst they are stealing our hard earned possessions. After all burglars have rights too. In my opinion A burglar gives up all his rights when he enters a property illegally and the home owner should have every right to defend themselves from this kind of intrusion.

Last time we moved we did it ourselves hiring a van which my Dad drove. Since then we have gained a lot more stuff and next time we move we will certainly be using a moving company.  I found this useful directory of moving companies. You can search by area and by the type of service you need. They also include services for moving internationally as well as storage rentals.

A couple in Vancouver are currently living with 80 bats which have built a nest inside the walls of their condo. Despite the fact that they risk exposure to rabies a court has ruled the bats cannot be evicted for another three weeks. Under the current legislation the bats are protected during the breeding season, so until it is over they are allowed to stay. The human residents of the condo are looking forward to the day when their unwelcome guests can be re-homed.

This cool cave home is literally carved out of the limestone cliffs; it has a sitting room and a front door but no water and electricity. That didn't stop it from fetching a cool £100,000 when it was auctioned a couple of days ago.

Tesco have announced its latest step in their move towards world domination, not content with being the biggest supermarket in the UK, they have now decided to move into the property market. Their property sales service will let sellers list their homes on a Tesco website for a fee of £200. Sellers will also get a Tesco branded for sale sign to put outside their house. The idea is that the website will be for private sellers and Tesco say it will save them money and is a real alternative to instructing an agent. It will be interesting to see if there are any hidden fees when its launched.