Home improvement

When we bought our house last year - our first proper, grown-up, permanent family home (yes, we are late bloomers) - we did a fair amount of redecorating. Pretty much every surface was stripped or sanded and refinished in some way.

But we had to stop spending at some point. So we took a pause and made a list of projects we would return to in 2016.

On the list:

• New bannisters - to replace the weird, wavy silver ones 
• Painting the exterior - because why would you want your house to be murky?
• New front door - because it's ugly
• Replace garage doors - with something sleek and contemporary
• Proper dining chairs - to replace the placeholders we bought on the cheap

Not on the list:

• The pergola which became a obsessive desire, and probably cost more than everything else on the list.

Now we can ignore the unlovely view of our neighbours' roof, and the distant blinking of the traffic lights on PCH.

Now we always only look West. And we have shade. And a new cool outdoor room.

Who cares that it was never in the plan? It is making us very happy. The best laid plans, eh?