Light, airy, cosy with beautiful views. And all the fortune, hard work and sacrifice required to build a dream.

I couldn’t not answer this one. We built our home and moved in a few days before Christmas 2023. Thoroughly exhausted. We were so completely done in by then that we could barely rejoice and enjoy what we’d built. We spent that whole Christmas break binge watching the entire series of a Game of Thrones and being all together unsociable with family who live next door.

My husband built the house with his own hands and the assistance of his two teenage apprentices. I worked relentlessly to keep the money coming in. I worked away from home for half the week which was a trial in itself. But, that meant my husband could be full-time focussing just on our house. It also meant we could keep our build costs to a minimum which meant we didn’t have to borrow a great deal in a mortgage.

In the interim, from March 2020 until we moved in, we lived in a caravan on the garden/building site. The two of us, two teenagers, a dog, a pandemic and numerous lockdowns, all in a caravan. It wasn’t easy.

Two years later, I can say I now really appreciate the home we’ve built. I feel grateful that we were able to. It put us in a much stronger financial position and given us stability and more financial freedom than a lot of our friends and family. We have been very fortunate indeed.

Would I do it again? Hmm. I might need some more time to forget about the hard stuff. Like giving birth, in the aftermath, repeating that experience seems absolutely bonkers. Yet…..I do have two children.