Our First Little Home

Emma
Mar 8, 2017
6 min read

We moved into our first little home in Fremantle five weeks ago and although we are still without many things and we have mismatching furniture, I couldn't love it any more than I already do.

I've always been so excited about having my own place and I remember enviously eyeing up my friends' homes and wishing it was me that had all these gorgeous things for a house of my own. I just couldn't wait to buy pretty home stuff. To go out shopping to homeware stores was nothing short of torture for me; I wanted to buy it all but not having a house to put any of it in was making me green with envy.

Now that I finally have my own little space, I realise that it's not just about buying pretty things, it's about my home that I now share with Rich. It's about all the hopes and dreams that we have together and all that our home signifies, what it means to us. Our house may not be perfect yet but it's our little home that we are slowly making into something that represents us. It's coming back from work to a cuddle, dinner and a rant about our days. It's watching box sets together. It's about enjoying breakfast together on our balcony. It's about going away for the weekend and coming home together and relaxing on the sofa. It's about sharing all of our dreams and worries and it's about beginning the next chapter of our story. It's about being in it together.

We were both so ready and so excited to have our own little place and for a while we couldn't figure out where we wanted to set up base. We decided on Fremantle, knowing that Rich would be working in the area and also that Freo is a cool, hippy kind of place and close to lots of nice bars and restaurants. We wanted to live in an area full of life and things that were happening, so Freo seemed like the perfect choice. We knew we wanted to be as close to the centre as possible, knowing that if we wanted to go out for dinner and drinks, that we ideally wanted to only be a short walk away. We scoured the real estate sites for what seemed like ages and we weren't really having much luck with that 'perfect' place we had hopes of. We went to look at an apartment right in the centre of town; it was gorgeous and so modern but also extremely small and parking a car would be very inconvenient. After a couple of weeks, a place came up that was within walking distance of the centre, was within our weekly budget for rent, had a parking space and looked OK in the pictures. I decided to come down from Ellenbrook to Freo (which takes about an hour and a half on the bus and train) to have a look at the place and see for myself what it was all about. Rich was at work so he couldn't come and view it with me but I promised to take lots of pictures for him. From the photos on the real estate site, the house wasn't that impressive but I thought it wouldn't harm to just have a look at it. When I was walking up the road from the town centre to view the house, I remember thinking, 'I wish I was walking up here to go home rather than just to view it,' and I hadn't even seen the house at this point. For some reason, when I saw the little townhouse (any house with stairs in Australia) I just fell in love with it. The photos online did not do the place any justice and when I saw it in real life, I just felt as though this place would be ours. I'm not even sure what gave me that feeling about the place, but something just drew me in. I showed Rich the pictures and wanted him to go and see it, as I didn't think it would be fair for the decision to be made based on just my opinion, even though Rich said he trusted my judgement.

Rich went to see it and loved it too and before we knew it, we'd signed the tenancy agreement and the place was ours. We were both so excited and couldn't wait to move in. We didn't have long to wait and we even got the keys a day earlier than planned so we could move in and get set up. I started a new job the very same day we got the keys, so needless to say it was a bit of a hectic time. We came to Australia with nothing and so we took every opportunity to beg, borrow or steal furniture and homewares in any way we could. So many of our friends in Perth rallied around and gave us so much stuff. We felt so lucky and it definitely helped us get on our feet. We had a housewarming gathering two days after we moved in and we literally had nothing. It was hilarious really that we'd asked people to come round and they didn't even have anything to sit on, but it was the perfect excuse to get lots of free things! We have been given two sofas, a fridge, a microwave, a mattress, kitchen essentials and so many other things. We only came to Australia with clothes and other personal items as we didn't have a house full of stuff back in England, so we started afresh in Australia. Although we had nothing, we soon started to accumulate things and it's nice actually not to have a house full of junk.

We are slowly starting to fill our house and it's beginning to look more like a home. Gumtree has been our saviour; we have got quite a few bargains on there. We borrowed a vehicle from Rich's work to go and pick up the essentials like a washing machine, but now we have no car it's a bit more difficult to go out and buy the things we need. We are still sleeping on the mattress on the floor, but that's OK, at least we have something to sleep on. When we get a car, things will become easier and we will be able to go and pick stuff up rather than lugging flat pack furniture up the road in a shopping trolley!

I have even bought myself a 'granny' shopping trolley to go out and do the food shopping. It's hilarious but so unbelievably handy and it has made my life so much easier. I feel like I fit right in as Freo is so relaxed and it is a hippy-loving trendy little place after all, so someone with a shopping trolley doesn't exactly stand out too much.

I am absolutely loving the fact that finally I am able to buy things for the house. I basically live in Target, which is only down the road from us and I am practically in there every day - why haven't they changed their stock yet and got new stuff in?! I do miss shops from the UK though. I am looking forward to going home in July with an empty suitcase and stocking up on things from The Range - why is that shop not in Australia and why is internet shopping in this country so bad?!

Sometimes I find myself just looking at my little home with so much pleasure. I love it so much and it's such a wonderful feeling to have our own place after wanting it for so long. We have a long way to go but even in its current state I love the simplicity of just making our house a home and seeing it slowly come together.

Aside from our little home, we are loving living in Freo and I am so glad we picked it as our base. There are so many cafes and restaurants within a stone's throw away. Our biggest problem is which cafe to choose first! It's such a wonderful city, with everything on our doorstep. The train station is a short walk away, which means we can get to places easily; the shops are down the road; the beach is around the corner and we even have a gorgeous view of the harbour from our window. This place feels like home and it really is a wonderful place to live. I sometimes have to pinch myself that I really am living in Australia as it has become so normal now, that I have to remind myself I am actually here. We can't wait to explore more of Fremantle, Perth and even more of Australia. There is so much to see and I can't wait until we get a car so we can go out on adventures and soak up this wonderful place we live in.