Mimi's Dream Home: Before and after falling for a Welshman.

Bill Bryson's book "At Home" is a good one to read if you want to find out how & why UK houses are the way they are.  The smallness of many of the older houses was due to the fact that building materials were relatively more expensive way back when.

Not to dampen your excitement, but just to make sure you know what to expect,  if you are used to counter space and under sink cupboards and dream for double sinks, even if you find a house with 5 bathrooms, you are not likely to have any of this kind of storage/display space.  Our house has 3.5 bathrooms, so my husband and I each have one, and I still have trouble finding convenient places to store makeup and products.  My straightening iron lives in the bathtub when not in use.    Many women will decide to have a dressing table in the bedroom (or perhaps in that extra bedroom you mentioned) as a place to keep makeup, hairbrushes, etc.  rather than trying to keep them organized in the bathroom.

I've seen pictures on real estate sites so I've pretty much resigned myself to a small bathroom. I have a bit of an obsession with storage containers and boxes and such but have never had a reason to invest in any. So, I look forward to that! I'm just trying to make the best of any and all situation that gets thrown at me Every cloud has a silver lining.

The dressing table in the extra bedroom sounds like a really great idea. I'd never thought of that. Thanks!

If you have any Pembrokeshire questions, feel free to drop me a PM. I live in Cornwall now, but lived near Tenby for a long time. I'm sure your fiance knows more about real estate in Milford Haven & Haverfordwest than I do, but if want to know any other stuff, I'm here! 

Thank you! I'll definitely jot your name down and contact you as moving time approaches. I cannot wait for April to visit Pembs so I can really get a feel for it.

I grew up in New England so I'm quite used to living in a small old home. It wasn't until I was 18 that I had a home with more than one bathroom. I quickly became quite spoiled!

Growing up in the US, we had 4 girls (3 of us teenagers at the same time!) and my parents plus several wayward couch sleepers- It seemed like we always at least 1 person extra at our house at all times- but my parents are good hippies and let anyone and everyone stay.  and we had one tiny bathroom, with absolutely no storage whatsoever - and a hot water heater that ran out after 3 minutes-  (and no closest ever in the house, but that's a different subject!) 

So to live in the UK, finally finding a lovely place to live after 3 years of ups and downs-  in a new build, and to have one bathroom that's all mine (I live alone) and hot water that is always on thanks to the combi boiler is a lovely luxury and I am completely spoiled 

Bill Bryson's book "At Home" is a good one to read if you want to find out how & why UK houses are the way they are.  The smallness of many of the older houses was due to the fact that building materials were relatively more expensive way back when.

My boyfriend has already sent me Bill Bryson's "Notes From a Small Island". He is getting me a kindle for Christmas so I'll definitely download "At Home"! Thanks for the suggestion!

The dressing table in the extra bedroom sounds like a really great idea. I'd never thought of that. Thanks!

Be sure and put that dressing table right smack dab in front of the window so you can get the light from the window and from the electric light hanging down over it (preferably with a frilly lampshade) 

Yeah, I've lived in houses with one toilet (which is the main issue) for more than three people, and that's why I refuse to do it now.  It wasn't bad when we were kids and there were five of us per toilet, but when I was in college, there was nothing like having to hope my room-mate would clear out quick enough for my bladder's tolerance for being kept waiting.

When we lived with the inlaws, well, I don't even want to get into the details about the bathrooms and showers in that flat.  There were two toilets though, one being outside (flush).  At one point the outdoor one (the one I used most of the time) was out of use.  It didn't last long.  I wasn't going to put up with my MiL's lengthy morning ablutions whilst I stood outside waiting to use the toilet.  Not to be mean, but the over an hour a day she spent in the morning on her hair, make-up, and so on really didn't make that much difference except to those of us waiting to use the lav.

Different people have different tolerances, and there are some things I won't deal with.  I can easily share the toilet with my husband (something some women in the States wouldn't ever deal with) and if we ever had to take on a room mate or had a child, maybe one other person.  Above that, I'd beg, borrow or steal to get the money for either a rental upgrade or, if we owned, the money to at least put a toilet and basin in. Maybe it's because I have a really sensitive bladder (and always have), but it seems to me the more demand a for a toilet, the more some people seem to take the mickey about making sure it's available when people need it.

My little Welsh home has one of the separate toilets from the bath and basin.  I wasn't too keen on it when we were house-hunting, but DH was ecstatic about it.  He said, wait till our daughter is a teenager and we can't get her out of the bath--then you'll be thankful.  I see the point since it's our only bathroom.  Both rooms are dead small though.  We've wondered if they started as a loo, we call the outdoor shed the Privy in assumption that it may have been a toilet at one point (and a very cold one at that.)

I've also stopped doing my hair and such there entirely.  I haven't done that in the UK since moving here.  It just isn't worth the effort since it's so rare to have electricity (outside of the shower) in the bathroom.  I've come to like being able to sit on my bed or the floor now and having a full-length mirror there while I do my hair.  I do still keep the make-up in the downstairs bathroom, but that's just because I'm usually in too big a hurry to go back up to the bedroom.  In our last place it was in the bedroom with my little hair station.

Well our house in South Wales has a huge bathroom, it's bigger than one of the front bedrooms.

Several of the houses in this area have rennovated the downstairs, building a 2nd bathroom where the kitchen originally was and turning what was probably a dining room into a large kitchen.

Can't wait to see how the new bath room in our UK house turns out.  DH opted to have a separate shower next to the tub instead of combining them. I'm a little puzzled how that will work out 

Being anywhere with Almost-S-I-L can be aggravating as he spends ages in the bath room every morning.  I used to get up at the crack of dawn to have a quick tub bath and clean my teeth before he got in there.  He would wash his hair nearly every day, then dash out of the bath room and use the hair dryer in the bed room (his hair is short  ) Then back to the bath room to shave etc. Luckily there was a downstairs loo but no other facilities for bathing or washing.

We manage with one bathroom for two of us at the moment. We do have a separate cloakroom, but we're converting that into a huge storage cupboard. Our plans are to build up into the loft and add three bedrooms, one of them en suite, so we'll be fine then. For now, I'm generally up long before DH so there's no fighting over the bathroom.

We've shared 1 bathroom several times in different apartments over the years.  Two is definitely better, but we managed.  I think our most horrible bathroom was in the US, to be honest.  And our current setup might be the nicest so far.  Our first London flat had a ginormous bathroom -- the size of the living room -- but it only had a pedestal sink and not one inch of surface area to even plunk down a toothbrush.  We saw it when the flat was totally empty, and neither one of us morons thought about it at the time.  We just saw this lovely big bathroom, about as different from our grotty one in Boston as humanly possible.   

When we moved into our house in Leeds the previous owners had installed wash basins in two of the bedrooms (they had had 4 daughters!) so I guess that saved some aggro in the mornings.  Sorta makes it look like a hotel though 

When we moved into our house in Leeds the previous owners had installed wash basins in two of the bedrooms (they had had 4 daughters!) so I guess that saved some aggro in the mornings.  Sorta makes it look like a hotel though 

My aunt and uncle have this set-up in their house too. I'm not sure I'd like it myself, but it's really convenient when you're a house guest. When I stay with them I can wash my face and brush my teeth before bed without having to wander around the house in my nightie!

Bill Bryson's book "At Home" is a good one to read if you want to find out how & why UK houses are the way they are. 

I was listening to an interview with him on NPR the other night.  People were phoning in with their house questions, and one lady called and asked about the lack of mixer taps.   He confessed he had no clue why they're still not commonly used.