Oh my days, they’ve started! And boom, what a start 🙂 It’s always been my dream to have interiors and food events, DIY and craft workshops, and various pop ups here at home, a dream which drove us at the very start of this challenging build / renovation and has kept us going all the way through it’s progression. Sometimes slow progress, sometimes quick, but always with a dream in the background. One which often seemed very, very far away.
Far away no longer. With the help of the brilliant Airbnb Experiences, newly opened for Manchester a week or so ago (you may have seen that I helped score them some cool new hosts), we’ve launched our very own renovation and interior insight days here at Moregeous Mansions. Well, I say we, but obviously I just mean Rocky.
Because, and I kid you not, I am literally getting guests booking, then messaging me to say they can’t wait to meet the Rockster and can they bring Dreamies? Sod Mr M & I’s expertise. Sod learning about self build, or bricks and mortar. Sod getting the interiors low down on insider tricks of the trade. Yep, it’s all about the Ginger. Harry and Ed have a lot to answer for.
So what’s it all about? Well although we’ve not *quite* finished, the guests on Saturday actually really liked that. We’ve tonnes of images of the demolition, the build and the ‘durings’ but at the moment people don’t really need those as they can see the 1/3 of the house where works are still on-going. Our first guests ranged from the house nosey to the house renovating and all were full to the brim with questions relating to their own projects and dreams for their own homes. Questions which we’re well qualified and well up for answering and helping with. After welcoming everyone with a drink, intro’s and a chat, the tour commenced, a sort of what’s been done, the hows & whys, plus insider tips & hints, the (sometimes brutal) realities of renovating and the nice stuff.
Pretty much open access really, a good nosey around the gardens and how we’ve planned all the seating, built the furniture, designed the landscaping and installed all the features. Plus tips on pollinator planting and getting the best from your outside space.
Then inside to explore both the new extension and the original Edwardian villa, looking at how to plan spaces, decide on how to renovate and how to get good house balance. The things you can DIY and the things you should get experts to help with. Working out your own style, nailing luxury finishes on affordable budgets and the tricks to canny buying. How to survive a massive renovation or how to just make the most of a mini-makeover. All of that and even a lunch!
Last weekend we enjoyed poached chicken, lemon & (home-grown) tarragon sandwiches, organic egg butties, a roasted courgette & seared veg salad and a mozzarella & tomato salad, all bought locally from grocers and butchers nearby.
What did we chat about over lunch? Houses and interiors and property conundrums of course! Some people had made notes with questions and we’re also quite happy for guests to bring along images or plans for me to have a quick look at, and try and assist with specific questions. 
One guest had a specific fireplace question and was inspired by our dining room encaustics so we had a look at an image of her room and chatted about how best to achieve a super cool look on a budget. Luckily those Lilypads also come in teal, her favourite colour 😉
There’s a lot to take in at Moregeous Mansions, inside and out, but we give it a good go on this fantastic Experience. If you know someone who is just setting out on their renovation journey, or who is a bit stuck for ideas, then do point them in our direction. It can be a bit daunting and also quite costly to ‘hire’ an interior designer or consultant when sometimes just a little advice can go a long way to popping you back on the right track. The idea is for us to share our knowledge, skills and ideas in a very accessible and enjoyable way – hopefully the smiles of our first gang showed we did just that!
There are more details on the Experience on the Airbnb site here, or feel free to ask me questions in the comments below. I’m so excited to have started these days and can’t wait for more guests to visit, with design challenges to help work out and property conundrums to solve. I’ve got to be honest, when I read Kelly’s review, I felt a bit emosh. It might have been the prosecco. Or over tiredness. But really I just think I felt just a little bit over the moon…
Get booking Moregeous friends, and we’ll see you here 🙂
Rocky (and Builder Cat!) will be waiting x
PS Also, I’ve decided to scrap the blog’s Moregeous Monday Moments cause, well, I’m always busy on a Monday! Instead we’ll be doing a Sunday Supplement with mini-updates on changes and developments here, what we’re working on and what we’ve finished. Or started. Or are half way through.
Anyhow, the Sunday Supplement. Watch out for it 😉
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