From Black to Green: how facing the toughest challenge of my life led to a more sustainable lifestyle

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In August 2023 I finally managed to move out of London and realise my dream of buying my first house on my own, by the sea. But within the first month in my new little house in a pretty Kent seaside town everything went wrong and I ended up facing the biggest health and financial crisis of my life. 

THE HOUSE OF HORRORS...


I had been so glad of my escape to the sea and so eager to start a new, healthier life. I craved change and peace of mind after some tough years marred by physical and mental health issues, increasing anxiety, stress and panic attacks. 

I soon realised the survey on the house had missed many urgent issues. It needed a full rewire, a new boiler (found to be faulty on the day I got the keys), some new guttering, removal of a gas fire (described as a 'death trap' by the gas engineer) and a kitchen drain gulley replaced. 


Then, just as the work was starting on the above, there was a bathroom leak that sent water cascading on the ceiling and wall below. The previous owners had also left me their unwanted furniture and rubbish all over the house, loft and garden shed and refused to come back to dispose of their mess or pay for its removal. Generally the house seemed to be full of decades of 'botched jobs' from tradespeople and cheap DIY from careless previous owners. It was as if this house was angry at how it had been treated and it was now taking all its unhappiness out on me.


I felt like a failure. I was on my own in a town where I hardly knew anyone and I was already fragile physically and mentally. Now my long awaited new life had quickly turned into a nightmare. Financially, I had spent all my savings purchasing the house and trying to deal with all the unexpected but urgent repairs. I had no idea how I was going to cope without any money left. I sank into a deep depression and I could not see any way out. On a very dark night I even started making plans to end it all...

But ultimately these dark, testing times led me to a completely new way of living.

FIGHTING BACK: THE BEGINNING OF MY GREENER LIFESTYLE

With no money left, I had to find creative ways to decorate and furnish my house, sort out my garden and find ways to reduce my monthly outgoings, so: 

  • I started growing my own vegetables and fruits to try to reduce the amount I had to pay on the weekly shop. 
  • I learned to sew and do embroidery so I could make curtains, cushions and up-cycle clothes that I bought in charity shops.
  • I became skilled at  exploring charity shops and skips to find furniture I could up-cycle. 
  • I started using community recycling apps like Freegle to source free fabrics, garden tools, a bike and many other treasures. 
  • I realised that I could make my own beauty and cleaning products to save money. 
  • I took up DIY and painted the house myself, restored its old floorboards and stairs, painted my kitchen cupboards, the garden fence and replaced my shed damaged glass windows...
  • In the process I became an enthusiastic follower of a sustainable and greener lifestyle. 
  • I started to address my lifelong mental health issues, being honest with my GP about how deep they ran and finding ways to cope from daily meditation to writing a diary and finding renewed joy in a simpler, greener and more active lifestyle and taking on a 'good enough' philosophy to try to deal with my tendency to always seek perfection and be so critical of myself. 

A friend of mine wrote to me that she thought that 'The house and I could heal together' and her words stayed with me. Slowly, my depression lifted and my home environment improved too. Even better, I found that this greener lifestyle that I was building for myself had given me a new purpose and enjoyment in life and gave me an opportunity to learn new skills and regain some confidence.

Then I had the idea to share my ongoing journey in a blog. I hope that some of the tips and stories I post might be of interest to people and that they will prove useful. Welcome to the Green Mermaid Cottage blog. 



Location: England, UK

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