Lily Pebbles #20 Nobody’s told her her content is REEL-Y bad

[jaymie]

I do not understand the pink tiles in her downstairs loo. Have they been tiled badly or are they meant to be uneven on purpose ?

is the style

 

[OppositeFeature]

lol at her renovation mistakes reel. Completely missed out the airport runway between the lounge and kitchen and the trend following that she already is clearly not liking anymore like the dark blue lounge and grey carpets. At least she acknowledged the mistake in not fixing her grotty windows

I think still think one of the most stupid out of all her (I say her bc as if Rich gets a say) renovation choices is that they knew they were going to start trying for kids and knew from family what it's like - decision to open up that living room and create that awkward no-mans land. She even said in a vlog something along the lines of 'it's good to have a room where you can put all the kids to play and shut the door' at some point about her nieces/nephews playing at a family gathering.

They could have had a super cozy - smallish, but fine - LR/playroom whilst Grey is small that is its own room and then the open area for a dining table + sitting area where they currently have the dining and dead space. That would have given a space where you can shut the door with all the toy mess and a more 'adult' LR/sitting area in the middle (that doesn't have to be a full blown big couch, maybe two cozy armchairs and a pouffe). Or even swap the dining table to dead space and make a nice sitting/hang out area by the terrace windows which would get more use - enjoy the sun even if it is cold rather than being blinded when you try to eat lunch.

All open space downstairs is so stupid if you have kids and I don't even have kids or plan to have them. I just know from every parent I've met it's good to have a place to shut a door and accept that the first ~5 years will be littered with random toys at all times before the children actually start to tidy up play in their room alone.

 

[LittleBluebird]

I think still think one of the most stupid out of all her (I say her bc as if Rich gets a say) renovation choices is that they knew they were going to start trying for kids and knew from family what it's like - decision to open up that living room and create that awkward no-mans land. She even said in a vlog something along the lines of 'it's good to have a room where you can put all the kids to play and shut the door' at some point about her nieces/nephews playing at a family gathering.

They could have had a super cozy - smallish, but fine - LR/playroom whilst Grey is small that is its own room and then the open area for a dining table + sitting area where they currently have the dining and dead space. That would have given a space where you can shut the door with all the toy mess and a more 'adult' LR/sitting area in the middle (that doesn't have to be a full blown big couch, maybe two cozy armchairs and a pouffe). Or even swap the dining table to dead space and make a nice sitting/hang out area by the terrace windows which would get more use - enjoy the sun even if it is cold rather than being blinded when you try to eat lunch.

All open space downstairs is so stupid if you have kids and I don't even have kids or plan to have them. I just know from every parent I've met it's good to have a place to shut a door and accept that the first ~5 years will be littered with random toys at all times before the children actually start to tidy up play in their room alone.

I honestly think the whole house was a mistake. Like buying it. There just isn’t enough room to *comfortably* have two kids in two separate rooms and for her to have her own office while rich gets nothing. I always wondered from the very beginning why they bought that house with such small rooms outside of the master bedroom.

I know they said it’s not their forever home , though I still don’t understand why they bought it.

*I wholly understand that children have been raised in much smaller environments and that Lily’s house is actually fine. But my point is a bit more along the kind of with her money & resources, it just doesn’t seem like the right fit for 2+ kids.

 

[lucyflospeaks]

maybe this is now me being a London snob hahah but i cant still can't believe she goes on and on and on and on about being "a Londoner" and lives as far north as she does, in the suburbs. The way she makes it her personality it sounds like she lives in Zone 1.

 

[jaymie]

someone stole Lily’s dream title

 

[Eileen_2019]

They were actively trying when they were renovating the house, and still made those decisions, like the tiny freezer in favour of a large laaaaaaaa(r)der..... they also knew they wanted 'multiple children', which to me sounds like more than two, and this would be their home for the next 10 years if not longer. With two older sisters who both have children, surely she could have asked for practical advice before making these decisions, but I suppose beggers can't be choosers.... Poor Lily.

 

[palmer]

I honestly think the whole house was a mistake. Like buying it. There just isn’t enough room to *comfortably* have two kids in two separate rooms and for her to have her own office while rich gets nothing. I always wondered from the very beginning why they bought that house with such small rooms outside of the master bedroom.

I know they said it’s not their forever home , though I still don’t understand why they bought it.

*I wholly understand that children have been raised in much smaller environments and that Lily’s house is actually fine. But my point is a bit more along the kind of with her money & resources, it just doesn’t seem like the right fit for 2+ kids.

I agree. There's a house that sold just a year before theirs on the same street, for the same price, but with 5 bedrooms versus her 3-ish bedrooms (don't know if I would count that tiny box room as a proper bedroom but whatever). There are a bunch of other 3 bedroom houses on their street but they tend to be cheaper than theirs yet look just as spacious. I don't think they got the best deal on this house. It's just so poorly designed, really tiny rooms, awkward shapes. I really don't like it and I definitely think she'll want to move out sooner than she claims.

Also agree with @lucyflospeaks for someone who makes being a Londoner her entire personality she lives sooo far out lol. I bet she'd think it was the biggest insult ever if someone pointed this out to her lol

 

[dee_mc]

I agree. There's a house that sold just a year before theirs on the same street, for the same price, but with 5 bedrooms versus her 3-ish bedrooms (don't know if I would count that tiny box room as a proper bedroom but whatever). There are a bunch of other 3 bedroom houses on their street but they tend to be cheaper than theirs yet look just as spacious. I don't think they got the best deal on this house. It's just so poorly designed, really tiny rooms, awkward shapes. I really don't like it and I definitely think she'll want to move out sooner than she claims.

Also agree with @lucyflospeaks for someone who makes being a Londoner her entire personality she lives soooo far out. I bet she would be so offended if someone pointed this out to her lol

How long would it take to get to her neighbourhood from central London on the Tube?
(I'm not asking where she lives, I don't care, just curious how far out she is approximately!)

 

[palmer]

How long would it take to get to her neighbourhood from central London on the Tube?
(I'm not asking where she lives, I don't care, just curious how far out she is approximately!)

On the tube, roughly:
40 mins to Oxford Circus/Covent Garden
50 mins to Liverpool Street/Spitalfields Market
50 mins to London Bridge/Borough Market
50 mins to South Kensington/V&A Museum
50 mins to Primrose Hill/Camden Market

She's lucky she lives right near a tube station. But she's pretty much in Zone 4.

 

[plantlady26]

I haven’t listened to the podcast yet but did I read right here earlier (can’t find the post) that Lily talked about Rich taking Shared Parental Leave...? That requires a parent who is eligible for maternity leave, i.e. employed not self-employed, to have weeks of leave that she can pass to her partner. Self-employed people are not eligible and Rich’s employer would/should have asked for evidence that his partner met the eligibility criteria.

Maybe his employer has a really generous paternity leave package but silly to talk about it publicly if they have fudged the paperwork to take advantage of SPL.

I work on maternity policy, so in case there is anyone self employed in this thread, I just want to note that this isn’t correct. A self employed mother receiving Maternity Allowance can sacrifice some weeks as shared parental pay/leave to her partner if the partner is employed elsewhere.

Even if Lily and Anna don’t have contracts with Gleam specifying maternity policy, they could at least explain SMP and MA from the gov.uk website!

 

[Lechat]

This really sums up Lily Pebbles whole aesthetic lol

 

[zizzly]

I watched her Reno vlogs and I could see that the living room colors were terrible ....haque blue walls dark blue sofa?!? That is the most bizarre thing and yes the pink tiles wow how could she not see?
Ps. I was curious and did find Lily's address with a bit of online stalking.

 

[queenamber]

This really sums up Lily Pebbles whole aesthetic lol

Depressing AF. This photo could've been taken in a sanatorium

 

[Orange2green]

On the tube, roughly:
40 mins to Oxford Circus/Covent Garden
50 mins to Liverpool Street/Spitalfields Market
50 mins to London Bridge/Borough Market
50 mins to South Kensington/V&A Museum
50 mins to Primrose Hill/Camden Market

She's lucky she lives right near a tube station. But she's pretty much in Zone 4.

I live in Zone 4 too (different side of London) and I fully count it as suburbia. Yes it's still a London postcode. But I love the fact that I have space and a garden on weekends. It's no means central at any stretch. I still count myself as a "Londoner" but no stick on butt down here!

 

[Ivegotatheory]

I really like her house about the only thing I do like! I’d have gone for more child friendly colours in Grey’s bedroom, but other than that I think it’s a lovely place to live. And no, me saying this does NOT make me Lily

 

[TravellingPants]

I work on maternity policy, so in case there is anyone self employed in this thread, I just want to note that this isn’t correct. A self employed mother receiving Maternity Allowance can sacrifice some weeks as shared parental pay/leave to her partner if the partner is employed elsewhere.

Even if Lily and Anna don’t have contracts with Gleam specifying maternity policy, they could at least explain SMP and MA from the gov.uk website!

Sorry, I realised this morning that I had clean forgotten about Maternity Allowance and that Lily’s self-employed work making her £££ for years would totally qualify and SPL would be a valid use of entitlement she didn’t intend to use. Brain malfunction, didn’t mean to spread false info!!

They could have timed their recording a bit better to have Maddie on before her mat leave to talk about her experience (although understand if she wants to keep it private) or at least to have said to Lucy they were gonna talk about this so would she mind sharing Gleam’s policy.

 

[Liptastic]

I honestly think the whole house was a mistake. Like buying it. There just isn’t enough room to *comfortably* have two kids in two separate rooms and for her to have her own office while rich gets nothing. I always wondered from the very beginning why they bought that house with such small rooms outside of the master bedroom.

I know they said it’s not their forever home , though I still don’t understand why they bought it.

*I wholly understand that children have been raised in much smaller environments and that Lily’s house is actually fine. But my point is a bit more along the kind of with her money & resources, it just doesn’t seem like the right fit for 2+ kids.

I know you're not from the UK and don't really know UK property market, but since when is 4.2 x 3.6 m room small?
This is Lily's floorplan before extension.

 

[jaymie]

I know you're not from the UK and don't really know UK property market, but since when is 4.2 x 3.6 m room small?
This is Lily's floorplan before extension.

View attachment 489718

When I build the loft, I will turn bedroom 3 into an ensuite.

 

[Ivegotatheory]

They could do with one of those office shed things in their garden! Mind you, it’s quite small isn’t it? wouldn’t leave a lot of room for playing.

 

[jaymie]

Plot twist:
They end up getting a divorce and Rich files a suit for abuse, a very public one at that, he has put up with over the years. Just give us a call babe, we have screenshots

*I know spousal/ domestic abuse is not funny. And I genuinely think he has been emotionally abused/ neglected over the years to a certain degree.

Yes abuse doesn't confined to physical. it can be financial or emotional. A mate of mine filed for divorce because of financial abuse as she has to give all her salary to her husband. But Rich can't even buy his own desk, so......