Hi guys and girls.

I bought my house in Windheim and immediately stored some stuff in the chest on the left with the blood on it.

I then, when buying the furnishings, paid 500 coins to clear the butchers mess away.

Went back to the house at a later date to collect some stuff and the whole chest has disappeared, thought it was just going to clear the bloodstains not take the whole bloody chest away - so I've lost sh*tloads of items.

Is this a bug or just part of the game?

Hope somebody can shed some light on this.

Cheers.

No, the chest is an "investigation target" for the quest Blood on the Ice. So yes, once you "clean" the house, all those investigation targets, along with the bloody mess will disappear.
Your main storage chest will come with your bed room furniture. Most safe storage chests in your house only appear once you buy the decorating features.

Ok, Cheers my learned friend, so looks like I've lost my items then! doh!

I found that loading saves made in Breezhome load up like there were no furnishings. If you reload they come back. May be the same problem with all owned homes.

Never, ever store anything in a new house until after you've decorated it all or you will lose everything. The game guide even states this somewhere.

Oh well.....gives me the excuse to have another playthrough.

This . Is what I was gonna say .
Can't really blame the movers for thinking they scored some free loot in that old chest you didn't want .
Actually , I wish they had left the chest , the Windhelm home has the least amount of storage space out of all the houses . The weapons plaques and mannequins don't work in my version , which leaves the display cases . Those are a pain in the butt to use , and most of them are too small even for a dagger .