Last night I got home from another one of "those days" just to find that Mike was having one of "those days" too. And we had a long conversation, complaining about this and that, bad luck, what-ifs, and the ever popular what-are-we-going-to-do-about-it.
Usually in these circumstances, I set myself in front of the TV and eat my way to some sort of mild satisfaction. But Mike was going to go in the garage and try to get work done, and I figured it might do me some good to do the same.
So I went up to the office and attempted to clean and re-work the furniture. It was actually pretty frustrating at first and I had the urge to just quit. Nothing was turning out very well. My bookshelf was just too tall and skinny for the space I was trying to put it in - but I really need it for my books and am not in a position to get a new one.
Then I had this amazing flash of genius. Tip it over. That's right. I had a tall skinny thing and I needed a long short thing. So I just laid the bookshelf on its side against the wall. It fit perfectly, and I could still put all my books in it - just all stacked on top of one another. Plus, now I had a nice skinny top shelf surface for pictures and nick-nacs and whatever.
That made me feel a hell of a lot better. And it got all the books out of the guest bedroom. I hope to force myself to do more tonight.
My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.
And here we still are... renovating away.
This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.
We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.
New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.
We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.
Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.
Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.
And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!
In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!
In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.
And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.
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