one door closes
We did it.
6 months to the day after we purchased the little blue house, our major layout renovation is complete.
We have a front door and a foyer with a coat closet and a bright entrance. We have a huge master bedroom with an original fireplace, hardwood floors, a big organized closet, and a beautiful new master bath. We have a cozy carpeted living room. We have an open kitchen with a beautiful view, a giant chalkboard wall, and new black appliances. Our boys have a huge, funky shared bedroom with plenty of space to play and storage for their toys. We have an open sunroom with space for future projects-- no more hot water heater in the way (!). We have a guestroom with storage and a full bed. We have a new well with safe drinking water and a new, safer electrical panel. We have Internet (not a given!) and over-the-air TV. We have an attic with original plank wood and shiplap, functional windows, newly wired for future use when we improve climate control. We have a spacious covered carport, a concrete play area, an abundant garden planted over 5 raised beds, and almost 16 acres to explore.
The workers are gone, the construction permit is removed, and everything passed inspection last Thursday, July 11. The pods were picked up from the driveway Friday and all the last scraps cleaned up. Even the paint cans are gone. We are paid up, only a hair over budget, and reestablishing daily routines.
My phone is nearly out of storage, so I don't have many pictures to share, but expect big reveal photos and videos coming soon. The bathroom is my favorite.
There wasn't an HGTV big reveal moment with this renovation. It was a grind, dusty and dirty and sometimes painful, but also gradual and instructive and comforting. Kevin and I both had moments where we thought, oh wait, if the workers leave, then it's just us now! It's our fault and our problem and our opportunity now.
On Friday night, we popped the extravagantly expensive bottle of champagne our realtor gifted us on closing day. (We drank half from our wedding flutes, and I drank the rest from a plastic cup in the yard on Saturday.) We celebrated the weekend with friends visiting, blueberry picking at a nearby Orange County farm, and a late-afternoon trip next door to Riverlea to practice swimming in their shallow pool. We swept crumbs in the kitchen 100 times and halfway bathed our kids after naptime blowouts. They built forts in the new coat closet and "cleaned" the shower tiles for me (surprisingly effective at removing grout dust!).
I'm sleeping better in the house and enjoying nightly sunsets passing behind the red barns across the street. I'm so proud of everything we have done, the way we did it, and especially the why. Our life in the suburbs seems like a long time ago already and I'm surprised that I don't miss it. (Frankly, I thought this transition would be more uncomfortable than it has been.) I'd like to believe that being so intentional, making a values-based decision to tackle this adventure as a family, has laid a solid foundation for us. Of course we are doing it. Because it was the right thing to do for us.
Now the real work of enjoying, exploring, living, and growing in this place begins anew for the second half of the year. Many more projects ahead...
6 months to the day after we purchased the little blue house, our major layout renovation is complete.
We have a front door and a foyer with a coat closet and a bright entrance. We have a huge master bedroom with an original fireplace, hardwood floors, a big organized closet, and a beautiful new master bath. We have a cozy carpeted living room. We have an open kitchen with a beautiful view, a giant chalkboard wall, and new black appliances. Our boys have a huge, funky shared bedroom with plenty of space to play and storage for their toys. We have an open sunroom with space for future projects-- no more hot water heater in the way (!). We have a guestroom with storage and a full bed. We have a new well with safe drinking water and a new, safer electrical panel. We have Internet (not a given!) and over-the-air TV. We have an attic with original plank wood and shiplap, functional windows, newly wired for future use when we improve climate control. We have a spacious covered carport, a concrete play area, an abundant garden planted over 5 raised beds, and almost 16 acres to explore.
The workers are gone, the construction permit is removed, and everything passed inspection last Thursday, July 11. The pods were picked up from the driveway Friday and all the last scraps cleaned up. Even the paint cans are gone. We are paid up, only a hair over budget, and reestablishing daily routines.
My phone is nearly out of storage, so I don't have many pictures to share, but expect big reveal photos and videos coming soon. The bathroom is my favorite.
There wasn't an HGTV big reveal moment with this renovation. It was a grind, dusty and dirty and sometimes painful, but also gradual and instructive and comforting. Kevin and I both had moments where we thought, oh wait, if the workers leave, then it's just us now! It's our fault and our problem and our opportunity now.
On Friday night, we popped the extravagantly expensive bottle of champagne our realtor gifted us on closing day. (We drank half from our wedding flutes, and I drank the rest from a plastic cup in the yard on Saturday.) We celebrated the weekend with friends visiting, blueberry picking at a nearby Orange County farm, and a late-afternoon trip next door to Riverlea to practice swimming in their shallow pool. We swept crumbs in the kitchen 100 times and halfway bathed our kids after naptime blowouts. They built forts in the new coat closet and "cleaned" the shower tiles for me (surprisingly effective at removing grout dust!).
I'm sleeping better in the house and enjoying nightly sunsets passing behind the red barns across the street. I'm so proud of everything we have done, the way we did it, and especially the why. Our life in the suburbs seems like a long time ago already and I'm surprised that I don't miss it. (Frankly, I thought this transition would be more uncomfortable than it has been.) I'd like to believe that being so intentional, making a values-based decision to tackle this adventure as a family, has laid a solid foundation for us. Of course we are doing it. Because it was the right thing to do for us.
Now the real work of enjoying, exploring, living, and growing in this place begins anew for the second half of the year. Many more projects ahead...