We've had a lot of curious neighbors stopping by lately, joggers and cyclist who happen by and say hello for maybe the first time ever. Our broken gate (thanks guys!) perpetually open, invites them in. Seb gives the guy neighors tours of the house. Why I don't know. It's embarrassing. People do not see potential at this stage in the house. They see one giant orange electricity cord running up the steps and bedrooms with no doors. On Friday another neighbor stopped to chat and told me "you know this house was always so well maintained so it is a bit shocking to see the mess that's all" I know what she meant to say.
The house is just such a broken mess that it's hard to see potential anywhere at this stage. Our kitchen shower leaks all over the floors so you have to hurry up and finish so you don't flood the kitchen. And I have children who don't want to sleep in scary, unfinished bedrooms.
There is hope.
In a month the windows will come and then after that the downstairs floors will be done. The original floors were laid in the old style, on a bed of sand instead of concrete, and they're sloped and sagging from years of settling. Most of the tile are broken where the floor has really settled. We'll have new floors poured in most of the downstairs and we're still battling over what to put. I want a Ratatouille kitchen with black and white bistro floors but they're hard to find (seen on the bottom photo) and Seb wants a mini version of the white kitchen in the picture below (found on the AD website). Both are nice but I think he should let me decide since I'm the family chef. The kitchen is my little domain and I should get to design it after living in the slug kitchen for a year (yes slugs--they come through the hole in the floor, somehow)--
I'm really good about hanging in there when things get really tough but I'll have to admit that this whole renovation story is really kicking my butt this time around, even with all the help we're getting. I suppose it's because of the kids and trying to manage them with extension cords and leaky faucets. It's a trip I'm not really enjoying. Florida is definitely calling my name.
8 comments:
You should definitely get to decide on the kitchen deco!
Whomever spends the most time in the kitchen gets to decide. Alas, we had to compromise about 50-50 because we do equal time.
Potential is difficult for many people to see. When most first saw our house they wondered why it wasn't torn down. You wondered if you would fall through the floor at any moment. We also had neighbors wandering through for a tour. The difference then was we didn't have kids yet and for the first 4 months we didn't live in it (it was totally stripped down, so no plumbing, no interior sheetrock, no electricity, etc). We're still doing the renovations with a kid now, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was then. On the plus side, since our neighbors are all in the same position (many doing it with kids), they're very understanding :)
Good luck! You'll be thrilled when it's done!
As long as you get all those lovely multi paned cabinets... Hey, ceramic tile is easy to clean and pretty but wood is warm and adds to kitchen feng shui in many good ways. This coming from a woman who chose rubber flooring. Remember you are going to have a nice BIG kitchen, and this, my friend, is worth everything you are going through. You are going to be fine. Invite them now because when you're done, you can invite them again and they'll all be wondering why they didn't have the courage to dream, hold out for, work hard for, and finally achieve something wonderful. I know you after these few years. I trust that you will see this through to magnificence.
M & C - diplomacy yes! husband is a bit strong willed though so he won't agree. He's a real lion when it comes to making choices.
Lucy - I like that kitchen but b&w tiles make you want to cook good things and that's all I can say about wanting it. I'm not even sure why. I agree totally about the invitations to view the house. It's always fun to see the shock on people's faces when they see something finished right. Thanks for the words of encoragement. It means a lot to me right now ;)
Hang in there. It is going to look so amazing when it's done. All the times we renovated when I was growing up my mother would have these "what was I thinking?" moments but in the end she would be so glad she'd gone through with it. The months of eating all our meals either cold or cooked in a toaster oven and washing the dishes in the bathroom sink ended up turning out to make great memories.
You can do this! And just wait until you see the neighbors' faces when it's done and looks beautiful.
I also like the black and white floor. Tile is so easy to keep clean, too.
btw - do you spend times on the gardenweb forums? There's an old house forum, I don't post there a lot, but every once in awhile it helps to read about others in the same boat.
I'm terrible! I keep thinking about what a pain it would be to lay down (the black and white tile).
;-)
I know you're pain. I haven't had a bathroom for over a year and it is driving me spare. My children are older though and that's the crowning difference.
Ha ha! My WV is "messe"
I've remodeled two houses, and what I've learned two things that you mentioned: 1) getting out is a very good idea. when my kids were little, we did a major remodel, and i escaped for a month. SO much saner, i was incredibly grateful for the break. 2) if it helps you to know, white and black tiles are a CONSTANT upkeep nightmare, everything shows. When i had it, i couldn't stand the messiness, and either mopped way more than i wanted to, or tried to ignore them.
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