Final week, Matt and I quietly handed a milestone in our house. Ten years! It’s laborious to imagine that we’ve been right here an entire decade, and even more durable to imagine that I’ve been engaged on this home for that lengthy, and I’m nonetheless not completed! 😀
Why has it taken me so lengthy? Effectively, the home in determined want of a full down-to-the-studs renovation. There’s not a single room that hasn’t been torn all the way down to studs and ceiling joists, and a few of have even been torn all the way down to ground joists. Each room has been rewired, and has gotten new insulation, new drywall, and new home windows.
I’ve had assist alongside the way in which, but when I needed to estimate, I’d guess that I’ve carried out about 85% of the work on my own with my very own two fingers. I’ve not solely carried out demolition, rebuilding, among the drywall, refinishing flooring, putting in home windows, and all of that type of work myself, however I’ve additionally adorned every room, together with portray, stitching, upholstering, constructing furnishings, making paintings, and so on. In different phrases, I’ve taken the final ten years turning a really tough canvas into an exquisite (to me) house that fits my adorning and design style, and works functionally for my wheelchair-bound husband with M.S.
It has been fairly the journey, with loads of blood, sweat and tears alongside the way in which. I’ve had my share of trial and error, outright failures, but in addition loads of victories. And in hindsight, I can let you know that it’s been effectively definitely worth the effort.
After which there’s the educational alongside the way in which…OH MY GOODNESS, the educational! Once I look again to the place I used to be once we purchased this home, I can’t assist however to giggle. I used to be so excited to have my very personal home that I might DIY my approach by way of, and on the identical time, I used to be so unbelievably naive. I had completely no thought what I used to be getting myself into, or what I used to be committing myself to. Ignorance really was bliss. Had I recognized that ten years later, I’d nonetheless be working my approach by way of these rooms, I actually don’t know if I might have taken on the problem. So in a approach, I’m grateful for my ignorance again then! With out it, I could not have my lovely (to me) house immediately, and all the rewards of figuring out that it’s a results of my work with my very own fingers (with the assistance of many alongside the way in which).
So let’s check out how far the home has come since we purchased it in August of 2013.
The primary time I noticed the home, the front porch alone was nearly sufficient to make me flip away — the outdated concrete porch, the 2 entrance doorways, the rotting wooden assist posts, the outdated home windows that wouldn’t open, and the vinyl siding. It was nearly an excessive amount of. However I used to be decided to show it right into a welcoming entrance porch.
One in every of my greatest disappointments was that this home didn’t have a separate entryway. I had actually needed a separate entryway, so I attempted my greatest to create the feel of an entryway within the lengthy lounge.
From the primary time I noticed it, I knew the living room wanted a fire, so I constructed a pretend one between the 2 aspect home windows. And whereas it took me a number of tries to get this room proper, I lastly did it.
The music room was meant to be a eating room, however having a desk and chairs on this room would have been a hindrance for Matt in his wheelchair. So I made a decision to show this room right into a music room in order that the center site visitors space might be left open.
The hallway initially had a really slim cased opening, and never one, however two closets in it. I eliminated each, widened the cased opening, and constructed a brand new cupboard.
The hallway bathroom is as soon as once more getting slightly facelift, however the main rework was carried out years in the past. It was the second room I transformed on this home, after the kitchen.
The guest bedroom continues to be getting used as our primary bed room till we construct our addition. As a way to accomplish my imaginative and prescient for this room, I had an exterior door eliminated, a window eliminated, after which I constructed two new closets.
The second bed room was initially wooden all the pieces. Wooden ceiling, wooden partitions, wooden ground. I made a decision to show this into a home gym, utterly sans wooden.
The unique master suite was utterly repurposed and is now our master bathroom, full with an enormous curbless bathe that’s good for Matt.
The kitchen was the primary room I transformed on this home, and it was like leaping with each toes into the deep finish of the pool. I had by no means carried out something like this earlier than, and I needed to study in a rush and stretch my DIY abilities additional than that they had ever been stretched earlier than.
The room subsequent to the kitchen was initially one massive, open room. I turned the entrance a part of the room into a breakfast room (which is at the moment and briefly getting used as a sitting room till we construct our addition).
I walled off a 12′ x 7′ part of that room on the again and turned it into a walk-in pantry. This was my first time to construct cupboards utterly from scratch.
And eventually, our unique storage underwent most likely probably the most dramatic change of any room in the home. What was a darkish, soiled storage (pictured beneath after the storage doorways had been eliminated) is now a piece in progress, however is popping into the prettiest studio ever (in my humble opinion 😀 ).
There was a lot extra — far more than I might ever put into one single weblog submit — that has transpired during the last ten years. What a decade it has been! And I’ll simply maintain plugging away on the home till it’s completed, which is able to most likely be by no means. Are houses actually ever “completed“? 😀 I feel our hallway rest room, now on its third makeover, is a reasonably good indication that our house won’t ever really be completed. It should will all the time be evolving. I’m, in any case, hooked on adorning. 😀 The title of my weblog is what you name reality in promoting, my associates!
Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I rework and beautify the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You can learn more about me here.
