The Joys and Challenges of Do it Yourself Remodeling

When I was a kitchen designer, I came across clients who would talk about how they couldn't wait to have the remodeling process over. It seemed that someone forgot to tell them that remodeling is a lengthy process from idea to completion. Some customers claimed remodeling is sort of a hobby and doesn't really have an ending. As projects are completed, more are thought of and so the perpetual list of remodeling becomes a way of life. I thought "oh those poor people! I could NEVER live like that...." Uh huh well never say never. It wasn't a big surprise when my husband (then boyfriend) invited me, my two teens and two dogs to move in with him while he was still in the middle of remodeling. I had a good idea of what to expect. And with my 2000 sf home's furnishings somehow squeezed into 800 sf, I knew progress would be greatly slowed.

Here we are today and the progress is indeed slow. Yet through it all, I am learning to celebrate the little victories of even the smallest project being completed. I was thrilled when the new toilet was installed. That was a remodeling nightmare! The tank had cracked and because the toilet was so old, we made countless trips the the home improvement store trying to just purchase a tank that would fit on outdated bowl. When we finally did find one, it did not hold enough water to flush adequately. And so we had to used jugs of water to flush. Ahhh! After a nightmarish week of trial and error, we ended up replacing the entire toilet, hoses and everything that goes along with it. We found out a month later to our pleasant surprise that our water bill had been cut from $90 per month to $20!

Another celebration was when the washer and dryer were finally hooked back up. They had been disconnected and moved because the the flooring was still being stained and sealed. Then there was an agonizing week and a half of curing. We never realized just how much we appreciated our washer and dryer until we had to hang dry our clothes on the deck railing outside.

And so the stories go on. With the house being approximately 75% completed, I thought it was about time to share some before and after pics with you. My husband has done all the work himself with the exception of the ceiling.

Living in a home that's being remodeled is teaching me there are certain things that you just have to learn to live with. I have learned that drywall dust somehow shows up on EVERYTHING regardless how many times you wipe, clean, sweep and vacuum. I've become accustomed to having a circular saw in the living room. I learned that a curtain in place of a pantry door will just have to do until he gets around to custom building the odd sized door for it. I've learned that it's more important to be around my family than to be around a perfectly decorated home. But we do our best to make it homey anyway.