After two days of paint some of you may be wondering were I am going with the blog. The better question is where is all the paint going. In May of 2010 my husband and I bought our first home together. It was marketed as "move-in-ready" but . . . other than us I don't know who would have bought it. Basically we bought the property and they threw in the house for free. I remember the conversation where I stated it would be two years before we would live in the new house. Naysayers thought I was exaggerating. I was almost wrong. Everyone likes to be right but this was a time I wish I was wrong. Fast forward to August 2011. The house is ahead of schedule and if we push hard we might just be in for Christmas. Everything is coming together. Then we had an unfortunate visit from Irene. (Not to discriminate against all those wonderful women named Irene but I may not feel warm and fuzzy if you stop by for a visit.) Some house guests leave you with lasting memories and Irene was no exception. For those not "in the know" Irene was a hurricane. The large tree through my roof was a house warming gift I would gladly have returned. After this happened I realized how Blessed I am. We were not living there yet and were fully insured. We were safe at our current house. We lost no personal belongings. There are people whose homes were destroyed who still have no where to live. It will be years before everyone in this region is fully recovered. The good news is we are recovered from our storm damage and moving forward. We should be able to move in this Spring.
The journey has been amazing. I am sure there are lots of folks who have experienced everything we have experienced. I know our story is not unique. Then there are those who may benefit from our experiences. Finally there is our family and friends who have been waiting forever to see the pictures. I like to think that at the end of our journey Marston will look at me and tell me he would do it all again. At this point I would still answer me too!
Remodeling a house is a full-time job. Maybe it isn't if you hire a general contractor but we didn't do that. This is my second house remodel and by far the more aggressive of the two. Walls will fall. Surprises beyond your wildest dreams wait for you behind the drywall and under the sub-floor. Things a home inspector is never going to find because they cannot see inside walls and just when you think there is nothing left to find - surprise more bad news. In the beginning there should have been a bulldozer party to raise our "Dream Home." The reality is we fixed it.
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| May 2010 River View |
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| May 2010 - We had 22 trees removed in June. (Orange tape marks trees to be removed.) We were worried that future hurricanes would blow them over. Ironically it was our neighbour's tree that hit the house during Irene. |
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| Close-up May 2010 |
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| April 2010 |
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| May 2010 Close-up of window and balcony. Where one stops the other begins. |
I know what you are thinking, "It looks like a nice house."
Update: For everyone who was disappointed about me not discussing paint - this is for you! The paint started going on the walls today and it looks fantastic. So far we have a red bathroom, a purple laundry room and we will be able to add a pink bathroom to the list before the day is over. I was hesitant to use bold colours because they were not popular. I have never been accused (nor will be) of being popular. I don't shop for the latest fashions and I don't by trendy furnishings: I buy what I like. This includes the 50 cent blue jeans (church sale) I am currently wearing. Deciding to rising above the negativity of everything associated with "popular" is freeing. Ironically I didn't even realize I was being influenced. Reflection is such a luxury.
Ciao!
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