While waiting for a butternut squash to cool, so I can finish making butternut squash biscuits, I grabbed a cup of chia and sat down to blog about our ongoing renovations. Shaun is transforming closets in the school room to bookshelves . The boys and I have been working on making a bedroom bigger by ripping out a booger closet.
The booger closet is a name I took from my father-in-law. As a boy, he and his cousins named his grandmother's dark pantry in the back of the house, THE BOOGER CLOSET. It was dark and scarey to kids and well looked as if a booger might be hiding out in there. That is how our closet/desk office space looked. We needed extra space so we decided to start by ripping out a wall to increase the size of a guest bedroom. This room will also house my antique vanity, a sort of dressing room, Total Gym and rebounder.
The wall gets removed and the increase in useable space is so exciting! We rip out some cheap desk unit that's attached to the wall, then it all slows down. We discover two layers of glued ugly floor on top of original hardwood floors! Sigh...so we press on.
So lesson learned...expect the unexpected when renovating an old house! Don't let it get you down. Press on to the finished product in your head, it will help you keep your sanity!
How to choose where to start renovating when almost every room needs it! Several elements came into play when deciding where we should start the demo.
First, for us, the bookshelves were top priority since a lot of our books were still in boxes and on desks,. It was necessary to get the school room in order. We had already started school but needed the extra references readily available. So, look at what is needed most in your home. Which room screams: RENOVATE ME! The room or space which needs, more than wants, to become WOW to you.
Secondly, the mighty wallet also came into play. We looked at what we could renovate according to our finances at this time. I want a finished room, not something we start and have to wait for more moo-lah (money) to complete. The materials we needed we either already had or we made do with items found on the farm. It would have been helpful to have a stash set aside for these projects but having just moved a few states away our stash was caput!
Lastly, of course, we chose things WE COULD DO. We didn't have to hire out for some skill. These tasks were easy enough. We felt confident our family could handle the work. There was the surprise with the hardwood floor. This job will have to wait for a commercial sander!
There is great satisfaction when the renovation projects are accomplished. Especially, knowing the work was done with our family working together. Stay tuned as we share fresh updates from the farm.
Blessings to you,
Shaun & Alisha
