Still Renovating
“Oh you are renovating… still” She said as she arrived, unannounced.
She hadn’t gotten any further than our front steps, but the drop-saw, the pile of wood, the bucket of electrical wires and the cans of paint that ‘decorate’ our front veranda gave us away.
“Yes, we are renovating… still.”
“When will it be finished?” She asked casually as we walked down the hall that is in the process of being plastered, past the shell of a room that will one day be a bathroom, and the laundry that is yet to get a door.
“I doubt it will ever be really finished” I say with a laugh that sounds a little too forced.
Sometimes I am kind of embarrassed to admit that we have been renovating our house for more than three years now. Yep, three years and it is far from done, and far from perfect. I am embarrassed to have people visit and I don’t mention it here on the blog any more either.
Sometimes I feel so held back by the fact that we are not done renovating. I find myself thinking things like ‘when I have laundry there won’t be piles of washing all over our house’ or ‘when we have a second bathroom bedtime won’t be so insane’… and I wish my days away, frustrated that our renovations are not done yet.
Sometimes I dream of the day when it will be done. Of the day when I will finally have a bedroom door, and a bath. Oh how long for a long hot bath.
Sometimes I want to tear my hair out that it has taken so long… why has it taken so bloody long!?!?
And then I remember.
It has taken so long because we built this…. we are building this.
Us.
Not some swanky architect and some expensive builder with a team of people who do this for a living… but us.
Us.
Us who still have to earn a living with one of us working 12 hour rotating shifts. Us who have four kids who are growing up so fast that we need to take time not to miss it. Us who have to juggle bills and budgets. Us who have gardens to plant, and friends to visit, and family to celebrate with. Us who have a life apart from renovating houses.
And I am so glad we have a life apart from renovating our house.
Because life is too short to spend it trying to make our house ‘perfect’. Besides, we are not a ‘perfect house’ kinda family. We are a, still want to spend time with the kids, lets not get ourselves up to our eye balls in debt, come on lets go do something fun instead, live in a half finished house kinda family… and that is the way I like it, mostly.
Have you ever renovated a house?
Make me feel better about my never ending renovations – tell me your stories!
Chin up! Think of it like this … You have stamina!
We moved into our house 5 years ago and it was pretty bad. We just looked at some photos last week and realised HOW bad it was. (Our family were pretty enthusiastic for us considering what they must have been thinking – what have they DONE?)
And guess what? 5 years later we are still working on it. We swap between the house and the yard to try to keep motivated. Recently we installed a new kitchen and wood flooring (ourselves) but it took us 18 months to save up for and nearly 3 months to complete. I completely identify with the whole ‘we have more in life than this house’ mentality as well as not wanting to end up with an unmanageable mortgage.
So you are not the only ones!
Oh I can relate!! We bought land and moved to the country 3 and a half years ago…it seemed to take forever to adjust to the lifestyle change and get permits and now my amazing husband and his Dad are building our home. It’s getting there and it’s such an amazing process and i have learnt so much patience. I’ve learnt about enjoying the journey and taking one step at a time. (Well, perhaps I’m still learning! haha). We’re also in the position of being very careful with budgets and trying to find balance between building, family time and fun! Luckily we have had my in-laws investment home to live in, and I figure if we can spend all this time as a family of 6 living in a 9 square home we will be so extra grateful by the time we move to a 23sq home on 33 acres!!! hahaha. What I also had to realise was that I’m not the only one – so many people have to save and prioritise projects, so many people are living on a tight budget and it’s really the attitude we take with us that can make it really hard or challenge we can still have fun with! Good luck with your renovations!! xoxo
I don’t know how you do it! Huge admiration for you – it would drive me mad. I’m so glad you have found a positive to it and have found peace with it. Truly. It will make the completions (one day) all the sweeter I think.
I read this and thought, “You’ve only been renovating for three years”? We are a live in a half-finished house kinda family who has been renovating for eight years. I no longer let it bother me if a guest sees an almost finished room. We have done all the work ourselves and our lives have just been too full to get it done any faster. Aren’t you and I blessed? :)
Bought our house and still renovating 7 years later ;) Told hubby no more babies though as we keep doing major renos when I’m pregnant.
Kitchen last time and bathroom & removing carpet this time round.
Just think, it’ll all b done one day and you can look back & go “we did this!”
I grew up in a constantly changing, never quite finished house. I have memories of running across the long, open cement in the middle of winter, to get to the (mostly finished) laundry/bathroom. Bathing in the laundry tub. My youngest sister climbed up the ladder before she could walk, and was constantly amazing us all by not falling off the floor joists.
My parents bought the house next door, and at one point, my dad cut a huge hole in the wall, with the idea that they would join the houses together. After a cold winter with blankets over the hole, Mum made him put the wall back.
We moved house when I was 12, with most bits finished, and when we were back in a house my parents owned, the renovations started again.
Mum and Dad are still renovating their “retirement house”, and Dad has plans to build his own house from scratch, on a block of land he bought years ago.
He always said to estimate your time and budget, and double it, at least.
I have not yet started on my own renovations. We have no money to even begin. But I have plans!
In our marriage we’ve lived in two renovators delights! I had an outside bathroom for 3 years in our first place! I think those three years taught me to stop apologising for my house or belongings and just bless those who visited with what we did have.
It definitely creeps back occasionally… our current house is waiting on a kitchen and laundry to make it ‘perfect’ oh and an extension to make it super sized!! ;) But I think about the fabulous times we have here with friends with what we have and we are truly blessed.
Renovations are a sign of your family working together, your hard work and determination. That’s the rewarding part, knowing what you’ve accomplished!
We have friends who have been renovating since Steve and I met… 16 years ago this year. I think the full DIY thing is definitely a different ball game than hiring others to do it, so you should be proud of what you’re doing :)
You just wrote my story. I sooooooo needed this today. I have felt sooooo discouraged and overwhelmed. So thank you.
You’re welcome.. and if it makes you feel better… our hallways has been plastered but I still don’t have a door on my bedroom and that second bathroom (with the bath) is not much closer to being done, 6 months after I wrote this post!