For once, I’m not referring to the pandemic or other world or national events. Instead, I’m referring to renovations.
When Darryl and I got engaged in August 2013, we sold my house and I moved in soon after to his house. My house was fully renovated, but small at just over 1100 square feet. His house? It needed remodeling but it was 2700 square feet with six acres of land. It had lots of other perks, too. The extra space meant a downstairs half-bath and an upstairs master bath. It meant a large master bedroom with a walk-in closet. There were two living rooms, four decks and two large vegetable gardens. It’s also tucked in an out-of-the-way agricultural area with acres of woods all around us. The choice was relatively easy. In a “my house or your house” comparison, his was always going to win.
But fast forward almost seven years later and we’re still renovating. We started by insulating the house, siding and re-roofing it. Then, we added geothermal and in the next year, solar. We replaced one of two decks in making final deck repairs Darryl started when we were dating. Inside, we renovated that downstairs half-bath twice as the first round wasn’t so successful. We stripped the remaining wallpaper out of two bedrooms, refinished the drywall in three rooms (the walls had not been properly primed before wallpaper was applied) and painted like crazy. Then came solar and in the next year, the kitchen renovation. The kitchen renovation led to additional insulation and a shiplap ceiling installation in our fireplace room and a new woodstove. This one was a Scandinavian design which was much more efficient and fit our style a little more appropriately than the Queen Anne styled wood stoves. Finally, as our carpets were old and filled with dust, pet dander and all sorts of other allergens, we gradually ripped up carpets, taking the time to clean, sand and seal the subfloors until we could install new floors.
And that’s where we are today. After a small fortune in renovations, we still have a small fortune left to go. We made a pledge in the beginning to do renovations out of cash and we’ve kept that promise. A few months ago, when we started closing in on the end of the second half-bath/laundry room renovation, we made a promise to each other that there would be no more renovations for a year and we are largely keeping it. Except… .
Well, we have to replace the last of the four decks and that will happen this summer after Ironman. That’s going to be a large project that will likely take a few months’ worth of work. (Think: August September and October.) From there, we’ve committed to hiring a contractor to remove our stairs – they were not built to code – and take down what we hope will be the final load-bearing wall in the house and replacing it with post and beam. That should be next January/February. In March 2022, we will have the hardwood floors run through the house. Just like that, the inside of the house – save our master bath and closet – will be done.
On the outside, we just need to build a garage and put in a permanent driveway. If we intend to live here forever, we can’t manage shoveling a 200-foot driveway when we’re 80. So, we need a driveway that is easily snowblow-able, if that’s even a word.
And then, folks, we’re done. As my Dad would have said, “We are D-U-L-N, done.” Maybe not completely – we still have a master bathroom and closet to do – but most of the way. Being most of the way done brings with it many rewards for me. I can finally see the shared vision Darryl and I have created come to fruition. I can clean the house and it will stay clean. We won’t have to allocate all of our spare change and savings to renovation. And we can enjoy a largely project-free house. Yes, we will still have to do our master. But candidly, I’m looking forward to taking our time with that one, building it the way we want and making it special for us. And if that’s the only project we have to do? Well then, it won’t feel like pressure and will feel more like an indulgence.
So, this is how our large renovation story will come to an end. My guess is that in 15 months, we’ll be done with the inside. In 18 months, I hope to be done with the outside, complete with that three-stall garage and a snow-free SUV inside that I’ve been dreaming of.
It will have been a long slog of nine years with a lot of sweat equity built in. We have hired contractors when we needed to, but there’s so much we’ve done ourselves (and by “we” I really mean Darryl). The fireplace room with the wood ceiling is amazing; the new laundry room/pantry and adjacent half-bath is the way the house should have been all along; and wallpaper-free rooms speak for themselves. We have a new landscaped front garden which takes advantage of the large rocks found on our property and hosts many of my favorite perennials. We have a new layout in our TV/livingroom that allows for a large 10-foot couch that can fit a crowd when the pandemic is finally over. I have my dream kitchen, complete with locally sourced hardwood butcherblock countertops and a drawer for my plates and bowls.
My only regret is that my mom won’t have seen the house. That makes me sad. My mom really enjoyed home decorating and I think she would have loved the house. She did get to see the kitchen and she absolutely loved it. So, I’m fairly confident she would like the rest of the house.
So, as I sit here on New Year’s Day, 2021, I am hopeful that while much won’t have changed on New Year’s Day 2022 (save for the deck), change will be on our doorstep next year. And that change – about six months of work – will lead to a finished house, a finished yard and an immense sense of satisfaction that we made our dream a reality.
Here’s to planning… and a New Year!
The Yuppie Homesteader 