House Reno Reality

By Amy Coward

We are in the middle of house renovations. How exciting, you say. But if you haven’t lived through one, you may want to hold that opinion for a minute. It’s clearly one of those things that you endure, not enjoy. Until at long last, it’s over.

We start a lot of projects at my house. There’s always something that needs to be done and try as we may to keep up, things just don’t always get finished. The porch currently being renovated is one example. Years ago when the kids were little we realized how seldom we used the screened-in porch on the back of the house. It was either too hot or too cold or too filled with pollen to enjoy. A sunroom made perfect sense and the demolition began. Screens were removed and supplies were purchased.  But then life happened. Life with three kids.

If you have children, you know as well as I do that they drink money. When they’re in elementary school, they need money for the book fair or soccer registration and occasional field trips — $20 here, $40 there. When they’re in high school, the tab gets bigger; they need cheerleading uniforms, a band instrument and the ultimate wallet drain – the prom. Then there’s college. In spite of scholarship money or part-time jobs, there are exorbitant book fees or new tires needed – -the cha-ching just gets more painful. Needless to say, extra money for renovations rarely exists nor does the time to do them.

Now that the kids are grown and on their own, we finally have an opportunity to show some love to this house we’ve been in for 25 years. The problem is, everything is screaming for attention at once.

Last year, we took on the mother-lode of projects – the kitchen. We gutted it and removed walls to create an open concept design. I say, “we.” Clearly, I had nothing to do with it. A contractor, his tradesmen and my husband transformed our sad, tired kitchen into a much more livable space. But it wasn’t without hardship on my part. For someone who likes a little order in the house, I was almost certifiably nuts by the time this project was over. For more than two months, I had a cooler in the guest bathroom to store my milk, a small fridge in the office and a table in my bedroom with a microwave and toaster for cooking meals. Funny, they never show this reality on HGTV! Then there are the millions of decisions you need to make – hardwood or tile floors, granite or laminate countertops, stainless or black appliances. Toward the end, I said, “sure, that sounds fine” a lot just to keep things moving. Floors and ceilings were refinished, everything was painted — it was a whirlwind of workers and activity and a dust-filled mess. But in the end, it was worth it.

One year later, we (again, a generous use of the term) are at it again. Only this time, the project is much smaller and much less intrusive on my daily life, aside from the daily tracks of sawdust through the house, the tools on the dining room table and the supply receipts on the counter. My husband and son are doing the work this time and as each week goes by, I see more and more progress. I listen attentively as my husband explains the process in contractor language. He mentions gypsum and gussets, screeds and escutcheons. All Chinese to me. I think the only word I recognized the other day was beam. Fortunately, I trust he knows what he’s doing. And each day, after multiple trips to the home improvement store, a little more work is done. There is glimmering hope, just a twinkle, that we will actually finish this project. We’ll actually sit in the newly formed sunroom and read a book or relax for a while. Until, of course, we think of a new project to begin.