Massively Unprepared for a Massive Renovation

Last time my main room will ever look like this.

Oh boy guys. Might have bit off more than I can chew.

I’m like a squatter with a mortgage again, back on an air mattress.

Usually I’m hyper-prepared, but not this project, and am not handling it great. My neighbours saw it in my frantic eyes Saturday, and like how I always say they’re the best, 5 showed up early yesterday morning to help me transfer all my belongs to a trailer.

Minimalist forever.

What is happening?

When I bought the house last July, only thing I put off was the electrical work, it was too huge an undertaking in both cost and time.

Then, living through the winter I realized more fresh air is needed in the main room, and remember, that was the first time I bought something on credit: windows.

So I combined the jobs into Mega Renovation, added more (washing machine repair, plumber) plus “paint the interior of house” because let’s do this project properly.

So if I’m going to have 8 trades coming through and drywall dust everywhere, no way am I leaving my belongings to soak it up. Plus it creates a pleasant work environment for everyone.

Above – the 30-point electrical to-do list

Below – in the trailer while it’s being backed up, playing “Catch my Stuff”

Add the stress that I put everything into a trailer like here, take my life with a tow hook.

So locked it, then parked This Week’s Car in front – 2015 Jaguar XJL.

Added a heater inside.

Here we go!

“Operation Last Renovation of My Life I’m Never Doing this Again and will be Removed from this House in a Box” kicked off at 8am today.

Sorry in advance if it’s a light blog week, and please send good luck!

 

 

I’m like a Squatter with a Mortgage

It’s 2 months now, July 25, that I’ve been living like this.

You know how much I like order and clean, remember my minimalist, pure-white condo?

My office looks like that, it’s the only room that’s finished. Figured I should focus on the part that pays the mortgage.

But like, Friday I worked from it… while a guy worked with a sawzal in my den.

Living like this is reeking havoc on my mind.

Squatter with Mortgage

The “To-Do” List never shrinks, and there’s a new urgency to it, the “Before the Snow Comes” List…

… I travel a lot and used up my newspaper vacation time for Targa… to go from 1 bill a month to 20 woah… next up is learning everything about hot water tanks and softeners…. if I don’t soon gravel my driveway it’s going to become “press car mud pit of despair”, and wow this home-owning thing is a steep learning curve. 

Look at the deplorable condition of my floors * But here comes another trade through, what is even the point anymore.

Finally this weekend I escaped the air mattress though, into a real bed.

And I have a ceiling again.

Had to cut the kitchen apart to insulate the attic, that was Phase 1 of winterizing-the-cottage-I-bought. Drywall dust gets into eeeeeverywhere eh.

The purple stuff: that’s the insulation! It’s spray-foam, so cool, weighs nothing, is highly effective, and helps increase the structural rigidity of a house, even.

Blog tag = house

 

 

I’m in an Ikea-Building-Party Nightmare

Remember when I bought a house-worth of furniture yesterday? Took delivery of 17 pieces at 1pm.

Was most looking forward to the bed.

2 guys kindly came to help, thought we’d have everything built by tonight.

Was that ever delusional.

It’s going to take 4 times as long as I estimated.

And was delivered the wrong slats for the bed bottom.

I took my shopping list to the store too, to order everything with a human and avoid this. And they’re not just the wrong slats wait, this type isn’t even for sale on the website.

The slats that came out of the ether.

I was so close to getting off an air mattress guys. It’s been 2 months now.

(if we’re just meeting: I bought a house, picked up the keys on July 25 and never went back to my condo downtown, been living out of a suitcase since, blog tag = house)

Ikea couldn’t have been nicer about it, almost over-compensated, so tomorrow I’ll swap the slats, plus… omg plus:

Tomorrow: 2 newspaper deadlines Friday morning, conducting an interview about auto security at 11am, then a Porsche 911 event at the Manga Golf Course tomorrow night, and it’s the last day EVER to drive my beloved Jetta because it failed the smog test so hard, and I have surgery Tuesday morning and haven’t been able to figure out how to hide that from you…

… so I’m going to sleep on the idea of putting my blog on pause for a week …. need to get this house stuff in order because the snow comes soon, which’ll be perfect blogging weather…

TTYT XO

 

 

New Things from Home Owning are Happening

Some things I’ve noticed since owning a house for exactly 2 weeks now.

***

Wish I could cover my whole house in R50.

I’m also really into hosing things.

THE moment.

Taken 20 seconds after I picked up the keys, and walked inside for the first time.

Below is a bad pattern… I can’t cook, remember?

And there’s no longer 10 restaurants, and a 24-hr grocery store in my basement… That’s microwave mac&cheese… KeriBloooooooooog if I keep this up.

Still on this setup. Sleeping so good.

Even though every noise, even during the day, causes a new feeling of, “omg is my house falling? Is that mould coming in?  Is that sound of a horribly expensive, and severe surprise that I am now totally and fully in charge of?”

I’m going to be so worried when I travel… what if a skunk sprays under the house? Or if something leaks and I’m not there to mop?

My visits to box-stores are up 100%.

That little white bowl was my favourite thing I got.

Think that defeated it.

But really, guys where is the garbage chute around here?!?