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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

In the Middle of Nowhere?

OK.  I felt bad about yesterdays post because I only had one photo to offer.  This was mainly due to me being lazy ... I had more photos, but they were sideways and I didn't feel like fixing them!  So, this morning before work I fixed them.  Here are a couple:



The photo on the left is DH just in the process of laying the first row - it was important to get this line true as all the other rows will feed off it and it would be awful to have a floor that doesn't look straight!  The second photo shows where DH has gotten to.  He thinks the remainder of the guest room should go much more quickly since he'll be working with the tong of the board.  What you see here took four days - but more than two days was pulling out the carpet and underlay and putting down sheets of plywood since the old subfloor was just particle board with some rather big holes in it.

Just in case you wonder where all the furnishings from the guest room have gotten to:



This is our master bedroom ... sigh.  Oh, yeah, we have also rented a large storage locker, so this is only the bits that haven't been moved over!  I spend my evenings trying to keep a narrow pathway open.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Where Has the Time Gone?

My intention has always been to update this blog at least once a week.  I do, like many who blog, have a fulltime other job.  Blogging is just a new found outlet for creativity and navel gazing ... but, still.  Come on.  I should have had more entries by now.  I blame it on the reno's.  Renovations suck you in.  It's like an addiction.  You don't notice the downward spiral until it's too late to get out.

The main bathroom?  Still not finished.  I think the last couple of times I posted it sounded like things were solved.  Well ... um ... sort of ... not?  We decided against the custom vanity.  DH didn't want Ikea for the bathroom (although he loves Ikea kitchen cabinets go figure).  In the end we ordered a vanity through Sears that was on special.  $729 with taxes.  Only problem was that there was an eight week back order.  That meant early June.  It did arrive a week early.  DH picked it up from the very nearby local Sears Home Outlet centre and brought it home.  The cabinet was damaged.  They forgot to screw in some pieces.  Some pieces were only glued, with no screws/nails.  a front-end of a drawer fell off because the screws used for that part were WAY TOO short.  So, DH phoned Sears.  They gave us 25% off.  Fine.  OK.  DH figured he'd quickly mend things and we'd be finished.  But, NOOOO.  After fixing the box, he went to put the top of the vanity on it.  Chipped and cracked.  It's an issue too.  DH calls Sears again.  A replacement for the top will take ... eight weeks!  No way!!  Ugh.  So, we are in phone purgatory with Sears right now while we try to convince them to take this damaged top back and/or give us our money back so we can drop by Home Depot to get the same sized top for approximately the same price.  Yes ... we find out now that we could have driven to our local Home Depot and gotten not just the top, but the cabinet too.  For about the same price.  And ... we could touch it, check it out, make sure it was all in good order before bringing it home.

Sigh.

What else?  DH is finding laying hardwood floors harder then he imagined.  He's frustrated because he just assumed that since he was a Finishing Carpenter he'd have no problems laying down some straight pieces of wood.  But he's struggling.  It's taken him a week of vacation time to learn how to do it right.  I know he (and I) thought he'd have the whole upstairs complete.  Nope.  Maybe 1/7?  Maybe.  We're hoping now that he has the hang of it it'll go quicker.  Of course, what he's done is beautiful.  DH does wonderful work.  If you ever get anything he's made you'll understand you are getting quality.  But, oh man ... this is going to take way longer than I'd thought.

And now, for your viewing enjoyment some recent reno photos.  Well, OK, one photo.  Remember, I've been sucked into the addiction of Renovations and have no sense of reality.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

In the Eye of the Storm


 
If you've every been in a hurricane, seen them on the news, or watched a movie in which they played a starring role you know that phenomena they talk about - being in the eye of the storm.  Complete chaos all around, but a centre of calm.  I wish I had that ... instead, it's complete chaos, all around, all the time.

This is our master bedroom.  It should be my place of retreat.  A calm, quiet place.  It is fairly quiet, but alas, it's not calming for me.

Having said that, I know from experience that when you feel the most overwhelmed by the mess around you, you are actually moving forward and nearing the end.

A month ago I would have sworn that we wouldn't be able to complete renovations by June, not even by the end of August.  I was thinking it was going to be more like December.  Now, in the middle of this mess?  I see the end.  I have gained hope from this mess.