Embracing Renovation Realities

Hi guys,

 

Hope you're having an awesome summer. Hard to believe there's only a couple of weeks left! We had a great vacation at the cottage, with no routine and no alarm. Just swimming, sun, togetherness and laziness. The best.

 

I want to talk to you today about the realities of renovations. We all love pretty things. A beautifully styled room makes my heart flutter and flipping through a home design magazine is one of my favourite things to do when I have some downtime. However, we also know that life doesn't allow us to live in perfectly styled rooms all the time. It's not possible and it shouldn't be possible.

 

On a typical Saturday morning our living room turns into a tent city when every blanket and pillow in the house is brought downstairs and turned into a fort. Does it drive me crazy sometimes? Yup. But, we need to live in the present. This has been my mantra this year. Live in the present, release the control.

 

It's easier to say than do but it's something we've had to embrace during the basement renovation. Any renovation takes control of your household. Even though we never used the basement (except for laundry) before, the renovating process has a ripple effect in the rest of the house. We had to remove everything from the basement and it needed a temporary home while it was being renovated. So, the guest room and shed became a home for all the stuff. Like many renos, ours is behind...really behind. We started emptying, organizing, pitching and demo-ing the basement in the spring, the reno officially started the beginning of June and it was supposed to take 4 weeks. We're now almost at the end of August. There are various reasons why it's delayed but it is what it is.

 

So, while work continues downstairs, our guest room has gone from this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to this....

 

and this...

 

and this...

 

 

Drywall dust. We have a cleaner that comes every two weeks and I feel like the dust is a never ending battle for her. Thanks God for Hermie (she's the cutest) and her mad cleaning skills. In between Hermie cleanings, I've given up on the floors and just let the reno life take over. Mr. Fix-It still tries to battle the dust but it is what it is. We're definitely ready to organize what went upstairs, give it a new home and get the rest of our house back together. Oh and the playroom....will not be a playroom for long.

 

All this is going downstairs some way or another and I have plans for this new room :)

 

So that's that. It can't be all beauty, all the time. Remember that in your own home. Give yourself some grace. If you have little kids, I understand what rice night looks like after dinner. I get what your floor looks like. It's life. Although I don't have teenagers, I was one once. Empty glasses and dishes everywhere.

 

Even though I have pretty photos on this blog, my home doesn't look like that all the time. I promise. We have three kids, its not possible. If you have rooms that look like a tornado went through them? Just close the door and tackle them another day.

 

Don't forget to continue to find inspiration for rooms. Whether you create an inspiration board or go pin-happy on Pinterest. You will get to your spaces one at a time and don't forget that your living room may look like a bomb hit it one day and beauty the next. Just roll with it.

 

I'm always pinning over on Pinterest, come pin with me.

Keep it Beautiful.