Renovation Trials & Tribulations

Back in June we bought this cute little house. Our first step into home ownership and joining the ranks of the heavily indebted. It was daunting to say the least!

The house was in need of some TLC after a decade of being an investment property. OK, it needed a lot of TLC. It was screaming for a new paint job inside and out, a new kitchen, new wardrobes in all the bedrooms, a shower repair, replacement of some damaged floor boards, removal of ugly light fittings, and a very good scrubbing! The original 1960s mauve bathroom could also do with a make-over, but we had to prioritise and this slipped off the list.

The fun began! We set about choosing paint, ripping up carpets, pulling out decrepit wardrobes, sanding the floorboards and researching new kitchen designs. Then whilst spackling up the various holes and picture hook marks, we struck this heart wrenching site....

Termite damage in the master bedroom. Thankfully after a pest inspection it was determined the damage was up to 20 years old, the damage was localised to this corner of the house, it had been previously and successfully treated, and that there were no living termites in the house. Phew!!

Then behind the wardrobes we found wallpaper. Lots of wallpaper. Wallpaper that had been painted over. And spent an entire weekend scraping and soaking and sanding and scraping and scraping and... well you get the picture!

Then the painting began and the repairing of water damaged walls and floors. Thank goodness I have a father who not only works ridiculous hours (starting around 4am!!) and as a result was free to help at the house every afternoon, but is also extremely handy with all things DIY - designing, painting, scraping, removal of walls, rebuilding of walls, replacing floors, and project management! (I think he missed his calling). Of course, he had a couple eager little helpers to assist in all the jobs that needed to be done. For a couple of months, we spent every spare minute and weekend at the house making it livable and beautiful.

After pulling out the old kitchen and a few walls, finally settling on a design for a new kitchen, going through the time consuming and depressing process of gaining quotes for the new kitchen, and finally contracting a cabinet maker, we had 9 weeks of living in the house with no kitchen. What fun!

Then, after what was a very long wait, the kitchen arrived to be installed. And was wrong, was removed, and a week later re-installed. All up after, what turned out to be a 3 week installation process, we had a kitchen! I have never been so happy to have running water in the kitchen! And a dishwasher! During that 3 weeks installation, the boys found many wonderful hidy holes in the partially installed cabinets! At least someone enjoyed the drawn our nature of that process!

For the moment we have called timeout on the renovations, though our list seems to only grow longer and longer as to what we would like to do and change. I am dying for some new wardrobes, but until then I am making do with some IKEA clothes racks and wardrobe moving boxes. We haven't even turned our attention outside yet - other than to mow the very long grass and plant a few herbs! All in good time.