The Joys of Home Improvement

Ethan and I have been slowly remodeling different areas of our home. It started a few years ago with one of the bathrooms. Our house has two. One bathroom had a tub and no shower, the other had a shower and no tub. So E started in the bathroom with no shower, then moved to the bathroom with no tub. The first bathroom project was done with the idea that we would be in this house as long as possible. We would try to add on a master bedroom/bathroom suite and a two car garage. After getting that idea nixed by a contractor quoting a price WAY above what we wanted to pay, the new plan was to fix up the house in order to sell so we could build.

Throughout the last two years we have moved from project to project, not in any real rush. Now that we have come to the last few finishing touches before our house is put on the market, I thought I would share the "oh-so-wonderful-joys of home improvements" that Ethan and I learned...

~ If you are fixing up an older house that you moved in to you are subject to whatever the previous owner did...and will find yourself saying "what in the world were they thinking?!?!?"

~ Handy Dads who have creative "fix-it-up" ideas are life savers.

~ Hearing the words "Oh S*#t!" come from the other room is never a good sign...

~ Lowe's will be your home away from home, and you will know where everything is located and the fastest way to get there.

~ Beer is necessary to have around.

~ You never think you will get the smell of paint out of your house.

~ You compromise on everything from paint color to the type of brushes you use to paint with.

~ Everyone will have advise to give you on the best way to do something.

~ Sometimes they are right.

~ It is much more fun when you are doing all the changes for yourself. The fun wares off when the changes are just to sell the home.

~ If anything can go wrong it will... paint will spill, screws will be dropped never to be found again, measurements will be a millimeter off causing a multitude of problems, and nail guns will fall off the counter and poke a hole in the brand new vinyl flooring that you just put down (seriously...you can't make that up!)

~ The stain of the trim around the house will be impossible to match. The best bet it to get three different kinds and mix until you are close enough for it to pass.

~ Your dreams at night involve painting.

~ If the next owners of the house ever go to redo the bathrooms, they will find themselves saying "what in the world were they thinking?!?!" many times.