I know this isn’t unique to me, well, to us. We’re not alone in renovating, and definitely not alone in renovating on a budget. You know how it goes, you save a bit, you get some done, you save a bit, something crops up, you get nothing done, you try to save up, nothing gets done. The cycle repeats, and you find yourself frustrated, one, because you’d like to have the confidence and patience to do more yourself to feel more accomplished and two, to see some progress amongst the ongoing jobs, mess, and lots and lots of dust.
We’ve been here over a year now and we’ve got one room done (one and a half if you count the ‘utility room’) and we’ve got a lot of projects in various states of progress. Our fault in some respects, you sort of just dive in head first when you don’t know any better and a simple job often turns into so much more than you first thought. Again, not unique to us but when you’re living in a house and renovating it bit by bit, it takes its toll at times. I find that if I have no direction, no plan in place, and haven’t seen any progress in a certain time then I start to get very frustrated with everything.
There’s still so much we have to do including two bedrooms (including putting in a small closet toilet in one), the dining room, kitchen, bathroom and living room. I know we’ve done a lot, we’ve taken down two walls, the boiler died, and we’ve done a lot of work already but sometimes it does get a little much when there’s no specific plan or date for getting the next load of work done. If it wasn’t for family, we wouldn’t have even got this far. I just want to do more, to be able to do more myself and to gain some skills. I have nothing to be afraid of, it’s my home after all but I hold myself back and in turn get more frustrated. Who said home renovation was fun?
The pictures above are a very good reflection of what we’re currently living in. Again, partly on us because we sort of ripped things apart (I was the worst offender with this). The plus is that it gave us an indication of how much needed to be done in each room. Ideally, this whole house could do with being rewired and the radiator pipes may as well be used as straws but they work, and we don’t have the money so it’s going to have to remain as is, at least for the foreseeable. One thing I find quite difficult at times (and in equal parts motivating) is seeing renovation progress online. I follow a lot of people on Instagram who are doing renovations and they will smash things out night after night and constantly be working on getting their space done (I know this isn’t the case for everyone!). It’s hard to see people create beautiful things when you’re surrounded by hanging down wires, have a leaky flat roof, and so much to do with nothing getting done. There’s no real purpose to this blog aside from it being a sort of cathartic rant, so my apologies.
Like I said, without family, we probably wouldn’t even be this far so waiting for help getting things done isn’t the hard part for me, it’s the lack of direction. It’s time to sit down at the drawing board of sorts and refocus on one thing at a time! Getting another thing ticked off the list will remotivate me and I need to focus on getting something done before I have breakdown 3082 or burn the house down.
Here’s to all of you out there in the same boat, those of us lucky to have the opportunity, those of us wondering what on earth we’re doing, and those of us who need to know we’re not alone in this weird, wonderful, and incredibly stressful process.