I thought I would share a “real” aspect of my life right now. We are living in the middle of a construction zone…and it is making me CRAZY! I crave order and cleanliness…and right now things are a mess. Have you been there?
These are some pictures of my office/craft room, which is a very small room in my home (about 10 x 11 feet and I can only access about 4 x 5 feet of that space to work in now) that has reached the point of being completely insufficient for my needs. When I started this little blog, I had no idea it would grow into what it has. I am enjoying every second of it…but with growth comes change and my current office was no longer cutting it. I had “stuff” in several different places, closets and even in the garage and my organizational OCD was not dealing well with it.
I tried to keep it clean and organized but was quickly losing the battle. I had to start bringing my stuff into the kitchen to actually have room to work on things and then you know what happens when that starts…
So…we have this perfectly great room right next to the kitchen and the living room that did not get much use…at all…the dining room. I was already planning on ditching the red walls…which I was SO over…why not turn it into an office for me? Then I could have plenty of space to store and work on projects and work out of my home from. Perfect! So we sold our furniture and got to work.
We had also just decided to finally put in new flooring on the main floor to replace the 35 year old tile and wood floors that had seen better days. When we moved in here almost 9 years ago, we knew we would be replacing them…we just didn’t realize how long it would take us to save up for it to finally be able to get them done. Why not do it all at once? So in October we began the process of floor shopping. Due to the holidays and waiting on contractors and the wood to be delivered we finally got them put in…two weeks before Christmas! Who does that? Only crazy people.
So we ripped out the floors one weekend and then had someone put the new wood floors in for us. When we ripped up the floors, we found a hole underneath the toilet in our main floor bathroom where a leaky toilet had been slowly causing damage…GROSS!
The new sub floor was put in the first day by the contractors. Later that day after he had gone home, we could not find our cat. The kids looked everywhere. This cat rarely meows but has a collar with a little bell on it. We could hear the faint jingle of a bell but could not track him down. I realized that the sound was coming from UNDER the floor. The cat had been trapped under the new subfloor…screws and all. AND my husband was out of town! {of course he was…}
We were able to get a hold of our neighbor who came over and unscrewed a portion of the subfloor and freed our cat. We locked him away after that to keep him safe from another mishap!
This is what my living room has looked like for a couple of weeks. We finally got it all put back together just a few days before Christmas. There was no way I could have handled living with that during Christmas. Plus, the girls were worried that Santa would trip on something going from the chimney to our Christmas tree in the other room. I can’t imagine why they would worry about that in there…haha!
Right before Christmas we also painted some new and taller baseboards to replace the old ones we had taken out with the flooring for the entry way of our home. Here is a picture of part of the entry way now after we put them in.
We are still working on the entry way and will share it when we get it finished. We are putting the wood flooring down in two different phases. Phase one was the entry way, hallway, main bathroom and the new office. We are keeping the carpet in the living and family room. Then the second phase will be putting the wood flooring into the kitchen.
So right now we have a lovely transition area that we keep covered up with some throw rugs and old carpet padding. We had to do it this way so that we could keep the planks of wood running from the office into the kitchen in the same direction. Lovely….eh? haha! It is driving me crazy…see a theme here?
But I really am excited. It is going to be so worth it in the end…and it has been something we have been working for a long time to be able to do. The office is going to be getting some cabinets put in next week! Wahoo! I gave it a fresh coat of primer and paint and got rid of the red! Then in a couple of weeks they will come back out and put in our kitchen flooring.
And then…because big remodeling projects always have to have something go wrong…{am I right?} I noticed some water at the base of our BRAND NEW TOILET! And one of the new wood planks had a little bit of water damage to it…like the water had been there for a while. GAH!
Sure enough…the new toilet had a hairline fracture inside the base of it. And for two weeks had been slowly leaking out. So up and out the toilet went. The floor guys will be able to replace the damaged plank when they come out and finish the kitchen floor. And the store is happy to replace the toilet. So all is well!
Crazy much? Ha Ha! So that is what I have been up to! Despite all the craziness….with more to come when we tear apart the kitchen to add the flooring…I am REALLY excited for the new changes! We are almost there…I can feel it!
Have any of you lived amid construction and mayhem? How did you survive?
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jen @ tatertots and jello says
Your floors look awesome Amy!! I know what you are saying about your office though. Mine feels the same way. I keep running out of room.
Hang in there!!
xoxoxo
Jen
Amy says
Thanks Jen! You were my inspiration to change out the dining room. Hope mine turns out half as great as yours!
Girl, I have so been there, it is tough! I had a newborn and toddler at the time, and it was a recipe for pure insanity! I totally get what you’re saying, chin up it will get better and when it’s done, it will be gorgeous!
Enjoy your weekend!
xo
Kate
Thanks Kate. I can’t imagine having a toddler and a newborn…that would have been so hard. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
It will be worth it in the end… but the during is never fun, even if nothing goes wrong. All though, I have never had that happen… LOL. If I was blogging when we renovated this house, I could write a book. I try not to think about it now though. Can’t wait to see the reveal. The floors are looking spectacular. So gorgeous.
Ooooohhh, just love before and afters. Can’t wait to see the afters. Bet you are going to love how it changes your house. Can’t wait to see! So glad the cat is ok, that is scary and funny at the same time. Thank goodness for cat bells!
My house doesn’t look like that…currently… but if I could put my life in pictures right now, that’s what it would look like. I wish you luck with your remodel, I’m sure it’ll be beautiful when it’s all done.
Um, I cannot believe your cat got stuck under there. That is the funniest thing I have ever seen- since he is ok. :)
I’m right there with ya! We bought our house at the end of September and before we moved anything in my husband and FIL rewired the whole house, put in new hardwoods on the main level, the entry bath was demoed (not part of our original plans but the old wallpaper was adhered directly to the wall) and demoed the kitchen. Rewiring the house involved many holes in every wall of the house as well as knocking out a few walls. My floors were covered in drywall debris and pieces of cut wires, the main level and downstairs still are, drives me nuts. Right now were waiting on new kitchen counterd to be installed Tuesday and were having a guy come finish patching the drywall, painting, and doing a few odd jobs. I can’t wait for it to be over. We’ve been living in the house the whole time, I found out we are expecting our first a few days before we closed on our house, and I’m in Pharmacy School which I do from home since I’m in a distance program (the only accredited program of it’s kind in th e US). I consider myself a pretty organized person and the mess drove me crazy. I just had to ignore somedays and focus on studying, I didn’t really have any other choice. It should all be done by the end of the month. Then comes the fun psrt, unpacking and decorating this place!
Oh my! Oh Yes! I am one of those crazy people that tear up there house during the holidays! :)
I survived my kitchen makeover (barely), and I am loving it now. But wow, there were days I really did not think I was going to make it.
We are still working on the addition, but at least we can close that door and not have to see or live in the mess all the time.
Your floors look great!
It is soooo worth it! Hang in there, girl. :)
Traci
Hang in there! I think it’s going to look amazing! It’s already starting to!
I feel your pain! We seem to get an unusual amount of visitors at times like that as well… people who’ve never seen our home and probably just think we’re slobs! ugh…
You’ll be SO glad you did it when it’s all put together. I’m excited to see! Your floors are looking amazing!
Aloha,
Charlie
Oh girl – wish I could post a picture of our remodel this past spring/summer. Our entire house was gutted – I mean – every single inside wall (except one) was knocked down. Eight weeks later the majority of the work was done – but even then we were without a kitchen for two more weeks (no power to that section of the house!) However, it is done now and looks great (even if I do say so myself!) My husband and I have remodeled every house that we have lived in (to date six houses in 12 years – yep, we move about every two years), but this one was the most drastic, but this is going to be our “forever” house. If you would like to go see some pictures you are more than welcome to go to my blog and check out the older posts (www.cdm-arewethereyet.blogspot.com) and start in about March. Hang in there – it will be worth all the headaches!
That is too funny about the kitty cat… The snapshot of him under the floor is priceless! You will be so happy when it is all done, totally worth all the pain!
Hooray, it is looking fabulous! I love your flooring transition area–so funny! I’m living in chaos and we aren’t even under construction! We have been working on a fun project, but not that involoves shifting stuff around.
The construction/remodeling thing is so hard while you are going through it. But you just have to keep your eye on the prize and realize it won’t be that way forever! Hang in there, it will get better (and hopefully less Crazy!)
Oh my goodness! That is so crazy, especially around the holidays! I would be going batty too with things everywhere. When we redid a couple bathrooms in the old house, I couldn’t stand the mess…and that wasn’t nearly as much work as you’re doing. I wish you the best of luck and can’t wait to see the new office!
I am so very excited to see how your office turns out! I already love what we’ve seen so far!
looking forward to seeing the completed job, it looks like it will be amazing!
Amy, I am right there with you! My husband is a contractor and so we are constantly adding/ remodeling our house. Plus since he is a contractor and obviously we save bookoo bucks by him doing it, it often takes much longer because it’s when he’s able to do it, after work! So it takes even longer!! We bought the house young and poor so it’s was tiny and old. We completely gutted it out to the beams and started fresh. But it was only 700 sq. feet. So as our family grew, so did our house. We just put on a garage with a master bedroom upstairs and just like you, I almost went crazy. Living under construction is brutal! I have 3 little ones and it was hard to keep them out of it and keep the dust off of everything and things are in rooms they shouldn’t be. Eesh. Plus this year we are adding on a big family room/ dining room to give us more space. I am excited but so horrified because I remember what it’s like. Your house is looking amazing. I love seeing the phases pictures because I can SO relate!! Eye on the prize, eye on the prize…. :)
I can’t wait to see it finished!
In this post you said the room is 4×5 feet (which sounded odd) but I noticed you said 10×11 feet in the old post about the room?
oh oops…it is 10 x 11. Thanks for catching that. But I can only get in now and access about 4 x 5 feet of it now haha!
Oh my word, that was me last year when we did my kitchen…..and I was about 6 months preggers too. It was the longest 6 Weeks of my life! Lol Your floors look beautiful though. Love the dark brown.:-)
Love it!! First I love what you are doing, it is going to be absolutely awesome when you are finished!! Second, I love that you are doing it and that you showed us pics of a messy room :-). I am so with you – last summer, we redid our foyer and it looks great, but we are now starting the process of doing some painting and remodeling of the kitchen. Although I love the idea of new cabinets, that can’t happen right now, so I am dreading painting them!! AND, every project we start, something happens – for example, I took down the wallpaper on one wall and moved to another wall, well, there is a huge crack under it and the plaster is falling off. So, I stopped for now and when my hubby is off on Monday, we will work on it then! (This wallpaper was there when we moved in 15 years ago and I hated it from the beginning – JUST now getting it out of there!!!)
Happy remodeling – can’t wait to see the finished pictures!!!
I feel for you. When we’re in the middle of a move or a de-junking session or a house-cleaning day – it’s hard for me to find peace amidst the chaos. Like you, I thrive on order and having everything in it’s place. But…some days/weeks are just like that. You’re in the middle of construction and….mess is part of that process. Perhaps it’s a bit like life – it’s not always perfectly ordered and/or clutter free but…the end product is what we’re hoping for.
Blessings to you. Hope all the inconvenience will be worth it in the end. I know that I always am more appreciative for the order – when I haven’t had it for a few days.
We’ve added this post to our new FB page today – Facebook.com/MormonMomsWhoBlog and hope you’ll join with us there. Thanks for all you do. Hope things get easier soon.
Oh my….. how I needed to read this tonight!!!!
I am feeling exactly the same!!! I need order and cleanliness to survive, so am drowning in my world of unfinished renovations, clutter and children’s mess. I would LOVE to have a spare room to reclaim for something more useful, but live in a small house with tiny rooms and nowhere to spread out to….. thus the renovations are outdoor ones. It’s been dragging on FOREVER, and I feel like I’m stuck in your tiny old office with no way out!!! SOOOOOOoooo looking forward to things being finished, so I can enjoy some order and uncluttered space. I think I’m living in dream world, as every time I look around, everything I’ve tidied, the kids have destroyed again :o(
Your floors look AMAZING! So glad you had a bell on your cat!!!
Oh man, I totally understand. I grew up with a home under construction…for years! My parent’s house has been under ‘remodeling,’ for 10+ years. The whole basement doesn’t have ceilings because they were torn out to put in new floor beams because of termite damage. We plug the basement family room light into the wall rather than with a switch, and for a few years we didn’t have a bathroom wall in one of the bathrooms. We had a tarp for privacy…and one year I had to to take that tarp to girls camp. No idea what they did while I was gone! :) I told my husband we had to finish projects that we start, and we’ve done pretty well. My current home only has one bathroom, and it needs a major update. The paint is peeling off the walls, the ceiling is gross, and the tub needs tile to replace the nasty insert. We only have one bathroom, so it will be a VERY interesting redo for sure. I think I’ll go stay with the inlaws when that occurs! Good luck. I can’t wait to see your finished office!
Your floors are gorgeous!! It will be worth it in the end. We had major reconstruction when we had a flood from the second floor to the first floor a few years back., so I feel your pain!
Thank you for posting your clutter….it’s nice to know there are people willing to admit they AIN’T Martha!! lol. Your room looks stunning, but I about cried over the red walls…..cuz I have a room downstairs that will become MINE this year and I have always wanted a red room….and everyone thinks i am crazy, I think they are all crazy cuz they don’t want them…..lol
Those floors are gorgeous. We have a fairly large walk in closet that I am DYING to turn into a craft room. The only problem is it’s upstairs and tucked away in a front corner of the house. And there is no heating or ac. It’s sweltering in the summer and freezing in the winter. But I tell you I am getting SO close to just saying forget it, lets do it.
I love your renovations and love that your converting your dining room to your ofc. I LOVE your mat at your front door…..where did you get it? Can’t wait to see it all finished…..
Wow, that is some serious work! It is going to be incredible, though, when it’s all done. Hang in there. Thanks for the pics . . . good to know everyone’s house isn’t always perfect! :)
It will feel SO good to get everything back in it’s place. I appreciate you sharing the “real” parts of your life. We redid a bathroom several years back and had the same thing happen with out toilet too! It was maddening!!! We replaced the wax ring three times before figuring out the toilet had a small hole in the porcelain.
Oh man! That sounds like a pain! We googled it and found out that way…saved us a lot of headache for sure…Never would have thought the NEW toilet would have a crack…but I guess it happens!
Happy Remodeling, Amy – it looks so great. Sorry about the toilet – ugh! Can’t wait to see more updates!
Had to comment and let you know almost the same exact thing happened to me with my cat!!! I was renting a house that had some water damage to one wall that opened on the other side to a ‘crawl’ space over the porch, while the guys were fixing the wall the cat got in and got closed up in it. We had to cut another hole in the wall to get him out. What a fiasco cats can cause!
Also wanted to let you knwo the floors look Beautiful!!!
Glad your cat was safe…but they can be buggers at times. Good thing my family loves him so much. Thanks for your sweet comment.
I know this is an old-ish post, but I just wanted to thank you for posting that picture of your house in it’s non-perfect state. We are in the middle of construction and moving so it is a wreck, and sometimes I feel like the worst person & the only person in the world whose house is a deeesaster! So, thank you! You’re laundry room looks fab, btw. :)