Hello!  How are you?  I hope the first month of 2013 has treated you well.  Who am I?  Check out the About Me tab for little primer get to know you session.

Here’s the deal – I am asked regularly if my house is ‘done’.  And after two years of home ownership and talking about starting a blog to document the joys and challenges of on-going renovations this is the year that I’m taking the plunge.  So when people ask if it’s done I can point them in this direction when I answer ‘no, not even close’.

I’ll start by sharing a little history and details about the first projects we tackled…

We purchased our 1.5 storey home in 2010 and took possession a few days shy of Halloween.  The first two months of ownership involved removing most floors, gutting the partially finished basement, filling dumpsters with ‘stuff’ from beneath the ivy in the backyard – oh and rewiring and re-plumbing the whole place with a new bathroom thrown in for fun.  A few days after Christmas 2010 we moved in.  We had cold water in the kitchen and a toilet that was installed each day on the plywood bathroom floor so the contractors could remove it and work during the day.  Friends down the street with a shower up for use come in handy – thank you M & L!  About two weeks after moving in the contractors moved out and we were officially on our own.

Why so delayed in the reno?  It’s my first post and you’re already asking tough questions?  No -it’s okay – I can take it..I mean, it’s not like I’m the only one who runs behind with their home projects, right?  I’ve decided it’s part of the renovation right of passage that only prepares you for the projects down the road.

Anywho, as with most renos in old homes you uncover interesting things when you remove walls and floors (like what we found in our basement unfinishing – but that’s for another post).  What we discovered in reno round 1 was that all the structural beams in our bathroom floor were cut through – offering not so much support or structure. The house was built pre-indoor plumbing so this was not that surprising.  House 1, Owners 0.  In the end a little extra time was needed to confirm new plans with a structural engineer, get some super duper beams into the floor and then continue on with the bathroom reno. House 1, Owners 1.  Because we were leaving a rental, we were tied to the end of December timeline so moved in before things were quite ready.

Since then…well it’s been an adventure.  We are two busy people between work, grad school, friends, family, dog…you know, the usual.  Home reno/decor show our home is not.  Little gets done in 30 minutes slots and we’re taking our time (and budget) to move through the house, and our life, bit by bit.

2013 will bring some new floors to most of the main floor and a major kitchen reno!  Between now and then I’ll update photos of some of the befores and a few of the existing afters, share our kitchen plans and ideas and keep you posted on what other plans are under works!

Thanks for stopping by:)