I grew up in a home renovation. After my parents got married, they bought a "fixer upper," started a family, and embarked on years of home renovations. Some of the major changes they did to their house were: switching and updating the kitchen and living room spaces, putting down hardwood floor and tile throughout the house after tearing out old carpeting, re-doing the bathrooms, and building an addition on the back. My childhood memories include finger waving through the wood knots in the plywood floor upstairs, hearing my dad busy with power tools in the basement, and my mom constantly painting and making plans for the next house project. Play, supper-time, watching cartoons, doing school projects, along with all of the other everyday life activities took place amid renovations. It's funny, but I cannot ever remember thinking that the renovations were disruptive, because my parents made sure that we were always safe and happy. They were clearly experts at multi-tasking! Now, looking back, I admire my parents for all of the work that they did. They were young and ambitious and smart about how best to go about creating a home that was tailored to their tastes and needs. Having four children within three years and pulling up old carpet, tearing down walls, and tiling could not have been easy; I can imagine that many looked at them with pity and scepticism as they juggled babies and a deconstructed house, but they pulled it off successfully and now have a beautiful home to show for it. Surely, with a mere cat in place of kids, Kyle and I can pull off 212 too. What do you think about the familial passing down of the drive to renovate? Did you also grow up in renovations and take on your own home project as a result?
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About MeKyle and I just became new homeowners. The house we purchased is not what one would classify as "move in ready"; in fact, it is quite the opposite. Built at the turn of the 20th century, our Victorian style house is both beautiful and terrifying in its ancient status and will be a project in renovation. This is a documentation of our triumphs and lessons learned, as we deconstruct and reconstruct this house. The end result? A space that we can proudly say we created. Archives
December 2016
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