How To Survive A Renovation In The Suburbs

I am a survivor.  I am clearing out and cleaning up from the most exciting and biggest renovation of my life!!  With the help of The Home Depot Canada I have replaced almost all of the flooring in my house.  Taken it from a house stuck in the 80’s, to a home I actually adore!  It’s official.   I now love my house!  Through the process of renovating, and over the last four weeks I have learned a few things.  Some the easy way, and some the hard way!  Now you can learn from my experience with my top five tips on how to survive a hard wood floor renovation in the Suburbs. 

1.  Over Purchase and Over Budget:  We did a lot of research and planning before we decided on our final hard wood product.  What we didn’t do, was buy enough boxes of hard wood.  We didn’t plan on those tricky little corners, on the occasional split board, on the fact that wood would have to go under the kitchen island.  We did count on wanting an extra box left over in case in the future we need to replace a board due to damage!  We also did not budget quite enough for quarter round and the inevitable paint touch ups that are needed.  Don’t forget to leave a little wiggle room when you are crunching those numbers!

2. Manipulate the one’s you love:  Oh yes, I said it, but not in a mean way.  Before you start your Reno you might want to think about inviting a few friends over for dinner.  You know, so when your house goes to hell in a hand basket you can call on those friends to return the dinner favour.  A dinner out can save your sanity.  (Especially when your fridge is in the office and your stove is where the fridge used to be!)

 

3.  Prepare for dust:  More dust than you ever thought possible.  Dust will be in everywhere and in everything.  You can not win against the dust.  Pack away your little knick knack’s  and buy extra cleaning supplies.  Swiffer’s, pledge and paper towels are your friend.  Think you’re prepared?  You’re not.  Hide your real plants far far away and put plastic bags around your artificial plants.  This is your only hope.

(Um, do you see the golf ball?  The one constant in our lives, Reno or not. Golf)

4.  Lean on your friends or hire some help if needed: When you are putting in hard wood floors you have to cut many boards to fit.  Your floor is like a big fat puzzle!  If you struggle with this cutting of boards and then your Hubby throws his back out in a big bad way, you may have to call in some help to get this part of the puzzle complete.  It’s okay to ask for some help.  It’s also okay to request this lovely person cut the wood OUTSIDE.  Cut the wood inside?   This is just more dust.  Cough.  Cough. 

5.  Destroying the kitchen?  Create a make shift kitchen somewhere else:  Trust me, you will thank me.  We set up a kettle, toaster, toaster oven, pastries, instant oatmeal, bowls of fruit, paper plates and cups on a table in the basement.  It may not sound like much, but this temporary kitchen gave my girls a place for a dust free breakfast, and a place to escape to after school for a much needed after school snack. 

Take my five tips, dive in and get dirty!  This renovation has been a lot of work, but I can already tell you it has all been worth it!  Hubby and I pulled together, made The Home Depot nights into date nights.  Spent time talking wood floor selection, paint colours and dreams for the future.  It’s exciting to tackle a project together and I’m thrilled to tell you it’s coming out even better than I had hoped!  I just have to dust one more time, call in a few more friends to help move back some of the heaviest furniture and then I am ready for the big reveal!!  Squee!  Come back next week for my big reveal!  I am so happy that I finally #LoveMyHouse.