We bought our beautiful country cabin/ranch-style home at the end of last year, knowing we would have to do a major renovation quickly to make the home more enjoyable. Beautiful. Livable!
Our renovation planning committee met together several times before finalizing the design plan, creating a budget and outlining a daily schedule. Then, the timeline was pushed up a few weeks, the world tipped over on it’s axis, and the 1-week schedule hit the fan. (So, did the budget…)
The demo team was very motivated, but the reconstruction and design teams lost their motivation after several very intense days. If I had to do it over again, I would interview more subcontractor teams and pick a better bunch of workers!
Okay, I’ll stop. It was us…. We were the reno planning committee, the demo team, reconstruction, electrical, design, photographer/videographer, etc… You name it, we did it. (And, in hindsight, I wish we had hired a subcontractor!! Haha!!)
Before: The house was dark, boxy, enclosed. There was not a sight-line from the kitchen to the front door (or anywhere else, for that matter.) The house faces east, which meant the front half, the kitchen and dining room, was lit up in the morning, but very dark by early afternoon. The living room was dark in the morning, and very bright in the afternoon. The rooms were disconnected and isolating.
During: Check out what we did during the first several days here….and here….
You can also check out the videos:
After: This is my favorite part….. The walls fell down like Jericho and we had a holy rebuilding in the heart of our home. The result is a beautiful and spacious area for our children and puppies to play, for us to bake and cook, to make wonderful memories.
Of course, this is just “Phase 1.” I still need to redo the kitchen cabinets, figure out what to do with the fireplace, and re-stain all the wood doors & trim to match our new color scheme.
Here’s a few real-life facts on this reno project:
-We planned to get all the work done in 1 week. It actually took closer to 3 weeks, and after the first full dedicated week, we only worked off & on during the remaining 2 weeks.
-We budgeted $3,000 for this project and saved beforehand. While we did put the materials on the one credit card we have, we did not go into debt for this project. (We are working on the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover.)
-We actually spent about $5,000 and still did not go into debt. We did use money from our savings. (Maybe we should have saved this instead of doing this project, but the world hadn’t quite stopped when we started.)
-We do have very detailed plans, if you are possibly in need of them or need some inspiration. This is not our first renovation project, so we have gradually worked up to one of this size.
– Always, always check before you knock down walls and play with electricity!
