How to Jinx a Reno
When you title a renovation blog post “Our Renovation is Back from the Dead!” you’re just asking for trouble. To quote Toby from West Wing, “You want to tempt the wrath of whatever from high atop the thing?" Well, that’s the way to do it.
In my last post, from about a year and a half ago, I detailed how, since we were almost out of money, we were going to do some small projects on the garden level – put in a back door, finish the wood floors, install the tile floors in the kitchen and bathroom, and paint. And all of those things did happen – a year after I wrote that post.
We’re a case study in what happens to a reno when a tenuous funding plan meets a completely crappy economy. It took us a year to come up with the money to do those "small" projects, but after living with a completely unusable garden floor for three years, it really felt like we had accomplished something. Once the floors were done and the walls were painted, I decided I couldn’t stand using our disgusting little 2nd-floor kitchen any longer. Even though we had no money to actually get a kitchen built on the garden floor, we decided to set up a make-shift kitchen on the garden floor as best we could – anything would be better than the buggy, mousy, disgusting kitchen we were using. Since the plumbing and electrical were done (the stuff inside the walls, anyway) it wasn't that hard - I got the whole thing done for about $800 in two days while the rest of the family was out of town.
We bought a stand-alone sink from IKEA for $300, and used some big IKEA wardrobes we already owned for storing dishes and food. We used an old folding table for our giant microwave, coffee maker, and toaster (it’s buckled in the middle, but has held up under the weight for the past four months). Not ideal – no counterspace, except for the tiny bit connected to the sink – but so much better than what we had before. We’re now living on three of our four floors; our master bedroom on the second floor can finally be used as such, now that the dining room table is on the garden level. The buggy, mousy old kitchen is closed off, waiting for the far-off day when it becomes our master bathroom.
Progress. Not the kind of progress I had hoped for at this point, but I'll take it.
Up next: Catching Up with the Small Projects
Amy also blogs at Selfish Mom.
14 Comments
By Montrose Morris on January 26, 2010 2:22 PM
By TownhouseLady on January 26, 2010 2:29 PM
Bravo! We've experienced a bit of the same at our house. Our "to do" list virtually screeched to a halt.
I think the stand alone Ikea sink looks fabulous though. Great choice!
By bedstuy11216 on January 26, 2010 2:37 PM
Good Job, Amy. I am at the same point in my renovation. I just spoke to a contractor friend about biting the bullet, doing the bare minimum and moving down into the parlor and garden floor.
I need to rent the apt I am in so that I can actually balance my budget and start the savings process anew.
By Arkady on January 26, 2010 2:57 PM
Good going, Amy!
Good luck bs11216!
By nonsense on January 26, 2010 10:18 PM
How did you deal with DOB. Do you have (T)COO?
By mopar on January 26, 2010 11:22 PM
Oh, we're all coming out of the woodwork now. We're also camping out in the rental because the 1st floor kitchen & 2nd floor bath aren't usable. Gotta wait till the weather warms up so we can strip, prime, and paint, among other things. You'd think this would be just aesthetic, but it's really filthy.
By albemarle on January 27, 2010 10:32 PM
Various bare-minimum thresholds for living in our under-reno house have been swirling in my head these days. It's reassuring that you and others have adjusted your expectations as you've gone along and made it work with what was on hand at the time. So many things on our "to do" list feel like "must do" and it's important for me to realize that it isn't the case. Thank you for shedding more light on this.
By parkplaced on January 28, 2010 8:46 PM
We are doing much the same thing. We salvaged a couple of base cabinets from the (illegal) extra kitchens that were violating the COO and had to get torn out. Then we tiled a couple of pieces of ply with tile we salvaged from a wall we knocked down and created some countertop. We had room for a couple of donated side tables that turned out to be good for toaster, dishrack, etc. We arranged everything around the rusty scary old stove and the sink. It looks like a college student's apartment, but we can cook in it.
The rental we got done right away (that or the little money left for reno would have disappeared), so no camping there. We're living on the parlor floor--bedroom, living room, kitchen, and two home offices--and have just started demolishing the garden floor. When we get a bathroom finished down there, we'll switch.
We're getting all our permits now for the whole scope of the work, so we'll have everything in line when we actually get to the roughing-in-plumbing stage.
If you want to see the gory details, we're blogging at this address:
unprotectedwrecks.blogspot.com
By HomeSweetstuy on February 3, 2010 12:37 AM
Ah Amy i understand the strength of the jinx. I remember starting a post about a new contractor that we had hired in 08 and hoping that he would not be a crook and a liar like the majority of them out there--I didn't get a chance to even publish that post before he accomplished our worst fears. In any event, I am so happy to see you posting again and am looking forward to more.
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Kudos to you Amy, for going ahead and thinking unconventionally, and getting what you need to live in your home, even though it is not what you want or need in the long run. I am doing the same, with paint, some fabrics, and some slight of hand. It is more important to be functional than stylish. You will be able to do your master plan at some point. Your post was very encouraging and made my day. Seriously.