The never ending ‘Home Improvement’ quest

Today I’m off to choose tiles for our upcoming bathroom renovation. Yes we’ve finally bitten the bullet and signed a contract with a builder to upgrade our leaky beige toilet, the vanity that is being chocked up by house bricks and (this one I won’t miss) the corner spa with gold taps that shoots out black slimy scum no matter how many times you clean it out.

Home improvement

It’s been eight years since we moved into our current home, and I never imagined that we’d still be decorating, let alone doing major works.

When we moved in we had big plans to ‘fix this’ and ‘do that’, and we actually did get a lot done, especially considering I was 7 months pregnant with Emma. There was a deadline to get the house in a livable state, so the old carpets went, we polished the floors and gave the place a quick paint job.

The inexpensive improvements made the place feel clean, fresh and ready to welcome a new resident through the door, but like many old homes, often a facelift isn’t enough.

One day while we were watching TV a chunk of plaster fell off the ceiling, no biggie, it got patched but not painted. No point in painting, because that rotten window needs replacing, we’ll just wait till that’s done and then paint everything – that was 7 years ago!

House painting and home improvement

In December we finally had our downstairs windows replaced with double glazed units, so we are one step closer to maybe, possibly, probably getting that bloody big plaster patch on our ceiling painted over.

I’m sick of living in ‘renovation limbo’ but this year I’ve got a good feeling that if we push hard, our never ending home improvement (but mainly repair) quest will finally come to an end and I can finally hang my art work and enjoy our home.

“So what’s your point Cintia?”

Well, glad you asked. For the sake of accountability, I’ll be sharing our home improvement diaries here with you.  It will also help me cement some of my decorating ideas – cue the vision boards.

Paint swatches

You can follow along with our bathroom reno (I wont have a shower for 5 weeks which may get smelly), and generally help light a fire under my butt to get things done. By the end of the year my aim is to have everything done and dusted.

There’s going to be lots more housey stuff on the blog, is that your jam?

I hope you enjoy the ride.

Is your home and never ending ‘work in progress’?

7 Comments

  • Rachael says:

    Ooh! Following with interest, Cintia :). We’ve on a home-improvement journey of our own this year (kitchen, living room, floors, painting) and I’ll be creating mood boards along with you. 🙂

  • Brigitte says:

    I totally get that too! I’ve had my home for almost 11 years now and I STILL haven’t done the bathroom … Well, come to think of it, I moved in about now 11 years ago!!!??? Whoah!!! I have the old Roman Bath set up. All beige surrounds too … which I’m happy to live with (instead of spending the money I don’t have) but, the grout needs re-doing so of course the walls in my daughters cupboard are crumbling (along with the walls in the bathroom) due to the water working it’s way through … I keep putting off grouting knowing I want to re-do the bathroom … Catch 22. I’ve been told it’s going to cost about $10,000 to $20,000 … The ceiling in there has been peeling for a long time too …

    I had the kitchen go in the day my daughter was born almost 6 years ago … Thank goodness. It’s made me feel half sane at least. And of course, because the kitchen got done, the ceiling and walls right through to the lounge room needed to be painted, and the floors needed to be done thank goodness. Oh, and of course I painted my daughters bedroom before she moved in. The rest of the house needs work … Door frames, walls … carpets, new lounge which I recently covered with a sheet because it was so gross … The most important one though is the bathroom … Like diabolical that I do it really and you’ve just reminded me again … Ha! 🙂

    • Cintia @ My Poppet says:

      Yes, I’ve discovered bathroom renovations are really expensive. Picked our fittings today. $119 for a toilet roll holder! Tell ’em he’s dreaming!
      We have some major plumbing and electrical work to do as well as a window replacement so ours will be around the $60K mark. We’ll be eating rice and beans for a while, lol.

  • Robin says:

    hahahaha about the house…..I am right there with you!

    My husband bought this house in 2010. We got married in 2012. We are nowhere near done. We have barely started.LOL

    I call my craft area in the basement “Mount Basement” because everything is piled in that area right now.The walls were painted with Drylok paint to seal the cinderblocks in 2014. Then we found out we had airborne mold down there even though we had a dehumidifier running 24/7. It’s a full basement, 1288 sq ft. It needed more than that dinky thing. LOL So I got quite ill from the mold (I’m allergic) and we HAD to get it cleaned professionally last year. That set us back $3500. Now I have autoimmune issues to deal with. FUN! Not. LOL

    Then we started painting the ceiling with mildew resistant paint and sealing the floor with Drylok Clear. We decided to do a section at a time….moving all the STUFF as we went. We have 2 sections done out of about 6 sections. We have been working on the 3rd area for months…NObody wants to paint!!! It hurts my neck and back after a while (car accident in 2015) so I have a good excuse.LOL

    Then we have the kitchen to do….moving a light fixture and adding adding another plus a pot rack….requires going into the attic and over into a spot where you have to almost lay just to fit. Doing electrical work in that position won’t be fun.You have to watch your head because the roofing nails come through into the attic. Can’t go up there in summer…waaaay too hot up there. The attic entrance is in our bedroom closet ceiling. We have to take all the clothes out and take down shelving to get the ladder in. The fiberglass insulation flies all over so everything has to be covered in plastic and removed carefully (I’m allergic). What MORON thought THAT up!!!??? We want to add attic steps in the hallway…where they should have put the access hole to begin with.

    We are going to paint the kitchen, and one wall will be not only chalkboard, but also magnetic. “Little people” will have a ball on that wall at our house! I want to do something with the cabinets…raise some and add shelves underneath, and add some cabinets above some cabinets that will stay as they are. I will have to make new doors, then paint everything. I also want to paint every room. Carpets and flooring will be “one day”. I’d like a soaking tub in the master one day also.

    Plans for a sunroom and deck will be after all of that…waaaay down the road.LOL

    A little at a time is better than nothing at all!!!

    • Cintia @ My Poppet says:

      Looks like you’ve really got your work cut out for you. Slow and steady. Mount basement sounds familiar, except my mountain is my ‘floordrobe’. That’s a whole other blog post. Lol.
      Good luck!

  • electrician says:

    Interesting post! Would also like to read on your home improvement journey as we are planning the same by next month. But don’t forget to check on your electrical wirings too. You may do the inspection simultaneously with your renovation.

  • Ruby Lane says:

    Right now, my husband and I are getting a small home improvement. We move to our house 8 years ago and finally today, we decided to have our home repainted. Yes, our whole house! Our house is a mess. We moved every stuff we had in our house and it’s one week from the day we started. Almost, yes, repainting our house is almost done. Thank goodness.

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