Surviving Your Reno
By Jessica
Styled from our Spring ‘22 Photoshoot / Photo Credit: Brittney June Photography
I think at some point, all of us have looked at an area in our home and started planning on how we want to change it. Whether that be for function or beauty or just adding our own personalities into our homes, renovations are inevitable. The size and scope of the a reno can vary tremendously, and honestly, everyone’s experience is completely different.
Lately we have found that it’s even more difficult to get a project fully completed in a reasonable timeframe. Because of delayed shipping times, delayed product availability, delayed everything, it’s been much more difficult to complete renovations. Which, for the homeowner, means you are most likely living in a “mess” much longer than you anticipated or wanted.
Hopefully soon shipping times will decrease, stock will be more readily available, and your installer will be able to get to you sooner than they thought, but in the meantime….how do you enjoy your space when it feels more like a construction zone or just a big huge mess?
Just a clarifying note, these are a few pieces of advise I have for anyone working through a smaller renovation. Not a move-out-of-my-house-because-it’s-getting-ripped-to-the-studs reno. That scale of renovation is a different level of inconvenience, although they are worth it in the end!
For the person who is planning a smaller renovation, whether it’s remodeling a bedroom, building a home office, adding in a fireplace, adding wall detailing and paneling, redoing a bathroom, replacing flooring, probably lots more scenarios that I can’t think of, here’s a few things I’ve learned along the way.
Number one, keep reminding yourself of what the end result will be. When you’re in the middle of any home project, it’s usually the most overwhelming part. Nothing is in the right place, everything feels messy, and it can feel like it will never end. This is the best time to remind yourself of your why, and what your end result will be. The most recent renovation that we have done in our own home is adding a gas fireplace to our main level, and dismantling our wood burning fireplace in the basement. There were a lot of reasons to change this, and during the process of constructing the new fireplace chase while living in renovation mode, it was really helpful for me to remind myself why we were doing this and what we would have at the end.
My Living Room Design Flatlay - end result goals!
Communication is key. In most situations that I have been a part of, everything runs smoother (expectations, timelines, end results, etc) if there is clear communication. Even if this means that you hear from your supplier that what you’re purchasing won’t be here for 4 months, at least you have an honest (and hopefully accurate) timeline. Communicating your expectations and plans to your installer is also key. The more you communicate, the clearer the whole project will be, for both you and your installer. And if problems arise, usually they can be fixed fairly quickly if communication happens immediately.
Clean! And then clean some more! Keeping extra decor and things organized in boxes and put them away so that they stay clean and also helps clear the visual clutter. Label boxes or use clear tubs so that you always know what is in them. Don’t let the “messy-mode” of renovation sneak into other areas of your home.
Make the space as much your own as you can, even in the middle of the reno. There was a lull in our installation between building the fireplace chase and having the plumber actually install the fireplace. During this time, I decided that instead of having just a 2x4 structure in my living room, I would begin using it like an actual fireplace mantle. I put up some artwork, plants, and some decor books (somehow I deleted the photo…which I now regret because I can’t show you!). They were all items that were super easy to move out of the way, but it also made me feel like this was still our living room. It made it feel so much more like home. Once the drywall was completed, it was a lot easier to decorate and spruce up the fireplace amidst the renos.
If you’re in the middle of a DIY project, keep plugging along. Keep focusing on the next step, even if you don’t have the ability to complete the entire project at one time! There were parts of our reno that were relying on my motivation to get completed (hello painting), and some days (many days) it was really hard to get motivated to complete. Honestly, we spent Christmas with our home primed, not even painted a colour. Although that did feel like a fresh upgrade, rather than living with the red wood paneling that had been installed awhile before I actually got to painting! See photo above!
Hopefully these few little tips or words of motivation can help you get through wherever you are at with renos….dreaming/starting/in-the-middle-stage-that-seems-to-last-forever/near the end! I thought if I shared our timeline, it might help as well. And to be completely honest, our project isn’t complete yet. We still need to have the tile installed and install a few finishing trim pieces. But for the meantime, it’s still one of my favourite areas in our home.
Our timeline!
October 13th: We demo’d our living room to remove the shelving unit that we had installed a few years prior. It served the purpose I wanted for it, and now it’s time for a change!
October 14th: Construction crew came over and built our fireplace chase and set the fireplace in the proper place.
November 16th: Plumber came and installed the fireplace! We were so excited to have it functional and working.
November 23rd: We took the wainscoting off of the dining room walls and replaced the living room/dining room walls with vertical shiplap boards. We also got our drywaller in and he was working on finishing up the finish on the fireplace.
December 2nd: I had primed the walls and the fireplace chase. I remember being so tired and really wanting to get a colour on the walls, but with work, kids, Christmas activities starting, I had no energy. So the walls were only primed for Christmas! Not sure if you can even really tell in the photos haha.
January 30th: I FINALLY picked a paint colour. It took me a long time with some trial and error but I ended up going with Wind’s Breath from Benjamin Moore.
April 7th (a day before our photo shoot!): We got the floating shelves installed and the mantle frame pieces put in place. And late into the night, I finished up the painting!
That’s it! That’s been our timeline. You can see that I work very closely to deadlines haha! It’s still not quite complete, but I am so happy with the decision to add a fireplace, and enjoy the unfinished view everyday.