Monday, April 7, 2014

28 Day Reno

That's reno... as in short for "renovation."  Not the city in Nevada.  Or is it New Mexico?  I actually have no idea.

Anyways, it sounds like a dare, doesn't it?  My boys are big into dares these days:

"I bet you can't do a full home reno in 28 days."
"I bet I can."
"I dare you."
"No."
"I double dog dare you."
"Okay."

((Although with our kids,  the dare usually involves eating some sort of insect or jumping from somewhere insane, like the roof.))

Any way you slice it, we did another renovation.  It was our first reno in Canada.  We bought a type of house that locals refer to as a"BC box."  Basically, it's a rectangular/shoe-box shaped house that started popping up in the late 70's + early 80's.  They lack character and are fairly small (usually less than 2,000 sq. ft.)   And they are a dime a dozen around here.

So our adventure began when we bought it back in October, took possession November 2nd, and moved in December 1st.  That's 28 days, if you're counting.  And yes. We renovated it in 28 days.  I use the term "we" very loosely here...Ryan renovated.  I babysat.  And I picked out everything, which should count for something.

I have waited until now to post any pictures because while the nuts and bolts of the house were done....so many details weren't.  And, actually, still aren't.  But it's getting there.

I felt the need to finally post a picture today because this morning we had our BIG DAY. It was appraisal day. (And, for the record, it came in over what we were hoping. THAT is a good thing!). Most of our friends up here know that since starting the reno in November, we've been total recluses.  No dinner dates. No friends over.  No weekends out.  For a very social family, it's been super hard.

So, to reward my hubby on an amazing job, and to show proof to our friends that we did indeed do a renovation, here are a couple before and afters:



There is a house behind all of those trees.  Can you see it? Here's a little bit closer:


And because I feel that we need a close-up of the magnificence of the window over-hang thingys:



Once we got the trees removed, we got a better view of what we actually had to work with:


So....drumroll please....here is our house as of this morning:



I realize this picture is totally and completely off-center.  Sorry.  I was excited. Here's another one:






Here's a few more:







And here's a few before and afters of the kitchen:



Here's Ryan and his dad re-designing the kitchen:


This is after day 2 or 3 in the house.  We took out two of the kitchen walls to open up the house:


Here's a different view:


And...here it is now:








So, to re-cap:



And:






That's it for now! I'll post more pictures as things progress.  But for now.... we are resting!!!  (and possibly meeting up with friends again, inviting people over for dinner, and going on dates again. Woo-hoo!!!)

Xoxo,

E