This is how the story started...

I should have started this blog sometimes ago but I guess the reality is just kicking now that I am officially packing! 

So here is how this whole thing started...

We have been living in this house since 2001. It was our first home and when we moved in, we were excited to be a home owner at last!  The house had been built in 1985 and a little outdated,  but we were fine with it... it didn't matter that the back-splash in the kitchen had some ugly brown flowers, complimenting the old fashioned brown countertop, or our front door had a tiny window, covered with a lace curtain! 

We have been here for 15 years.... the front door have been replaced, the old fashioned light fixtures along with a bunch of other bizarre items have been thrown out in the garbage... but the house still has the 80's stamp all over it; there are walls here, there and everywhere. Truth be told, the ugly back splash along with the tiny kitchen and the narrow dining room started to bother us. I almost forgot to mention the shiny white tiles on the main floor, I am not sure who came up with that idea! It is hard to keep them shiny, one single drop of water, and you are pooched.... especially if you are a neat freak.Trust me, I know, I have been living with one over 20 years!

 

And then..... the discussions started... to renovate or not to renovate.... to move or not to move..... 

We talked about the kitchen renovation for so long it was turning into a joke! I guess deep down we knew that the kitchen was not the only issue after all, and the thought of a major renovation was scary enough for us to keep postponing. 

I don't know what happened earlier this year,  we must have hit our heads on one of the walls in the house, after all there in no shortage of walls in this house! 

So we contacted a Design firm (Bellavance Home Design) that was referred by a friend and asked them to come to the rescue. The discussion started with the kitchen of course and a couple of hours later, our wish list grew to 3 pages of things to do around the house... on all three levels.  Surprise! This was a 3 month project and way over the budget we originally had in mind. Now what?!

 

Let's not talk about how long it took us to figure out how to pay for this massive project and where to live during the renovation... and how many ads we have had on Kijiji to "try" and de-clutter the place. After all, when you live in a house for 15 years and have room to keep everything, well, you would end up keeping everything!

The official contract was signed on December 9th and the first payment has been made. We are officially doing it now... I think it is too late to say "I have changed my mind!"

Today, I spent the morning packing up the stuff in our "small" china cabinet. Although I had to stop because we ran out of boxes.... I am not sure how we had managed to squeeze in so many things in that "small" cabinet.