2018 has turned out to be a big year for us. I thought 2017 was nuts, with lots of weekends away, the long absence of Steve and the
Big Travels at Christmas time, but it looks like 2018 wasn't content to be a quieter year at all. Instead we have been inundated with big decisions, trips away and changes galore. I think I mentioned it
here.
Let me illuminate. We've done four trips to Bundaberg already, and I've got plans for a fifth in the first week of the September school holidays, as well as a camping trip for the long weekend in October. On top of that, we've decided 2018 is the year for a real renovation on our house.
We've been living in
our house for eight years this October, and since we bought it, we have dreamed of putting a deck on the back. Our yard is enormous, there is room for it, and given that we live in Queensland, it would be just perfect to have a deck. But the logistics of getting the deck on, where the access would be, what we would have to do about the laundry part of the house, moving the clothes line, all seemed to be in the way, not to mention the financial side of putting on a deck. So we put it off for a while.
Then we had kids, and I started a family day care. We keep looking around at things, and wanting a deck and possibly a second bathroom, and a study for Steve so he could work from home, and wondering if we would ever get to it. And in January we started to have real conversations about what it would look like if we were to actually do it. What did we really need vs what did we want?
I spent six weeks calling builders and all sorts of people, trying to get an idea about the process that is renovation and what was needed. The whole process is quite complicated, but we finally figured out which route to take. Steve spent a fair amount of time on virtual house design programs, shifting things around and trying to help us get an idea of what we wanted and how it might fit together. He even bought a whiteboard for brainstorming.
In the end, we used a planning company to make the plans, and then had builders quote on it to see if we could afford it. After the six weeks from the end of January, the planning stuff took another two months, and then getting the builders to quote on it took another six weeks. Finally, after our initial conversations in January, we had everything we needed to get started. After such a long time, I think I'm finally getting excited for what the end product of the renovation will be.
Of course, there are things we have to do to get ready for said renovation to start (approximately two weeks!).
We have moved our
garden bed and the clothes line, both of which were previously in a space that the deck would impact on. The girls have been very helpful and also enjoyed the bonus wheelbarrow rides that Steve offered them as reward for their service.
Steve's ripped up a whole lot of weedy-grass front lawn ready for us to transplant some of the awesome Sir Walter from the back to as well. Steve and I, though probably mostly Steve, are feeling really sore today from these arduous tasks.
The clothes line was the original old Hills Hoist which is just an amazing clothes line. I'm so appreciative of Steve putting in most of the work to move it for me, (and our neighbor Ian who popped round to help with the lifting) rather than just get rid of it and get a new line. On no modern clothes line will I be able to fit five loads of washing and have them all dry in two hours because of the great spacing allowed.
Remember that I finished painting the downstairs toilet in
February? Well it's been a good six months with that shiny clean toilet, that is now part of the house that will be demolished for the extension to go on. But also remember we redid the front steps in
April and wished for a new balustrade? Well that's happening now, so you win some, you lose some.
There is so much thinking and planning that has gone into this, so we are pretty exhausted from all of it, and are about to attempt to live through the reno, so wish us luck! What's happening is the laundry area that is on the back of the house (down about four steps) is coming off and we are building out from the dining room (the set of three windows in the middle of the house pict above). Everything will be one level, we will get the laundry, a second bathroom and separate toilet, a living area, with a bay window (this is the part I'm most exciting about!) and then doors from the new living area out onto the deck.
Because most of the reno is happening on the back of the house, we should be able to just close the back door for most of it while they build the extension on, and then there will be a bit of uncomfortable time when they remove the wall where the door and windows are to connect everything together.
So much of this year has been spent in planning, thinking, evaluating, checking, rethinking and making responsible adult decisions. I know it's going to be a bit uncomfortable while the extension happens, but I'm starting to really look forward to what it's going to be like at the end of it. The outdoor living space that we can use even if it's raining, the bay window I can sit and read in, the extension/deck warming party we can have when it's all done.
Yes, 2018 has been an unexpectedly big year, but there are some good things coming, and I'm looking forward to it.
