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Monday, August 1, 2011

Back From the Longest, Fastest Weekend

We rolled into our weed-filled driveway at 10:30 last night.  After a slow start to the weekend, this was a quietly emotional return.

I stared at the green front door, and willed myself to exit the car.  I didn't want to go into the hot, smelly house.  Entering meant that we had to return to our Michigan life, even if it was just for a few more days.  I will miss the friends, but not the place.  No, not the place.  Time in our new house solidified my belief that your home is not only your physical castle but much of your mental castle, too.  If you dislike what's around you, it casts a pall over everything else about your life.  Putrid house, I will not miss you at all.

I crawled into my bed and reflected on this and more.  This was a trying weekend.  Emotional.  Physical.  But as with so many things that require fortitude, we emerged better than we entered.

On Friday we took possession of our new castle, and immediately went to work cleaning and tearing out old carpet.  It was shocking to see the rooms uncluttered and full of potential.  We noted new problems and reviewed our plan of attack.  We cut and bundled the disgusting old carpet, and hauled it to the garage.  We swept, vacuumed, scrubbed, washed walls.  What was frustrating was that it was ALL filthy.  Not dirty.  FILTHY.  Husband, who is mostly immune to dust & dirt, was even disgusted when he got a look at the black dirt ground into the window sills. After scrubbing spills from the insides of drawers, wiping cat hair from the freezer, and sucking up years of dust from forgotten corners, this epic scrub-down may have put me off all furry pets for many years to come.  And given me a true appreciation for liquid Lysol, cleaning wipes, and my Dyson.

Even in the midst of hours of mindless scrubbing (is it really mindless if you're constantly wondering how on earth it didn't bother them?) I felt content.  This house really feels "right" for us.  Sure, it's bigger than we need - we don't even have enough furniture to fill it up - but the layout is great, the bedrooms are spacious, and the work that needs to be done is manageable.

The transformation began with ripping out the bedroom/hallway carpet. Despite the muck we unearthed, the splintery sub-floor was still better than torn, stained carpet. The painting began, and although our backs suffered, we managed to do everything we set out to do.  It already feels fresh, clean, and more OURS.  Paint truly has transformative powers.

Here is just a tiny peek of what we did.  I will post more pictures when each room is fully done.  We plan to paint every room, paint the trim white, and replace all the almond outlet/switches with white.

Master bedroom, before. 


Master bedroom, halfway through.  
Paint color is "Yachtsman" by Allen + Roth for Lowe's.
It looks very light blue in this picture, but it's actually blue, with greyish-greenish undertones.  

3 comments:

Ashley said...

Wow- what a transformation already! Sounds like a TON of work - but work that totally pays off when you're done and you can say, wow, look at all that we did!!!

Yea for being homeowners - and having the guts and ability to fix up your house the way you like it ;)

Kelly said...

Wow! You had a busy weekend. I can't wait to see more pictures when your all done.

Music Mama said...

I can't wait to see more pictures! I will miss you, but I'm so happy you're moving into a better castle ;)