Today was a momentous occassion.  The very first boards of our hardwood floor were placed.  Considering that this home improvement project began in April, the new floor was a long time coming.  The project itself has been a huge undertaking for us.  We’re attempting it ourselves, with the generous help of my dad, who has been involved in construction his entire working career and who built, from the footers up, two of the homes I lived in as a child.  So far, the remodel has involved just about every area of the first floor of my home – or will, by the time we are done.  For the past six months, we have been living with some degree of demolition/construction with no end in sight.  I’ve forgotten what it feels like to take a Sunday afternoon nap on the sofa.  And forget about entertaining family and friends – there is no comfortable place to sit anywhere in the main part of the house.

Anyone who has ever attempted a renovation soon realizes that projects take on a life of their own.  And, they often take many moons longer than originally anticipated.  Ours certainly did and is.  Hardwood floors were always part of the plan, but waiting three months between ordering and delivery was not.  In the throes of framing, drywalling and spackling, my retired father took a part-time job and the demands of Mr. Whimsey’s job increased exponentially.  Trying to find a time when everyone is available has become challenging, to say the least.

For my part, I keep increasing the degree of difficulty for everyone because I can’t make up my mind.  – “Yes, tear out the balusters, newels, and handrails and build a wall right there so I have an inside wall for my piano”, I insisted.  My obliging husband and dad did just that.  And….. I hated it – a huge, cumbersome eyesore that ruined the expansive feeling of my living room.  So, the wall is coming down and new newels, balusters, and handrails are replacing it.  It also took me forever to choose a paint color for the living room, which seemed to make everyone else, including the painter, nervous.

When I’m not second guessing every single decision, I’m coming up with grand new ideas.  “Since we’re already ripping the carpet out in the living room, let’s change the fireplace stonework to dry-stacked schist while we’re at it”.  Or, “Because we really don’t want to tile around the toilet and sink in the powder room, let’s just rip everything out and start fresh”.  Mr. Whimsey is gung-ho for just about every idea my scheming mind produces.  The only thing he flat-out refused me was replacing the tile back splash in the kitchen.  The agreeableness of my worker man has been great for me and the house, but horrible for the time line.  I’m starting to believe that I will never see my home put back together again.  It can be rather discouraging.

That’s why it is so good to see real chunks of progress.  It reminds me that there is a light at the end of this dark and dirty tunnel.  While Dad and Hubby worked on the floor, I did some renovating of my own.  Whimsey Pie has a brand new look.  As technically challenged as I am, I’m tickled with the results.  What do you think?