So my least favourite stage of renovations has begun. Demolition. There is no nice way of doing this I don't think. Do it fast, get it over with and clean up the as much dirt as you can each day to make living in it bearable. I find this part really difficult. Its the stage where you are the furthest away from your end goal, the thing you ripped out to fix suddenly looks like a palace in comparison. Ok, not a palace, but in this case the old kitchen was still mostly functional, even if ugly, saggy, poorly wired, and falling apart in places.
Before....
But in the aim of being positive I thought Id share some tips.
1. MOVE OUT!!!!
Only joking.....kind of. The reality is that it depends on the depth of renovating your doing. It is absolutely a valid option if you can afford it.
2. Have a plan in place before you start pulling things apart about how your going to live your life in the space. This stage of the kitchen and second bedrrom will probably take us close to 2 months to finish. We need to be able to function during this time as a family. Meals need to be cooked, homework needs to be done, life goes on. The more "normal" you can make it and the more organized you can be, the easier the renovation process will be.
Renovating, especially with young children is stressful, a bit of prior planning about the spaces you will need throughout the process can really help reduce this.
So for us, we have pulled up the old van up to the veranda which will give us a small, but perfectly functional cooking, eating and living space. The veranda will provide shelter as we walk in and out which is important in the middle of winter. Depending on what your doing, will depend on how you set up areas to overcome this. Be creative, remember its temporary.
Blogging headquarters in the van.
3. Have all the little discussions and decisions sorted BEFORE your tired, stressed and living in a demolition zone. No point adding to an already stressful situation by trying to make major decisions in the middle of it. Its not a reality TV show, take the time to plan it all well.
4. Go into it with clear plans and knowing exactly what your design is. Changing your mind half way through can slow things up and add in extra expenses.
5. Stick to your budget. There may be un-avoidable blow outs, but if you have a budget for your finishes that you have carefully planned, don't get way laid by the shiny pretty, really expensive things and suddenly upgrade everything. Mindless consumerism is rife in all industries. Research well, plan well. Buy the best you can afford absolutely, but stick to your guns. Don't get way-laid by the top of the range designer tiles when you have already settled on a good, mid range tile that fits in your budget and your style. Being talked into an up-grade here and there can add thousands to your bill at the end, with no real functional advantage.
6. You know those expensive pre-packaged foods that people who are living simply try to avoid? Embrace them. Its ok to let some things slide in a difficult season. You don't have to do it all, in every season of life. There are some good products out there these days that are decent quality. Farmers markets can be great for home made cakes and snacks too, and the bonus then is your supporting local, home business. Buy for the week, spend 15 minutes cutting into portions and freezing for lunches throughout the week.
7. Try ensure your eating good quality fruit and veg, drinking lots of water, and TRY and get some sleep. Meals don't have to be fancy by any stretch of the imagination. Fruit for snacks is great. The reality is your more suceptable to illness when your tired and stressed. By being mindful you can try and prevent getting too run down. No one wants to be sick when your in the middle of a big renovation job.
8. Make meals as simple as possible. A slow cooker is great, a BBQ, simple pastas, salad and nibble platters with raw crunchy veggies, sliced meat, bread, dips etc. Survival with an ounce of sanity left is the goal here!
9. Go gently. Its stressful, its tiring. Give yourself some grace and lower your expectations of yourself. Give your partner some grace. Go out for a nice meal and leave it all behind you regularly. Even if its a coffee in a café. It is a season, and it wont be forever, even though it might feel slow and never ending at times. Treat yourself a little during it, your working really hard and its nice to look forward to something. If its at the end of a particular stage it can be a lovely motivator.
10. Wine, chocolate and a camera for lots of before, during and after shots. Need I say more?
Brrrr.....drafty!
Do you have any sanity saving tips?
Much love,
Emma
xx
Stripping it out...
But in the aim of being positive I thought Id share some tips.
1. MOVE OUT!!!!
Only joking.....kind of. The reality is that it depends on the depth of renovating your doing. It is absolutely a valid option if you can afford it.
2. Have a plan in place before you start pulling things apart about how your going to live your life in the space. This stage of the kitchen and second bedrrom will probably take us close to 2 months to finish. We need to be able to function during this time as a family. Meals need to be cooked, homework needs to be done, life goes on. The more "normal" you can make it and the more organized you can be, the easier the renovation process will be.
Renovating, especially with young children is stressful, a bit of prior planning about the spaces you will need throughout the process can really help reduce this.
So for us, we have pulled up the old van up to the veranda which will give us a small, but perfectly functional cooking, eating and living space. The veranda will provide shelter as we walk in and out which is important in the middle of winter. Depending on what your doing, will depend on how you set up areas to overcome this. Be creative, remember its temporary.
Caravan, food, little gas burner for kettle, cooking etc. Its not pretty, but functional enough. I cant be bothered staging pretty photos,. Just keeping it real. ;)
3. Have all the little discussions and decisions sorted BEFORE your tired, stressed and living in a demolition zone. No point adding to an already stressful situation by trying to make major decisions in the middle of it. Its not a reality TV show, take the time to plan it all well.
4. Go into it with clear plans and knowing exactly what your design is. Changing your mind half way through can slow things up and add in extra expenses.
5. Stick to your budget. There may be un-avoidable blow outs, but if you have a budget for your finishes that you have carefully planned, don't get way laid by the shiny pretty, really expensive things and suddenly upgrade everything. Mindless consumerism is rife in all industries. Research well, plan well. Buy the best you can afford absolutely, but stick to your guns. Don't get way-laid by the top of the range designer tiles when you have already settled on a good, mid range tile that fits in your budget and your style. Being talked into an up-grade here and there can add thousands to your bill at the end, with no real functional advantage.
6. You know those expensive pre-packaged foods that people who are living simply try to avoid? Embrace them. Its ok to let some things slide in a difficult season. You don't have to do it all, in every season of life. There are some good products out there these days that are decent quality. Farmers markets can be great for home made cakes and snacks too, and the bonus then is your supporting local, home business. Buy for the week, spend 15 minutes cutting into portions and freezing for lunches throughout the week.
7. Try ensure your eating good quality fruit and veg, drinking lots of water, and TRY and get some sleep. Meals don't have to be fancy by any stretch of the imagination. Fruit for snacks is great. The reality is your more suceptable to illness when your tired and stressed. By being mindful you can try and prevent getting too run down. No one wants to be sick when your in the middle of a big renovation job.
8. Make meals as simple as possible. A slow cooker is great, a BBQ, simple pastas, salad and nibble platters with raw crunchy veggies, sliced meat, bread, dips etc. Survival with an ounce of sanity left is the goal here!
9. Go gently. Its stressful, its tiring. Give yourself some grace and lower your expectations of yourself. Give your partner some grace. Go out for a nice meal and leave it all behind you regularly. Even if its a coffee in a café. It is a season, and it wont be forever, even though it might feel slow and never ending at times. Treat yourself a little during it, your working really hard and its nice to look forward to something. If its at the end of a particular stage it can be a lovely motivator.
10. Wine, chocolate and a camera for lots of before, during and after shots. Need I say more?
Old ceiling sagging and falling down.
Do you have any sanity saving tips?
Much love,
Emma
xx
