I have finally moved into my new (and hopefully last) home after five months of renovation madness and two months in temporary housing.
My first night (20 Feb) was a late one; I unpacked boxes and cleaned until about 2am, then had to get some project-related email out. President’s Day weekend was no vacation, and my first night was doubly strange with my familiar things unpacked in an unfamiliar setting and the setting itself transforming into a home from a hollowed-out shell with construction debris everywhere. There’s enough finished space for me to exist but leave the the contractors enough room to work because …
The renovations are not done. The furnished apartment had me hemmoraging green and living like a refugee, my possessions a distant memory. Now I just feel like I’m living in a warzone. At least it’s my warzone with victory on the horizon. The first day of Spring will likely see me settled.
I’m deliberating not taking any more pictures until it’s done; the pain and suffering in between has left enough mental scars that I don’t need physical or digital reminders. This has been an exhausting, all-consuming project with a budget blown to smithereens due to three things: Upgrading materials and technology, seat-of-the-pants design/changes, and working on an accelerating schedule. These were acceptable trade-offs given the horror stories I’ve heard of renovations running more than a year with a mambo line of contractors. It looks like we’ll make it through without me defenestrating contractors, designers, or myself–tempting as 31 floors makes it.
Signing off from my new home. Huzzah!
Congratulations! I can’t wait to see the finished product. In an odd, related note – D was just telling me the other day about the word “defenestration” and how he learned it from you.