The Ugly Truth About Home Renovation

I don’t know about you, but when I look at before and after pictures of a home renovation, I rarely consider the whole story. It’s easy to focus on the surface image and think “that looks easy”. Just a fresh coat of paint, updated lighting, new blinds… boom, we’re done! But really, the tough stuff is in the details. Filling nail holes, tearing off trim, caulking windows, switching outlet locations. All things that make a room look much more “finished” but don’t necessarily stand out. Or cross your mind until you’re underway.

As you probably know from watching my Instagram stories, we’ve been working on renovating our three bedrooms. After finishing a full kitchen, living room and bathroom renovation two years ago, we thought we’d take a break before diving in again. We didn’t anticipate the break being this long, but such is life, right? Back in January, we finally dug into the first bedroom (before & afters shown below). This was a glorified storage room, with an old desk and a bunch of random things stacked up. It was time to clean the room up and get started.

A couple months later & we’re officially wrapping up the third room. I cannot express how good it feels. *insert happy dance here* New carpet, fresh paint, updated trim to match the rest of the house, new blinds and ceiling fans installed – all in a few long weekends. Yes, everything happened rather quickly (thankfully), but I’m getting back to that “picture perfect” idea. Things don’t always go as planned. Our house has been a complete mess and these projects always remind me that home renovations aren’t simply a before and after situation. There’s a lot of middle ground. So here’s me, wrapping up our second phase, sharing the ugly truths about home renovation. All of which we have personally experienced and won’t ever forget.

You’ve got to be flexible… and be willing to wash dishes in the bathtub

If there’s one thing for certain, it’s that home renovations bring a lot of surprises. Oh, you thought the bathroom tile just needed replaced? No, the entire sub-floor does as well. Don’t worry – gutting it to the studs is normal, just don’t fall through. *insert eye roll here* No kitchen sink for a few weeks since the cabinets aren’t in yet? Better clean the bathtub or get an old-fashioned basin to wash the dishes. And stock up on pizza rolls. You’ll need them. It’s really the little things that come up as a surprise & you just learn to roll with it. Expecting perfection and no issues would be a huge mistake. If necessary, add a little extra time to your plan, just in case something major comes up.

There are no designated spaces for anything

Sometimes your kitchen will turn into your living room and the living room will turn into the bedroom. Completely normal. A home under construction truly means all available space is prime real estate. As we’ve been shuffling between bedrooms, our closet contents have ended up everywhere. T is grabbing sweaters from one room while I dig up shoes from another. All my jewelry is stored in the basement – safe to say I’ve been doing without. We’ve got paint supplies in our guest room and extra trim next to our kitchen table. You do what you have to do!

Get ready to compromise

Not only did T and I learn to compromise with each other and our different style preferences, we also learned to compromise with our budget. We all have grand ideas for our homes and sometimes it just doesn’t always work out. Maybe if it’s a forever home, no expense would be spared and there’d be less compromise. But, with our quaint starter, we always make sure we’re sticking to a budget. Furthermore, with old houses, sometimes ideas just don’t pan out. We’re limited on space, the walls are old, the measurements can be funky… all things that can take an idea and kill it pretty quickly.

Forget about a clean house

And last but not least, goodbye typically-always-clean-house. My vacuum gets a solid workout when we’re in the middle of a home project because I’m constantly trying to stay ahead of the mess. Which is great. But, when it all comes down to it, the house will not be completely clean until the work is done. That’s just the way it is! Stuff always needs put away, things could always use dusting and yes, those floors need vacuumed. Again.

All in all, every single second of our home renovation – from our original kitchen tear-down to the last bedroom ceiling fan being hung – has been worth it. 100% worth it. We now have a home that feels completely ours. And one we’re so proud of. It’s far from perfect and there will always be something to do (old house, old problems), but we feel like we’re finally in a great place with it.

Now… time to decorate.

xoxo. B