DIY & Me

I grew up in a very traditional household. Dad took care of the cars and big projects, Mom took care of the inside and kids. R and I are also a very traditional, however, he does not take care of the cars, and for the past 5 years, he also doesn't do much in the way of house projects. He just doesn't want to. I can respect that. But I also have to face the fact that we definitely bought an outdated, fixer-upper in need of updating, repairing and the usual maintenance. What is a girl to do when hubby has other interests that don't include putting up chair-rail in the bedrooms and switching out the fixtures in the bathroom to chrome? Well, she decides to DIY.

I fantasize about moving into a smaller, already fixed-up home where all I have to do is place furniture. But the reality of our situation is, we bought a fixer upper in a highly desirable area. Most of the value of our home is actually the land it sits on. We could probably knock the house down and sell the lot for almost as much as both of them together. Possibly more if I really think about it. Our home was built in 1970 and has that lovely 70s aura about it. I've painted, oh how I've painted, but the truth is, it needs more than that. It needs new bathrooms, a new kitchen, a basement reconfigure, decks redone, windows replaced, a roof. Can I tackle all that? Obviously, no. But there is quite a bit I could do with a little knowledge and a lot of sweat. And the rest I can outsource.

So I am going to tackle a project a month. Some are smaller than others, so I might get a few in each month, but if I aim for completing a project a month, in 12 months there will be 12 things in our home that I don't cringe at the sight of. And who knows, maybe it will be contagious.