Around Here

 This is what you call a true "unstyled" photo.  That's because if you visited our house right now, you would see one big mess - screwdrivers, levels, tape measures, hammers, you name the tool, it's likely somewhere in the laundry room.  Ahh, the joys of renovating an old house.  Justus and I have been knee-deep in house projects this past month, especially poor Justus.  

It started with clearing out closets top to bottom, adding some additional storage, painting and even adding new flooring in our old closet under the stairs.  Then the laundry room project came with new trim and new shelves and it's finally finished!  (Well, except for that minor job of painting.)  And then the dreaded project came that could be put off no longer.  The downstairs bathroom floor was completely gutted, and oh, can I be honest?  It was every bit as terrible as it sounds.  It took Justus hours to remove the old floor, as there were five layers, and I felt so bad for him.  Once he got to the dirt (literally), he discovered that the floor joists were in very poor condition and he had to completely re-frame before even attempting to add a sub-floor.

 But we have an end in sight now.  We grouted the new tile floor last night, and a new vanity and faucet are on their way.  So hopefully everything will be installed early next week and then I can paint, paint, paint! 

 Here Justus is cutting the floor out.  I have several other photos I could share, but it's still a little too fresh in my mind to do that.  ;-) 

Honestly, I'm so anxious to start painting the laundry room and bathroom.  This will be two more rooms completely finished, and I told Justus just today that it feels like we are finally on the home stretch.  This was the last huge project we had looming indoors, and now it's just a matter of finishing three bedrooms and hiring somebody to refinish the hardwood floors upstairs.  (I laugh right now because it sounds so easy... this is still a good bit of work, but it sounds fairly painless comparatively speaking!)

I've learned during the past five years that renovating an old house, especially when you do everything yourself, requires a good bit of patience.  And time.  And money.  It's easy sometimes to let house projects overwhelm.  Yet, there's always reminders that this is not what is most important, and I try not to get too impatient and instead enjoy the things that do matter the most.  

The girls are older now and I no longer have much time during the week for projects, house or otherwise.  Yet I wouldn't trade these days for anything.  Just another needful reminder to myself that I want to savor every moment.

Hope you are having a wonderful week!  Maybe, hopefully, I'll be back soon with some "after" photos of some of our projects.  ;-)