Monday, December 10, 2007

the madness....

It's winter...I should be knitting...I have a waiting list for these...including myself. I want another on in green and maroon, some wristies, some fingerless gloves/mittens, two baby blankets...but this bedroom renovation just drags on and on. And on. I can't even reach my knitting needles or yarn, they are so buried by everything else. Now we are waiting three days for the(black walnut) stain to dry on the floor before we can then fill the cracks, buff it and FINALLY wax it. It is going to look amazing...hell, it already looks amazing and we still have the final steps to do. In the meantime, though, I am on the verge of tears every moment that I am home. There is no way to clean or put our house in order since every single thing that is supposed to be in our bedroom and in our walk-in closet is in the hallway, the livingroom, the kitchen and the spare bedroom. If I had any clue when we started this that it would still be going on at Christmastime, I might have just left that damn stinky carpet and the 1940's lino down, and just made peace with that wallpaper.
Honestly, it is so difficult for me not to just start bawling over this mess that has become my daily life. I can't stand disorder. I am overwhelmed with the clutter, my knees and shins black and blue from running into too much furniture in too tiny a space, can't find anything, want to chuck it all, go live in a hotel room until this is done...it's been too long. Much too long. And? There's a hole in the newly replastered ceiling of my walk-in closet from a leak in the roof that we cannot find. A hole. In my custom-coloured plaster ceiling. Yeah.


12 comments:

CindyDianne said...

ewh. A hole? That is awful. I think I might be bawling too. Actually, come to think of it, I have been. My Christmas tree, purchase 10 days ago, is still not decorated. My pretty Christmas dishes are still in the boxes. This is The Teenagers last "real" Christmas at home. I want it to be perfect. It isn't. Ugh!

Bunny said...

That is the best hat ever!! I would learn to knit just for that hat!! :-)
Hope your project is finished soon, with no more "suprise" repairs, and you can get your house back to order soon!!
Have been following along, can't wait to see more pictures!

Michael Colvin said...

Ugh, redecorating nightmare... I know that feeling. You pretty much described my despair when we had a new kitchen fitted in our old house. Like you, I can't be doing with clutter. My way of dealing with it was to have a nook of serenity and be damned with the rest!

Olly said...

I feel for you. I really do.

A couple years ago we cleared all rooms except the kitchen on the main floor when we had our hardwood redone. We moved into our familyroom and office for a week in amongst the clutter of everything piled high. No sooner did we get everything put back upstairs when our hot water tank blew downstairs. So everything had to be brought up or thrown out. I think it was the nearest to a nervous breakdown I ever had.

It will get done. It will be worth it.

Great hat!

Heidi the Hick said...

Oh no.

I totally understand. I spent almost 6 months like that, with a crew of guys going in and out, and wanting to not be home. It didn't even feel like my home.

It's better now. It will end, don't give up!

And, uh...I TOTALLY love that hat!!!!

raine said...

Oh yeah - I am housebound this week so will have to do a reno blog. Poor you. It will end, hang in there. I wish I knew how to knot. Well, I do know how to knit, wish I knew how to fix mistakes...

dilling said...

Rain, I don't fix the mistakes! It's part of the charm.
Olly, if only this were the closest I have been to a nervous breakdown. If only.
Tod, my bedroom IS the sanctuary!!!! ARGH.
Heidi..same pattern as yours!
CindyDiane...my tree is still on the back deck...I don't know where to put it in all of this...

susan sabo photography said...

i give you lots of credit. i think you have to be hardcore homeowners to renovate :) we're not there yet.

and the hat? yeah, would totally buy that!

Val Cox said...

it will be wonderful when it's done, and you'll forget all about this part one day soon. Stay with it!

FOUR DINNERS said...

I want a hat!

Holes add character to a house.

Least that's what our estate agent said when he sold us this place...

Anonymous said...

Two years ago this time we had torn up our entire living room, dining room, entry way, and hall down the stairs. We resurfaced the plaster walls and laid tile, and laminate. We took off a layer of wall paper, then began to paint only to have the paint bubble. All of it had to be scraped off and the walls resurfaced before we could paint. The deep burgundy paint took three coats, on top of a primer. The first two were hot pink. I was horrified. Our entry way had little mosaic tiles we decided to replace, which turned out to be on what was called a mud something or other. When we pulled the tile up big chunks of floor came up with it. We had to take it out with a sledge hammer, then build it back up. We were sure we would not have a Christmas. My daughter even brought us over a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree to try and make it better. I was completely deflated and miserable. My knees hurt so bad I cried as I laid tile and grout. All the time Willi was so patient. He's so good.

We have enjoyed the fruits of that awful holiday season immensely. We thought it would never end. But it did. It will be over soon and it will look beautiful. My mom would have said, this too shall pass.

Gawilli

dilling said...

I know...it will be worth it...I just had no idea this would take so long.
Thursday we start to wax the floor, one of the last steps before we can move back in...and we need to put the walk-in closet back together...sigh. It's gonna be so good.