Inspired

I spent the last few days up in Port Angeles with my friend Kristin aka KK if you've checked out the blog. The majority of the time I was up there we were working on puzzles, drinking strong cups of tea or coffee, cooking for each other or spending some time outdoors but we did get into a rather heavy discussion of remodeling her house.

KK is a park ranger and she is provided government housing. I'm not sure if government housing always looks like this but this house was awesome in a very eclectic way. It reminded me a lot of my dad's place in California with multiple versions of wood paneling strewn throughout the house, some old cabinets with odd fitting doors and beautiful wood beams covered by paint. Over all it's a very charming house with new windows and appliances but it could use some work. Ok a lot of work.

Sunday night we wandered through the house, first on a tour and second a more in depth look at what she had, knocking and pressing on the wooden panels, talking excitedly about what could come down or go up, scraping corners of paint with sandpaper to find out what was underneath and in general mentally tearing the house apart to start over.

Since it is government housing there were some guidelines she needed to follow. The first was that it had to look good. The second was that this wasn't always going to be her house so there was some stuff she didn't want to invest in. Thirdly and probably more important, money and time. I told her that it's always tempting to start in the kitchen but that she should start in the bedroom or bathroom - smaller places - so she could get an idea of what renovating felt like. The last thing, the very last thing you want to do is tear something apart and realize that it's harder than you thought it was - it always is - and that you don't have the time to do it - you never do - and that you can't use the space you're currently renovating. People get divorces over renovation projects and while I'm sure her dog Coho won't leave her, renovation always sounds fun on the surface but once you get started, it doesn't always remain so. And while she is closer to town - 20 miles rather than 40 minutes - the closest Home Depot is another 20 minutes beyond Port Angeles. That puts quite a crimp in a quick run to the store if needed and Port Angeles is a unique town having no box stores like most cities/towns so you can't run to Fred Meyer or Bi-Mart in a pinch. All things that you must take into consideration.

That all being said - I think warning people before they start is a good thing - renovation can be a lot of fun especially if you've got the drive to do it. It'll also be a lot more fun when it's not 30 degrees outside but that's another story. I showed her pictures of what I did in California to my dad's place and she really liked it. I did let her know that we had some driving motivation for that house.

1. Time. I couldn't be away for a long time - 6 weeks was pushing it - so I came down and after an initial planning phase, starting in on it. And I got to dedicate whole days to what I was doing rather than working then coming home to work.

2. Good news. Everything that could have gone right for me did go right. I had a friend and my mom helping me out, keeping me sane. The inspections on the house revealed very little in the way of what needed to be done. Everything that could have and probably should have set us back didn't. The roof was in great condition, the walls were sound and the insulation was excellent, the plumbing was in good shape, the water heater simply needed to be replaced, the windows were the only source of heat/cold loss, etc.

3. Money. I had access to a ton of money so when it came to a hidden cost or needing supplies or something on the fly I simply had to pull out the wallet. I think this is the key to any renovation. You know there will be hidden costs - or you should - and you know things will take longer than expected but having the money makes it so much easier. I didn't run into a problem where things came to a stop because the money wasn't there. 8 new light fixtures, extra gallons of paint, new hardware, whatever it was, out came the wallet.

So having talked with KK about renovating her house I told her that if I don't get another job this summer, I could come up and live with her and help her renovate her house while she is at work. Despite the work and frustration from that summer, I did really enjoy working on my dad's place and looking at the pictures or having people rave about how the house looks from the before and after brings a certain amount of pride to the table.