Within the next month, my husband and I are starting a home renovation. This is a daunting and long-awaited event. We have lived in our home twenty years, and we have made improvements such as replacing the furnace and central air unit, having the back and front decks rebuilt, and installing new doors, windows, and window treatments. The renovations that will be taking place shortly will be things we can see, such as new flooring, new kitchen cabinets and countertops, new lighting upstairs and two-bathroom updates. I am finally getting rid of the pink carpet in the upstairs guest bathroom and the flowered wallpaper in the kitchen and dining room is about to go good-bye.
The entire project is long awaited and has been moved back several times due to my parents being sick and eventually dying, as well as covid. After my parents died, I did not want to deal with the added stress of tearing my home apart and the covid era ushered in outrageous home improvement costs and supply shortages. Despite watching several hours of “how to” and home improvement videos and television shows, my husband and I know our limitations and have neither the interest, nor the ability to turn this into a do-it-yourself project. We need professional help.
As the time for renovation approaches, I am on the verge of having a serious purge moment. The thought of emptying cabinets and kitchen and bathroom drawers and vanities is overwhelming. My husband and I have accumulated a lot of “stuff” and I do not know if I have the desire to touch this stuff more than once during this process. I am not certain how it happened, but I think I have fifty coffee mugs jammed into my kitchen cabinets. I have an eclectic assortment of pots and pans comprised of hand me downs from parents, grandparents, and garage sales, as well as ones that were wedding gifts almost thirty-five years ago. My towel assortment is impressive, and I do not even want to go into details regarding how much stuff I have jammed into pantries, closets, and spare bedrooms. Where does all this crap go while the renovations are taking place? I envision an industrial sized dumpster in our driveway or a huge rummage sale to be followed up with an industrial sized dumpster. I am also curious to know how we go about the tasks of daily living with the house torn up. I have a credit card and would not be opposed to leaving town during the entirety of this process. I like eating with paper plates and plastic utensils so that will not be an issue, but given the choice, a two-month cruise with a house reveal at the end would work for me.
I hate clutter and I hate the idea of my sons, at some point, having to come in with a wrecking ball and clean out our lifetime of accumulated “things.” I am excited for a fresh start and a new chapter. I am ready to part with a lot of “things” that I have held on to for sentimental reasons, as well as for having an innate ability to jam a lot of crap into a lot of different spaces throughout the house. I want to create a nice space to enjoy my family and to be comfortable in retirement.
The contractor will be here in a couple of weeks to take final measurements and begin the renovation process. Time is running out on the inevitable need for the de-cluttering process. I am stuck with the dumpster no matter what, but it is not too late to hit up a summer end travel sale and avoid the renovation process. I would love to roll up to the house after a nice relaxing cruise and be able to enjoy all the updates without having had any of the stress. A girl can dream.
