I’ve been meaning to do this post for awhile now, but every time I went to take some photos, our house was in absolute mayhem and I put it off for another day. And then I realized…to share some true reno lessons, I should be willing to show the true state of our house. So this is it, people. No cleaning was accomplished, no staging was added, no editing was done. I literally got home from work and snapped a few IPhone photos in the moment. It doesn’t get much more real (and possibly lazier) than that! But besides the photos, I also have some reno lessons to share with all of you..
Lesson 1: Having a plan from the beginning is so important. We knew that we wanted to start the renovation immediately after moving in, so we only moved in the essentials onto the main floor of the house. Everything else is living in the garage and in storage, which saved us having to move things twice. Once the upper floor is ready, then we can ACTUALLY move in. We had a plan of how to tackle this renovation and so far, it’s going really well and staying on track. Our living room is currently our bedroom, as you can see, which leads me to my next lesson..
Lesson #2: Sleeping in the living room is actually kinda fun. It’s reminiscent of a giant sleep over like back in my elementary school days hehe. But with that comes sharing the bed with this one…
How can I say no to that face? 
Lesson #3 – Finding some semblance of organization is vital for your sanity. With no closet available, I purchased a cheap clothing rack from Walmart to hang the main pieces from our wardrobe. Everything else is in “somewhat” organized piles, laundry hampers and bags. The only problem now is that the weather is so much nicer and I’m struggling to switch over to my summer stuff because it’s all tucked away. 
Lesson #4 – Renos are messy and there is an extra layer of dust and grime that gets all over everything, regardless of how often you wipe things down. I’m learning to embrace the mess though and just let it be. I think it was my fellow yeg blogger friend Justine who said that the chaos could be viewed as a great adventure and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. The dust, the various piles, the mess…it’s all a fun adventure.
Lesson #5 – The little things matter…and take time. So many days, I would rush home to see the progress that had been made upstairs and sometimes I couldn’t tell what was done. Then Ryan would take me through, explaining the process and opening my eyes to the reality of a full fledged renovation. It really made me appreciate just how long some of these things take and that building the right foundation is vital – before all the pretty stuff goes in! Also, I have the best contractor 🙂
Lesson #6 – Even with all the chaos, I still need some pockets of pretty. One of our friends who helped us move laughed at me because within a few hours of us being in the house, I had already placed these items on the kitchen shelves. She said “Of course you would be living in chaos but then have a styled shelf…” lol. But I think that’s important to me…to still feel like there are parts of the house that have some of my personality.
Lesson #7 – Renos are not just hard on us. It’s a lot for our pups. Truthfully, they’ve been a little off with all the change and noise. But their new schedule is almost normal to them now and we always try and find time for play and extra long walks in the ravine. And I don’t mind that Ava needs extra cuddles or that Shya feels the need to be right by you when you’re laying hardwood lol.
And there you have it…a small glimpse into the mayhem and the reno lessons I’m continuing to learn. Have you lived through a major renovation? I’d love to hear how you coped!! Happy Friday Everyone! xo