by Sabrina Garibian posted in Products & Prizes

What were we thinking"
We recently bought a home from 1970 that needs a lot of work. When we told our old, wise friends we were going to live through the renovations, they all warned against it. They said to rent an apartment, or live with parents, or travel endlessly, or basically do anything to avoid living through it. With homeowner-honeymoon naiveté, we decided to go for it anyway.

We were wrong, they were right. In the two weeks between buying our home and moving in, our team got a lot of work done. The kitchen was starting to come together, all the wallpaper had been ripped down, and the floors were starting to look great. We still had a long way to go though, and we moved into mayhem. In fact, we are two months in and we still have a long way to go. But we have a functioning kitchen! And heat! And in time, with time and patience, our home will become what we envision for it. I estimate it will take 5 years to get there. No seriously.
We have three smallish children, age 5, 3.5, and 18 months old. They each come with their challenges when it comes to a renovation. The 5-year-old has a false sense of independence and thinks he can walk through our construction site unattended at any time. The 3-year-old has a serious vision for her bedroom and won't give up or let us relax until we make her dream come true. Our baby is a wild one and hates to be held every time we walk through the construction.
We've lear...