Let The Remodeling Wild Ride Begin, Part 1 Of 2

/ Ally Bean

WHEN I STARTED THIS blog years ago my intention was to write 80% about how we were updating our house + garden, then 20% about topics I was researching.  I thought this would be more of a design + information blog, rather than a lifestyle journal-ish blog.

Well, that idea fell apart, didn’t it?

Early on I discovered that:

  1. Even though I’m passionate about design, I don’t like writing about the involved decision-making process that goes on within all decorating +  remodeling projects.  I feel clunky and stressed when I try to write about design.
  2. Even though I enjoy photographing nature and signs and building exteriors, I end up swearing at my camera when I attempt to take pics of inside rooms.  I don’t have an eye for design photography, and my poor camera takes the brunt of my frustration.
  3. Even though I had some fun blog followers who were interested in our ongoing home improvement stories, they, to a one, stopped keeping blogs and drifted away from  the blogosphere.  I now have more wordy followers who groove on topics other than design.

So I had a little sit down chit-chat with myself to reassess what I was doing here, realizing that my most popular fun-to-write blog posts were personal, often about my observations regarding the wack-o-ness of people OR about small glimpses into the ordinariness of my daily life.

And then, I pretty much stopped writing about or photographing what we’re doing around the house.  No one cared, and I didn’t mind not writing about the angsty-ness and minutiae of design projects.

However…

[Part 2 will be tomorrow.]

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44 thoughts on “Let The Remodeling Wild Ride Begin, Part 1 Of 2”

  1. And as I post this, having finally gotten a chance to sit down and write today, I hear the sound of tile breaking and cabinets being pulled off the walls. Will my nerves be able to take this remodel? 😧

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Ah, how exciting! We did our bathroom last year and new roof and siding. We had EXCELLENT results. Hoping for you as well. I would personally love to read about your remodeling experiences.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Janet, you give me hope that this remodeling will work out a-okay, but right now the noise is a bit unsettling.

      It’s funny how writing about design turned out to be much more difficult than I thought it’d be. I’ve great respect for design bloggers who make everything so interesting to read about.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Nancy, thanks! I figure if nothing else my summer of remodeling will encourage me to use my one word of the year which is RELAX. Trying to be mellow through this all…

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  5. I’m always impressed by your blog no matter what the subject. Best of luck to you with this rennovation. We’re still talking about redoing our master bath. I did just paint our kitchen counters last week and am pretty happy with the results. Looking forward to your experience and pictures!

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    • Beth, it’s so much easier for me to write about impressions and people and information than it is to write about a process. Maybe I missed that course in college! I’ll let you know how all of this goes… starting with some pics tomorrow.

      [You can paint kitchen counters?!]

      Liked by 1 person

  8. My only experience with remodels are the three I’ve had to deal with while working at Mecca. The last one was a real trip since they not only shuffled everything around in the store, but also had a grocery expansion. It doesn’t look good to the customers when even the employees have no idea where the counter that was in Aisle X yesterday has moved to. Hopefully yours will be less messier, less shoddy, and less headache…

    Liked by 1 person

    • evilsquirrel13, I can only imagine what a pain in the butt it’d be to work somewhere while it was being remodeled. At least here at home, I don’t have strangers asking me where things are– and I can control where I put myself in relationship to the noise and mess. But at work, you’d be stuck where they put you…

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  9. I love your blog as it is but wouldn’t mind a few updates on your remodel too. When we bought our house over twenty years ago, it was a fixer-upper. We did most of the work ourselves, going out in a few places and adding a second floor, while continuing to live there. I love it now, and have no interest in doing more, except maybe a few small projects… and hiring others to do them. Fortunately/unfortunately, my husband is a do-it-yourselfer, so I usually get roped into his crazy ideas.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Janis, how cool that you were able to fix up your home yourselves. Being responsible for a transformation like that is a big deal. We know our limits when doing remodeling projects, so all the changes to come are about hiring other people to do the work. A bit more about that tomorrow, in fact.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Sounds like an adventure! Good luck with it all. I’ll be looking forward to more entertaining stories, and I hope your squirrel visitor friend won’t get scared away.

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  12. I will be reading about your renovation with interest. I WISH we were doing some renovations again, so I will have to live vicariously through you.
    I love the process of change leading up to the big finish. I suspect I might be in a minority on that one 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    • Joanne, the time has come for us to get some things fixed around here. We’ve put this off because past experience has taught me that it’s chaos to live in the house while it’s being remodeled. However, by doing this work in the summer I figure we can, when necessary, easily go outside to avoid some of the noise and mess… that lead up to the big finish. 😉

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  13. I would not be reading and enjoying your blog if it were a design one. I have trouble making decisions as it is! I prefer the personal writing where I feel like I get to know the person and establish connections. So. Remodeling. I am retiring and intending to get some work done on the house. Cue me losing what mind I have left!

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    • Margaret, I’ve come to the same conclusion as you have about blogging. But at first I really was into design and style blogs, and wanted to have one. HOWEVER, I discovered that I dislike writing about the nuances of that stuff, so onto a more personal blog went I.

      I know what you mean about losing your mind in the process of doing these sorts of remodeling projects. I’ve been overwhelmed from the start, but figure we have to do this, so I’ll do my best and not look back. *fingers crossed*

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  14. I do enjoy reading about design 🙂
    I seldom write about it, but I do now and again make the house more ours. I happen to prefer reading about it to writing about it. I hadn’t evaluated my feelings writing it, but I think it can be summed up by poor editing, which is a bit of a pun 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • joey, I like reading about other people’s design projects. I feel so hopeful as I do so. BUT the reality is that when I was writing about our projects, I hated doing it. Probably for the very reason you mentioned above… poor editing.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. When we bought our family home thirty years ago, it was a bank repo. It had been a rental with an out-of-state landlord, and the most recent tenants, who were forcibly evicted, had trashed the place. But my husband, a carpenter and remodeler, saw its natural oak woodwork and good bones, and we got it very cheaply.

    Which is the Long Way Of Saying: I’ve been through Remodeling Hell, The Extended Version. With a baby. And a reeeeeeealy tight budget. And living on the premises the entire time for a Whole House Reno.

    I AM HERE FOR YOU. IT CAN BE DONE AND YOU CAN BE ALIVE AT THE END!

    Liked by 1 person

    • nance, made me laugh with this comment. I appreciate your support and encouragement. Our situation is light years less difficult than yours was, so I’ll stop my whining immediately.

      [Well, maybe not completely totally immediately, but I’ll do less of it. BECAUSE PERSPECTIVE.]

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  17. Pingback: Let The Remodeling Wild Ride Begin, Part 2 Of 2 – THE SPECTACLED BEAN

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