Oh Friend, I’ve struggled a bit in writing to you. I’ve been wanting to find something that truly benefits you instead of just sharing what’s on my heart, and every post I’ve started this week has put me to sleep. So back to my heart it is.
Remember 18 months ago, when I shared some inspiration photos about our basement here and here? Well, I finally starting tearing the walls down to start the process. Specifically this one beside the stairs that will become the kitchen area:
I was proud of myself for disconnecting the light and switches :). Next I need to learn how to shut off the water and pull the sink out. In the new plan I’d like to block off that door on the left and put a full size refrigerator there. Right now the fridge is in the garage, but it will be much more convenient here and give us more space to work in the garage. We’re not really moving forward with this project, but some of the demo was necessary to be able to access plumbing and electrical for our master bedroom project. And Darren said I could move forward with any of our projects as long as whatever I did was free.
I had such a productive labor day weekend, but part of me is a little sad. You see, the flooring I picked out for this space was almost $1 off per square foot the the holiday sale. It’s the first time in 18 months that I’ve seen it go on sale, and I didn’t buy it. I felt a bit of anguish at the time but it was minor compared to the disappointment I feel today now that the sale is over. When the waves of disappointment come, I tell myself all the good reasons why we didn’t buy the floor.
- We need to make sure we have enough money to finish our bedroom project.
- We weren’t positive that rigid flooring is the best option for the basement. I’ve heard it’s awesome for smoothing out imperfections, but others have said the imperfections might weaken the floor and cause cracking and flexible is the better choice.
- We aren’t ready to install the flooring yet and at the rate we’re going it could be a year or more longer. That means we’d have to find a place to store the flooring and hope it didn’t get damaged before we could use it.
- Since we need to wait to install the floor, we might find another good deal or an even better fit for our area, OR my taste my change completely and I’ll choose something else.
I’m feeling a little better now that I wrote that all down. There were definitely more reasons to not buy the floor. The only reason to buy the floor was saving $1,000 with the sale, but there’s nothing that says we won’t find another sale when we’re more ready.
In the meantime, I’m taking the studs and pine board paneling that is too short to use in the reconstruction phase and using it to turn this front closet into a bench with drawers. Like this one from the House of Smiths.
To finish it all out, I’ll only need to buy a few trim boards and a piece of foam for the bench cushion.
How about you, have you ever bought something because it was a great sale and then regretted it? Or didn’t buy something even though it was a great sale and wondered what might have been? I’d love to hear about it.
I think you were very smart not to buy it yet, for all those reasons listed! I’ve been known to buy things ahead of time, thinking, “It’s on sale, what a good deal!” and then not use them at all, or the project gets changed, or the item is damaged by the time I’d need it. Very savvy of you. I also identify with needing to write it all down to see what was good about the situation – I’m better after I’ve let my brain tell me its completely irrational reasons for doing something, and reasoning my way out of feeling bad. 😉 Haha!
Good luck on your plumbing and other projects, and enjoy the free things you CAN do! And I love your hall closet idea – very pretty!
Thank you, Emily. That does make me feel better. My free wood was warped….so the frame won’t lay flat. Now I’m walking around it in circles muttering, “You get what you pay for.” Bwa ha ha. I’m sure there’s a work around somehow if I google “How to build with warped wood” or something like that. And now I remember why all my projects take forever. I’d LOVE to be an affective home blogger but my reality and timeline are at odds with my ambition.
We did a bathroom remodel last year (started the previous year) and I bought a bunch of “goodies” that were on sale plus my employee discount and YAY…. but then the project finished and due to some construction necessary changes I had many of those fixtures, etc left over that I couldn’t use. And WAY beyond any return policy. So I ended up selling them at a discount or donating them. So what savings I may have had, I ended up losing and then some.
Oh well. I agree that you were smart not to buy. There are sales all the time on different things and since you waited, you’ll probably come out in the better. (Not having to work around the boxes of flooring, moving them so you can get to that one wall area, worrying about them getting damaged in the process, and the stress of spending money to save money on a project that you aren’t quite ready for.
Best wishes in your bedroom reno.
Thank you for that validation. I do feel a lot better about it today. I just wish everything were DONE already and having the supplies feels a step closer. It would have been an illusion though.
I bought the Allure plank laminate flooring from Home Depot because it was less expensive by a $1-1.50 a sq ft. and it turned into a huge mistake. It supposedly came with a lifetime warranty. But the reality is it doesn’t cover the wear on the floor, which is considerable. It hasn’t held up well and five years later I really need a new kitchen floor.
Lesson learned…I should have bought the more expensive flooring.
I’m in remodel sticker shock. I wanted to widen a doorway by three feet and add four cabinets to my kitchen. The bid came back at $12,850. They want $250 a linear foot to match my existing cabinets, which are basic 1950’s flat front cabinets. That price didn’t include paint or installation. Back to the drawing board.
Renee! I’m so sorry about your floor. That’s something that’s hard to predict. As far as the kitchen goes, you’ll be ahead to act as your own contractor and sub out the jobs you can’t do. We have a HUGE kitchen and bought all new box cabinets for $3,000 from cabinetgiant.com We had to put them together (not a big deal) and then hired a carpenter at $20 an hour to help us hang them.
Oh I can’t wait to see the finished product of the closet!! I have one that this might be a really good idea for! Thanks for the inspiration!
Your welcome! You might finish yours before I do, but I’ll post as soon as I get it done. I’m taking pictures of the steps along the way, since I haven’t seen instructions for the drawers in the bench anywhere.
Recently, I was trading the kids bedrooms and purging. I thought I had to buy one more set of bunkbeds on craigslist. Since I was so sick of having so much stuff (once we pulled it all out) I realized that I didn’t need to buy anything. I needed to make what I already had work. We ended up putting two mattresses in the trash where they should have been. (My poor kids!) Then we used what we already had. It did involve pulling out a toddler bed out of storage for my 5-year old and trashing some European extra long bunk beds that I could no longer find mattresses for. I don’t know. What I’m trying to say that sometimes being patient pays off. Now I don’t feel pressure to hurry up and look for bunk beds perhaps buying the wrong thing for more money. I can wait for them to come at a great price and time. It was much better to get of things and use what we already had. I store way too much for those “just in case” times and it’s really hard in the end. God will provide what you need and will you need (and you won’t have to store it.) Likely, it will be a better plan and deal in the end because that’s how God works. I’m not saying keeping some things might not be prudent or that storing is bad, but most of us just have WAY too much and it makes us miserable. I think you did the right thing.
These are my favourite posts from you, the real life in the trenches kind. It shows me that maybe I could do it too with less kids and no extra jobs like you have. Thank you for sharing your real life in a real life timeline.
Could you stain the concrete, until you can get flooring? I have a bunch of tile in my basement, which I’m no longer planning on using because my taste changed. You did the right thing!
Stacy, we could. We looked into it as a permanent finish even, but the floor is pretty broken up from the foundation damage and it almost cost the same to buy the vinyl planks as the stain and polish. So we decided to wait for the floor we want. The plan is to put area rugs on the floor as is when we get the rest of the space cleaned up. And live with it as we save up money.