We took on this project of renovating our home with excitement and let’s face it, naivety. As first time home owners we hadn’t a clue what we were really biting off, but bite we did, and so almost 2 months later here are some of my learnings.

So far we have: torn out a wall between kitchen and living room, taken out all the flooring, demo-ed our master bathroom, demoed the guest bathroom and laundry room, installed wood floors throughout the upper floor (lower to come in the next few weeks), mudded and sanded and painted the popcorn ceilings, redid lighting to include pot lights, put in a new kitchen, replaced a deck door…and I may be missing something! We are working with one contractor/handyman. We might be insane.

Our capacity to endure, grow, deal with, and handle is always greater than we think.

I have no real experience in the demolition/renovation/construction realm but have always thought it would be “nice” to learn some basic skills.  So we took on the demo, the staining of raw wood floors, the sealing of those floors, the purchasing of all needed materials, the building of an ikea kitchen, and the installation of stairs and painting of the interior.  It sounded substantial, but not grotesque.  I figured we’d moonlight as home reno people on weekends and finish the bits and pieces over the winter break.  And then reality happened.  Reality has equated to hours spent at the house every day, working anywhere from 3 (when kids were still needing to do school and James was at work) to 12 hours.  We haven’t taken a full day off in the past 2 months, and we have had numerous late, late nights working.

Many of these days involved dragging the kids to the house and having them work on the floor.  And in all of this, how many times did I feel like I was at my limit? How many times did I feel so exhausted I didn’t think I could eek out another hour?  I’ll tell you what – “a lot” is the answer.  But it turns out we underestimate ourselves and our capacity, our ability to persevere.  I’m learning a lot about that right now.  I teach it often enough in my classes – these poses we are learning, the long and difficult holds, they are our practice ground for this kind of real life experience.  For what I am living right now.  Stamina. Resolve. Perseverance.

Accept that struggles and difficulties are part of everything and learn to ride the wave.

Then there have been the challenges.  I love HGTV and those reno shows, and if you’ve watched any of them, you know that there’s always something unforeseen that comes up.  I thought of it as the drama added to sell a show.  But it turns out, it happens in real life too.  A lot.  Like more than once per reno as it turns out.  It’s quite distressing, I will tell you.  It’s scary and depressing. And you learn to ride the wave of it. To watch it come at you all big and scary, and as it hits, plug your nose, dive under and hope your head will bob up on the other other side. (mind you, sometimes there’s a bit of a tumble down under too!) I won’t lie, it doesn’t feel good.  I won’t make up some story about how I’m now good at handling these upsets.  I’ll simply leave it as: I think I am strong enough to endure them.  And I’m getting better (hopefully) at not sinking to the bottom right away.  Maybe, I’m even becoming more resourceful in the problem management department, but the jury may still be out on that one.

The process rather than the result is what counts.

How we grow and shift with the circumstances presented to us is more important than a pretty pose or a finished room.  People love to see before and after photos.  “Look at this dump and now look how amazing it is!” But the story is in the process, not the finished product.  Another yoga lesson right there.  What do we learn and what do we gain from going through this experience? I’m not saying I won’t enjoy just being and living in my home when it’s done.  But just like our inner work, homes are a constant project.  There’s always work to be done and improvements to be made.  There is no perfect finish. Not on our yoga mats, not in our home reno, and certainly not in this journey called life.

See? I’m learning. Slowly.  I can’t say I will miss the process, and I know it will surely be amazing to finally move into our home and just live, but when we finally do, we will have a real story etched out in the new wrinkles on our faces, the bruises and scars on our bodies and the sore muscles on our bones.

Here’s a bit more of this crazy journey in pictures:

After floors are in and covered (with cardboard) and cabinets are installed

Dining area with floors covered and painting

Family room with new paint (and floors covered)