We bought our house fully aware of it's flaws. The bathrooms have not been updated since it was built in 1935 and the kitchen had a partial upgrade sometime during the late '50's. It's a diamond in the rough. But we fell in love with it's charm, character, history, perfect location and massive backyard and fantastic potential. It's our forever house. I have visions of at least one of my children getting married here someday. When we remodel, we want to do it right, and it will be amazing.
We've been planning our remodel since we moved in two years ago. I never thought it would take us this long, but you know, life gets in the way. We hired an architect, fired and architect, hired a new architect, got approval from five of our neighbors and finalized our plans. The city building and planning department seems to be moving at a snails pace. Then the stock market fell apart and we are tightening our belts and not feeling so secure about things right now.
I'm frustrated. I can't stand my kitchen. It's dark and cut off from the rest of the house. The oven burns everything I try to cook no matter what I do. The drawers don't shut properly and the paint is chipped. Don't even get me started on the bathrooms. Ugh. I sometimes feel like we live in a tent, the windows are so flimsy. There is a huge hole in our living room ceiling where water dripped down from a leak in the master bathroom shower.
I know that we are lucky to even have a house that we are not at risk of losing (knock super hard on wood). We are lucky to live close to a public school that we are happy to send our children to. We are lucky to have enough space inside and outside for our family of five. And we are lucky to have enough space to host our family and friends for holidays and birthday parties. I know all this.
But this house and it's 73 year old quirks are starting to get on my nerves. Today the plumbing betrayed me. After three of us used the toilet, it decided to clog and overflow. My downstairs bathroom flooded, which is right off the kitchen. It was a seriously nasty flood if you know what I mean. I put some towels on the floor and raced out the door to get the girls to tennis lessons. When we got home I got out the plunger, held my breath and plunged the heck out of that old, stinky toilet. It was not pretty. I fixed the toilet, but I couldn't bring myself to clean the floor yet. I think I need a hazmat suit. Anyone have one I can borrow?
For now I just shut the door and told the kids not to open it under any circumstances. I went upstairs to change my clothes and when I came back down Lolly had taped this up on the door.
It made me smile.
For more background on our lovely home, go here. Be sure to read parts 1 and 2 as well.
13 comments:
The sign is priceless! And I'm sure the irony is totally lost on them. :)
Sorry about the mess though. That's rough.
LOL! Sorry about the house issues. I feel the same way, our house is 50 years old and I am the handy man, sometimes I dream of a hubby that's Mr.fix it.
Excellent sign!
Honestly, it kind of sounds like, belt-tightening or not, the bathroom issues need to be addressed! I feel for you.
I totally understand your pain. We live in a house built in 1926, was updated in the 50's. I love my house, but I would love a bigger kitchen and a toilet that flushes reliably all of the time. Hoping you got the icky stuff all cleaned up. (((Hugs))))
I've got that whole love/hate relationship going with my house as well...
Well you know... right now, contractors are chomping at the bit to do some work. So, you could probably get some good work done, quickly, for a very decent price - IF you're willing to part with a little bit of your green.
We're plumbers, and I'd love to give you some help, but I think with the 6 hour round trip, you'd be better off with somebody else!
Cute sign, by the way!
That sign too funny. I have a similar love/hate relationship with our old, old house. In the winter, it's mostly hate! I'm sorry about the bathroom issues. Not fun at all.
I love the sign! We have a very similar one which forbids us from entering a six year old's bedroom. Thankfully not for the same reason...
Having said that, our house was built in 1992 and still one of the upstairs toilets keeps getting blocked. We had guests and they had to spend 30 minutes getting acquainted with a plunger on their first night here (v embarrassing but I was not going in there no sireee thank you very much).
Yes, it's the house's fault that you burn everything.
My kids make similar signs. As a matter of fact, whenever the toilet clogs, they are transformed into master signmakers.
I love that sign - it is awesome.
Someday, you and Mr. Mint will be sitting in your fully redone home and laugh about all the quirks it had when you first bought it. Remember your first home in SF before you re-did it? Seems like so long ago now. Remember our house in Sacto, when the oven caught fire that one Thanksgiving? Those were the days...
We have constant problems with our toilets too. Which is why I had to spend two weeks rushing my potty training son upstairs every time it looked like he was doing the pee pee dance. Not convenient - but sort of makes up for my lack of exercise...
That makes me smile too! How cute. Sorry to hear about the woes of "this old house." I am sure it is full of character.
There are times I hate where we live...in a town that is all tract homes unless you want to live in the "rough" part of town or have a bazillion dollars to pay what the contractors around here demand. I hate it...no charm, no character, no personality. I looked at the pictures of both of your houses and seethed with envy.
But thank you for making me grateful, because I have yet to lose a drawer front or have a flood (although I'm fairly certain I just jinxed myself by saying that).
And Lolly's sign is fabulous. Love it!
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