Making our House our Home

Our house is over a hundred years old. That means, there are many ongoing projects to undertake, all of the time. There will be project after project to learn from; but we knew this reality when we took on this home. This home requires work, sweat and love. But we feel that these kind of old homes deserve to be loved, cared for, and protected, so they can stand for hundreds of more years! 

Of course, we did not expect the unexpected of having the massive tree fall on our roof, to add to the project list. That major renovation will occur sometime in the upcoming Spring/Summer season, so the contractors can work on the roof, and ripping apart rooms, in the warmer seasons. We might push the big project out more towards Summer, because I would also like some good months of recovery after giving birth. I would like to gain strength, along with having the baby grow to be a little more sturdy, too. 

There are so many moving factors to make so many things work, but that is just life, right? 

Right. 

In the meantime, we have been working on projects that we had (sort of) planned. Our biggest accomplishment, so far, has been creating a new "Cave of Wonders" for the kids downstairs. In our last home we created a playroom for the kids out in the garage, and in this house, there was a basement room just begging to be renovated into something special. 

The basement room needed a complete overhaul. We did not realize how big of a renovation it needed, until we actually moved in. It smelled so stinky, for so many different reasons. We found mouse poop, dead mice carcasses under the flooring, along with an old broken heater that smelled foul, and the carpet was just old, gross, and dirty. 

The room needed some major love! 

Luckily, David loves to go in, rip things apart, fix them, and make them new. It is just part of who he is; he is a "fixer" in all aspect of life. That quality works well with me, as I also like to make things new and discover the possibilities of what something can become. We work really well together in these kind of conditions. In fact, we work extremely well together under intense pressure most of the time. It often shocks me how beautifully we can handle things, such as major home renovations together. 

However, our relationship has stressors that come from different aspects of life, which I will write more about another time. We have had some really hard times lately, and we have had to work through some tough emotional spaces together. (Remarriage is not for the faint of heart!) David wants me to write about some of it, so I will in an upcoming post. We really struggled together here recently; but I am grateful for loving support from good people, such as the Bishop in our ward. Sometimes we all need an outside source, for inside help. The trick is being humble enough to ask for help when it is needed. I am still learning that lesson. My pride gets in the way of my humility far too often, darn it. I don't like needing help, but we all need help from time to time. And God provides those people to help, if we will seek them out. 

Anyhow, I digress... like I said... another post is coming about remarriage challenges. 

For now, back to the house projects! 

We began this project shortly after we moved in, and it has been a long haul process. There have been moments of momentum where we were able to get a lot done, and other times when we had to close the door and put the room on hold, so we could accomplish other things. But this last week, we made a HUGE effort to finally get the room complete, so that the kids will have somewhere to go and play, before Christmas, and especially after the baby is born. They did not have a room to "play" in, so this has been a huge improvement in the layout of our home, and the level of our sanity. 

This is what the basement room looked like when we moved in. We ripped apart the floor, the walls, the cabinets, the heater... everything. (Except the awesome ceiling!) The room has been rewired, and insulated, and is a completely new space. 

I LOVE the colors we found for the room. We wanted it to feel "cave" like, so we kept it nice and dark. The blue I found for the walls just makes me happy looking at it, the wall is now such a yummy color! I wouldn't use it in a bedroom or kitchen, but it is perfect for the cave. Now we have a place to hang up all of our awesome paintings that mean so much to me. They were part of our healing process, as we learned to use creativity to help us heal from grief after death. Just looking at the paintings brings me great joy and happy memories. 

David and Daniel did so much of the dirty work together. It was a good bonding experience for them. 

We had to level out the floor, because it was very slanted. We hired a company to pour new cement, and it was for sure the right call. The room was improved so much with a level floor. 

We built new walls, and hung drywall in front of the lath and plaster walls. 

We also installed a new window. 

David worked SO hard to get the room to be a beautiful space. He really is so skilled and talented with his hands. If he doesn't know how to do something, he just figures it out along the way. 

We all tried to help as much as we could. It was good for the kids to help and learn new skills along the way. 

Sammi playing in the mud. 

Mudding the drywall was a new and tedious process we had to learn together. But we did it, and the walls look great. 

David and Dan textured the walls. That was also a new fun thing to learn and figure out. 

We all had a painting party and got the final pieces of the room together very quickly. 

Fun times! 

We decided to go with carpet tiles, instead of "real" carpet. The room is meant to be a playroom where kids hang out often, and it seemed like a good option for all the foot traffic and toys. David had fun figuring out how to play Tetris with the carpet squares. There were some tricky places to work around, but he did awesome. 

Painting the trim. 

Of course we wanted another chalk wall. Here it is being "seasoned" for use. 

After all the work was complete, we moved in the furniture and began hanging the canvases. We opted for Costco beanbags instead of couches, and it was a good choice. The kids love it. 

I sure love all these paintings! We spent so many hours painting together, it was treasured time captured in the colors on the canvases. 

The Cave is SO comfortable, I am a little jealous it is the kids room! But, it has opened up the upstairs to more "grown-up" space, which is amazing and needed. 

The kids LOVE it and have been living it up in there. It is like bringing a little piece of our home back in Boise to our home here in Spokane. 

Henry gives it a thumbs up! Now he has somewhere to play! Hooray! 

So much fun! These four kiddos have become the best of friends during the pandemic, while having to stay home together. We are on super lockdown, because I am at higher risk being pregnant. Even though this time has been hard, it has also been strangely so good for them as siblings. They do everything together, and it is a joy for me to watch them grow into such good friends. I am so grateful they now have a place to really hang out and play together. I love how they are all so different, and yet they all love each other so much. 

I very much benefited from the room being created downstairs! I am now able to use the room upstairs that was freed up, and now I can use it as an office. I was sharing office space with David, but his work involves a lot of chatty online meetings, and I found it hard to write, while trying to share an office together. Now, I have my very own space, which I am SUPER excited about! This room will be totally renovated, since it is the room where the tree fell through the roof, but since that is likely 6 months away, I am going to utilize it fully in the meantime. (The big hole in the ceiling is covered with drywall, and protected with tarps on the roof.) 

My children said it looks like I created a Counselor's office. They wondered if I created it like that for a reason. I told them that, yes, I am going to start charging everyone when they need therapy, help, or advice. He, he. Just kidding. Though... I could use some extra cash. Hmmmm.... 

Again, this is just a temporary setup. The walls and ceiling will all be redone by the contractors with the insurance company. (I will pick the colors.) In the meantime, I get to enjoy old flowered wallpaper, baby blue walls, and a chunk of old blue carpet. I actually LOVE this room, and I cannot wait to make into something really beautiful when it comes time. There are really high ceilings in the upstairs of the house, so we have been able to hang chandeliers, which makes me happy. 

I love, love, love my new office! 

And look! I can blog again! Even if no one reads blogs anymore, and everyone is on faster-paced social media, I still love to blog, and I likely always will. I feel much more inclined to write now, with my own space to think and ponder. This office is my new sanctuary, my place of peace, learning, spiritual growth, and creativity. 

I am so grateful for such a beautiful space! 

My "therapy couch." It is for when someone needs to come and vent, or tell me about their childhood. :) 

I love the old fireplace in my new office. (Oh, and David has his own office space now, too!) I love this old house. I love that it came to us as a miracle, and even though it has been an insane amount of work, effort, and energy to take care of, this house feels like home to me. 

Oh look, my first therapy client! ;) 

I love making this house our home. 

There really is no place like it!