Thoughts on Renovations: Two Camps

Himself and I have different opinions on, well, many, many, many things. We are the personification of "opposites attract." And this truth has been much in evidence in the last few months as we go about renovating and sprucing up our new-to-us house.

I believe I may have shared this is as a mention in another post, but it deserves its own post for this reason: people get in big fights about how to go about renovations/redecoration.

Camp One (where Himself has parked his Winnebago)

AKA The "One Room at a Time" Philosophy

The name sums it up. Address one room at a time. Paint the walls, woodwork, whatever else needs to be painted. Change out the lighting. Consider flooring options and window treatments. Buy new furniture (oh, how I wish!) or wave a magic wand over what you've got. Arrange said furniture. Replace or paint outlet covers and switch plates. Hang your artwork. Put in other finishing touches.

Ta da! Room complete and perfect.

I get it. I really do. I just don't do it. And here's why.

Camp Two (my favorite spot)

AKA "Do what I can when I can vs. waiting around"

I don't always have the funds to do everything in one go, so I'd rather do what I can. If we can buy some paint and paint a room, let's do it. If I have to wait to replace the chandelier, that's fine. At least the room will sport a new and lovelier coat of paint. If all the doors in the house have to be painted (ahem), which will take a while, why not buy new doorknobs to replace the old, peeling, brassy gold ones? At least the doors will look better after only a couple of hours of work. If I want to slap a texture on the bathroom walls to cover the yucky, peeling, almost-30-year-old, dark green wallpaper but I won't have time to paint until a bit later, at least the wallpaper will be gone.

And why should my fantastic claw foot bathtub languish on the patio under the deck just because we're not ready to do the entire master bath? I'm about to take a sledgehammer to the horrid, uncomfortable, shallow "Roman" bathtub that's now collecting dust just to get rid of it myself.

Shazam!

All that being said, I do see the wisdom of doing big things all at one time. That only makes sense. And when we had the popcorn ceilings removed, we did the entire downstairs at once. We didn't go one room at a time then.

Himself and I are not trust fund babies. So cash is always a consideration. And we do a LOT of the work ourselves. But I am impatient. I love this house, and I am chomping at the bit to make it ours. To develop a style of my own (sadly lacking in the past). To create a home that's unique, gracious, welcoming, and warm.

And I want to do what I can to make progress quickly.

So where do you (and your beloved) fall on this issue? Any tips you can share? I'd appreciate any ammunition to strengthen my position! :-)




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