Winding it down.

The workers have gone on to the next job.

The list of finishing touches is getting shorted a shorter…and slowly, bit by bit, I am reclaiming my house.

The work started January 2…and in truth… the “stuff” began to be assembled in December. My house has been upside down. I have lived out of the same laundry basket since March 1. And while there are  many many worse scenarios I could have endured …I am glad to be almost done with this one.

The hardest part for me has been that I work from home. I live among organized chaos and there is always a slow din of noise around, but it is my noise, my own people…it has been challenging for me to work with my front door opening and closing upwards of 50 times a day. Especially when each of those times…Charlie my guardian Angel is following them out….and following them back in.

So here are my 10 RULES for how to SURVIVE

a HOUSE RENOVATION

1. PACK away all unnecessary items, into bins, closets, get them out-of-the-way and get them out from underfoot.

2. Buy a large roll of brown paper or recycle old cardboard to cover your floors.

3. Mark your tools well and then put them in a designated place…and EVERY SINGLE TIME you use them…..put them there… If I had a dollar for every time I had to go find my hammer!

4.Roll up rugs and put them away.

5. Keep a professional relationship with the people in your home. The tendency for me is to be all chatty and friendly, and you SHOULD be nice, but these people are working. And working for you. They have a job to do and you need to let them do it. I was not very good at this rule.

6. Tell yourself over and over as much as you need to that the mess and the disruption is temporary. It can feel overwhelming at times to have your house turned upside down, especially with kids and especially if the work involves the kitchen or the bathrooms which mine did.

7. Make shower schedules when you are down to one shower. 

8. Cut back on the grocery shopping and eat out if need be. Cleaning up after a meal AFTER cleaning the dust off the plates can be an appetite squasher.

9. Any time it is possible, open windows to air out all the fumes from the paint and the plaster and the work.

and the MOST IMPORTANT RULE

10. Be NICE to your family. They are who this is all for!