The perfect cocktail for our crazy life this past year. Let’s start with the final basement turn out. Just in time for Christmas and family visitors. <3 Don’t judge my tree decorating skills, I have yet to perfect them.
I can’t tell you how nice it is to have our house fully done. We have extra places to go play with the little rascals, we have space to enjoy a movie night on the fly without getting a babysitter, and a place for guests to stay.
Check out where the concept started here and see progress here and here if you want the whole shebang. All-in-all the take away from the project is I would never do it again with two babies two and under, BUT it was SO fun designing a space all my own. Picking out finishes, managing the subs and having a say in everything was pure heaven for a designer like me.
Also, it was a great way to save money, hiring out all on our own instead of hiring a contractor to bring in their subcontractors.
But, sometimes that isn’t always easy for the average bear, or er, human being. We were lucky to have had connections through my brother who has done a lot of work on the houses he has owned and has connections through his work. Our framer was a guy who managed his own business and did our project on the side, we had a list of companies my brother recommended and we got multiple bids to compare each step of the project.
So, it took awhile! And was a lot of calling and visits and comparing and mulling and then scheduling on my part.
Then add having a newborn and a toddler running around, managing their naps and eating and pooping, it was a bit overwhelming. There were some days that I couldn’t think straight and would just go numb. My anxiety was real, and I would get worked up really easily and be impatient with my lil two year old often.
I wouldn’t recommend doing so much with your house with little babies! It was hard to be understanding and not resent them. The whole experience was a catch 22. I was loving days with my babies just being a SAHM and soaking up their goodness, and then other days I was loving the designer life and managing construction, etc etc.
All in all, I’d probably do it again, but it was tough. Sometimes, tough things make us stronger and just better at juggling in the end.
Thanks for reading, ya’ll, hope you enjoy more designer and mama posts from yours truly in the future! For now, I’m finally finishing this article 4 months after starting it. Peace. xo
