January 08, 2013

Renovation fatigue

We've been living in our house for a full month now!
I kind of hoped we would be a lot more organized than we are.  
But with Christmas, 


and the kids off school for 2 weeks, and going to the cottage for New Year's,


and a whole host of problems to fix, I haven't done as much unpacking as I wanted to. 
The truth is--- I'm just tired.
Now that we've got a working kitchen and a comfortable couch to sit in, I just don't feel like tackling the stack of boxes that still fill our guest room and basement.
I've got reno burnout.
So we're just going to slowly settle ourselves in and hold off on all the finishing touches for awhile-- like stair railings, the fireplace, door handles, basement drywalling, closet doors...
Not exactly little stuff, I know, but we can live without it.
I have put in a few shelves, and clothes rods (so we have a place to empty our boxes to).


Hooks, too, are a necessity!


We carted this big piece of driftwood home from the cottage last week for our front hall.  
Paul, (I can practically hear his family chuckling right now!) pulled it up from the beach and suggested we use it as a coat rack! 
Love it!


When we were in Scotland last summer, Paul's family friends the McKays of McKay Flooring gave us 3 whisky barrel staves from their line of Scottish whisky barrel flooring.  
The coolest flooring ever!


We packaged them well and carted them home with our luggage.


I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but had a couple of ideas for art projects.
In the end, we decided to just leave them and hang them up exactly as they were.


I think they look great!
They still even smell like whisky!  


So, hopefully soon, I'll be able to do a bit more posting. 
In the meantime, I'm back at the boxes-- keep, garbage, donate. 
:-)










14 comments:

  1. I love what you did with the staves! They look amazing on the wall. I never would have been creative enough to think of that.

    Your reno took so much longer than mine is going to, but I can already tell I'm going to be tired of it by the time it's over. We got right in the middle of the major plumbing work and framing for pouring concrete, and it's raining like crazy today, with more predicted for tomorrow...so nothing will happen till Thursday. Ugh!

    You're in, and your home is gorgeous, so it won't hurt a thing for you to take a little breather and have fun with the family. The finishing touches can wait.

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    1. You'll get through it, Dana! It is worth it in the end but when things go wrong, it's hard not to get frustrated.

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  2. Enjoy your fatigue. Kick up your feet. And go through a box at a time. January is the perfect time to purge! The staves are amazing. Such a perfect way to display them :)

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    1. Thanks, Meg! You're right about January being a good time for this. I'm certainly not a cold weather girl!

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  3. That flooring is the coolest thing I've ever seen! You've been working on such a complete overhaul and experiencing reno fatique was only a matter of time. There will be plenty of time for the finishing touches now that you are already in the house. Btw I am hosting a giveaway for a free pair of designer pillows (value up to $140) so don't forget to check it out. :)

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  4. Aren't those floors just so unique? McKay flooring also reclaims gym floors with the brightly coloured markings on some of them-- love those, too. Thanks or the tip on the pillows, I'll head by now and try to win! I could certainly use a few new pillows.

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  5. Keira, you can take the staves and make candle holders from them. Just drill holes wherever, and put the staves on s dining room table. I don't have a pix, but I have a stave, come over an look at it sometime..

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    1. Great idea, Dean! I guess you could use either tapers or tea lights. I'll have to take a look sometime!

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  6. Love the idea of using the driftwood as a coat rack!

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    1. I actually kind of love it too! We just need to find a way to make sure it doesn't get overloaded and tip onto someone's head.

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  7. Hi Keira, thanks for commenting on my blog. Wow, love the driftwood, floors and whisky barrel staves... great suggestions here on DIY projects. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thank, Wendy! I really enjoy following your blog-- even if I don't always comment.

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  8. Keep at it, it will be wonderful when it's finished, you have so many lovely ideas :)

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  9. Thanks for sharing your reno experience. Where did you source the stair railings?

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