My family and I have been lucky enough to buy our first house. It is an awesome dwelling that is in a location that is very convenient to us, a size that has exceeded our hopes and expectations, a style that we love and with a price tag we could actually afford. As I said, very lucky. The trade-off for all this awesomeness and affordability is that it is what one might call 'a fixer-upperer'. (The phrase that seems to be popular among realestate agents at the moment to describe this is 'opportunity to add your own value'.)
Pretty much every room needs a make-over. In a big way. Really big.
But that is okay because the house itself is fantastic and when I look at it I see nothing but potential (well, potential and faux wood paneling!) and I see a hundred little projects--the kind that bring me great joy and satisfaction.
The only potential stumbling block here is the fact that since we put all our money into getting our house and will continue to put all our money into paying off the giant loan that enabled us to get our house our renovation budget is pretty much nil. But this is okay too since I like a challenge, particularly a creative challenge, and since we have found a house that fits us so well we are planning to be here long term, thus time is also on our side.
Out of this my renovation philosophy has been born--I am trying my best to first use what is already available (things I already own, things left on the property by previous owners, materials I have removed from one place that might have a new use in another). When that is not possible I try and find something that I can reuse from another source--trash and treasure, opp-shops, verge collection, rubbish tips etc. In all my renovating endeavors I aim to do things in a way that is affordable (but not "cheap"), environmentally responsible, and fun. Good for me, good for the planet and good for my pocket. I am a barefoot renovator.
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We had a craft day today, and I painted a matching set of ocean-scapes. And Mel was saying she is doing her (rather large) tree canvass to go with her walls when she paints her walls, and then encouraged me to find a peice of wall to hang up my art too.
I'm not that enthused about the artwork or the idea of painting, but it's an idea that might grow on me. I have a few issues with art, and they're resolving now, so it's interesting to see how things which were previously unthinkable (art... on the walls... that I did??) are now thinkable, but also might even one day happen.
The idea of painting the walls and making art to go with it all at the same time is suddenly almost attractive where as tbh, it probably should still be unthinkable.
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