Building a Home, One Room at a Time

Some of you know Isaac and I bought a house about a year and a half ago, but it hasn't really felt like a home to me until this spring. When COVID-19 hit, we had a lot more free time. Instead of panicking at the loss of a job, and a new online life, we decided to take a breather.

At first, we simply enjoyed the time we had together. We've been together for almost three years (it will be three on September 4, 2020!), and it feels like we have never spent as much time together as we did during the start of the pandemic. After the new normal settled in, we decided to push onward to complete some of the home projects on our list. The list is quite long:

• Redo the Kitchen

• Paint the Dining Room

• Hang/Create Dining Room Light

• Redo the Bathroom

• Hang up Photos/Art

• Make Coffee Table

• Make Bed Frame

• Make Trash Can Holder... thingy

• Make TV Stand

• Tear Out Carpet

• Put in Sump-Pump

• Dig French Drain

• Replace Chain Link Fence

• Make Laundry Chute

• and it goes on everyday...

The "honey-do" list never seems to get quite finished, even as we start checking things off. We are one of those couples that starts too many projects before finishing one. So far, Isaac has used his wood-working skills to turn pallet wood into a coffee table, TV stand, and a container for our trash can; he's made a frame for our bed - I made him finish that before I moved in; I was not going to sleep on the bed in the middle of the living room floor. Recently, he even finished a laundry chute! After a few co-workers of his came to dig for a day, the French drain was finally installed; we removed our chain-link fence; Isaac dug a whole in the guest room in the basement and installed (partially, we still need to figure out how to get the water out) a sump-pump.

My favorite project to date though is our new dining room light. I found an image on Pinterest, and I fell in love with the idea of a ladder light. When we moved into the house, there were several old wooden ladders out back that would work perfect for my vision. Here's how we did it.

1. For starters, we had to climb into the attic and move the electrical. When we moved in, the owners had a chandelier light in the dining room that was positioned on the right side of the room, not even centered... That being said, when Isaac's older brother, Ben came to visit for our birthday weekend in June, he helped us get the project started. The two of them roamed around the attic and began the process of making a new hole in the ceiling and moving the electrical.

2. After that was done, we had to figure out the lights themselves. What we ended up doing (and by we, I mean Isaac. I was project supervisor!), was getting a single light with a base plate, drilling additional holes for the other lights and rewiring all the lights.... honestly, you'd have to ask Isaac for all the gory electrical details.

3. Finally, add hooks to the ceiling to hang up the ladder; wrap lights around the ladder, and then garnish with greenery!

Slowly, but surely, we are building this house into the home of our dreams. Adding personal touches, photos, repainting, and styling it to fit our personalities, I can't wait to see what the house looks like when we're done!