Almost There

Today was one of my favorite days that I’ve spent in my house. I woke up to a clean and mostly finished house, which is a very unfamiliar occurrence when I’m at home. Breakfast was at the dining room table, which might sound normal but is far from practical most of the time. I enjoyed a few hours in some beautiful spring weather on the bike, and spent the rest of the day casually taking care of yard work.

Taking time to enjoy the morning’s coffee

Let’s back up a minute and see why this is so atypical. After a few years of commuting to work, I got sick of it and thought it would be fun to buy a house in Waukesha to live in and fix up. So I did the only logical thing, and bought a 100+ year old foreclosure with buckling and missing floors, knob and tube wiring, a non-functional boiler, numerous shoddy modifications, and serious water issues (oh, and mice o

f course). I ended up completely gutting the house, changing the layout drastically (I counted once and I think I changed 14 exterior openings in the house), and doing most of the work myself. I should clarify that I’ve had a ton of help from some awesome people, but have barely hired anything out. Four years and a few weeks later, here I am wondering where the time has gone. In my defense, I’ve done a lot of things besides work on the house during that time, and have gone long stretches without doing much of any house work, but it’s still been a massive amount of work. Side note, a contractor I had out to bid some work shortly after I purchased the house noted that he’d done the same thing – bought a house to live in and fix up – and it had been 4 years and he was still working on it. I thought that sounded terrible, and was certain I didn’t need to worry as I’d have mine finished within about a year. How wrong I was.

So here I am, sitting in a clean house that doesn’t have tools, materials, and sawdust on every flat surface, and finally realizing the vision I had for the place when I bought it. It’s taken a lot to get to this point, and it makes me more than a little sad that I won’t get to enjoy the finished product for very long. I’ve started working at a company in Madison over the last couple years, and just pulled the trigger on buying a house there. The housing market around here has picked up quite a bit recently, and I’m planning to sell this place once I move and get the last details finished up. Previously, I had planned to rent it out, and it was nice at least knowing I’d still own the house that I’ve spent so many hours toiling over, obsessing over details that I’m the only one who will probably ever notice or care about.

Uncharacteristically free of tools and clutter

My house in Madison doesn’t need much work (going to take a break from that for now), and by all normal measures is a nice house. When I walk through it though, I can’t help but think about the walls I’d move, and dwell too long on the trim joints and tile work that isn’t quite up to my standards. So I’m trying to enjoy the time I do get to spend here, and appreciate that I’ve been able to successfully tackle something that at times has been very trying. It’s rare that I have a day like today where I’m not scrambling to try to get the next project finished, not constantly noticing the trim that still needs one more coat of paint, that one section of backsplash that isn’t done yet, or the unpainted section of wall where shelving still needs to be put in. The end is finally near. It’s a nice change from the norm, and I’m going to focus on enjoying it while I have the chance!