The Decision...

So let me start by saying, Adult decisions suck!

I am not sure that I actually have any followers right now, but I am sorry that it has taken me this long to post about what is going on in our house! The last month to month and a half or so has been a roller coaster ride. We have been both disappointed and excited over and over again. We are currently in a good place, feeling like we have a made a good decision for our family. Let me take you back.

We got our first quote, which was to include the second floor addition (3 bedrooms and bath over main house, 2 rooms over the garage) new windows on the first floor, and all exterior work (new siding, front porch and back deck), new heating system throughout and a sprinkler system (Thank you city of Portland for requiring that...insert extreme sarcasm!) We were fully prepared that this quote was going to come in way over our budget, but we figured lets find out what it will all cost and we will cut things out from there. Well....it all cost more than we paid for our house in the first place. Even after taking all of the unnecessary stuff out, it was still way too much over budget. We were down to only the 3 bedrooms and bathroom upstairs, new windows and siding and we just couldn't stomach it.

Now, if you have read the post about how we are living, you will understand when I say that at this point I was ready to just pack our bags and walk out of this house forever! I called a realtor friend to come over and see if he thought there was any way that we could sell....the answer NO. Not that we couldn't try to sell, but we would never break even. But he was also a general contractor and offered to price the job out for us. He thought he could do it for within our budget. I am so thankful to him for trying, and he came really close, but couldn't do it. For a few days, we were just going to put the loan through, we felt like we had no choice. What else are we going to do? Yes, it wasn't going to be a mortgage payment we were super comfortable with, but we could do it. We would have to have an tight budget and there wouldn't be a lot of extras, but we had to do it.

The next morning, we have an argument about money and an engine light came on in my car (which miraculously has since gone off, think someone was trying to tell me something??) and I thought, no way, we can not do this! There are more important things in life than this upstairs, we need to change our thinking....which led us to this...

What are the things we NEED (not want)

1. More space
2. The exterior of the house done
3. New windows
4. New kitchen
5. New bathroom

For all the money we were going to spend on the upstairs, we weren't going to get the new kitchen and bath that we desperately needed downstairs. Where that money would have come from to finish that...who knows? Money tree??

Anyway, I looked at this list of needs and decided that we could finish our basement. We have a daylight basement, and we don't use it for anything right now, except storage. We used to get water in it, but had a water line leak out front and haven't had any since it was repaired. So we would move our bedroom down there along with a bathroom. We would then move Olivia into our current bedroom and Owen into Olivia's bedroom. This would open Owens room back up to allow for a small dining room for our table. By being able to move the table, we can renovate the kitchen exactly the way the plans show. Then we can renovate the bathroom/laundry room as well. We can put in new windows and vinyl side the outside of the house.

So, by doing this plan we aren't doing any unnecessary work. Everything that we are doing we would need to do with the upstairs anyway. The only things that we aren't getting with this plan downstairs is a nice front entry with closets and a large dining room, but we are able to follow the rest of the plan exactly. We planned to make a hang out space for the kids, and a place for guests to stay later on, in the basement, anyway, so now it is just getting done first. When we don't need the bedroom anymore, it will be perfect timing for Olivia to want a space to hang out with her friends.

This is where we are at. Mike is doing a lot of the work and we are hiring some of it out. At first I was a little disappointed because we have just waited for so long to put the upstairs on, but now I am happy. We are going to spend 3/4 less than we would have. We are getting all that we need and we are living within our means. We will still be able to do the fun things with the kids that we enjoy so much and not worry about every penny we spend. It was a hard decision to make, but the right one....

Our journey in home renovations has taken a new course, but we are still on a ride that I think you will all enjoy! Stay tuned...tomorrow we have a dumpster being delivered and November 2nd someone is coming to cut our basement concrete...pictures, pictures!!