I need a magic wand.



I have been in my house for 7 1/2 years, and now that I have the outside looking close to what I would like it to look, it's time to move to working on the inside. I did some cosmetic work when I moved in; painting and replacing some closet doors and hardware. This past fall I replaced the kitchen and entrance floors with tile, eliminating some of the ugliest vinyl floors I've seen in a while. I'm still baffled as to why anyone would install cream vinyl in a vintage BLACK & WHITE bathroom. I hate that floor. Did I mention that the bathroom has blue fixtures? Would a piece of white vinyl been so hard to find? Sigh.

We were just approved for a home equity line of credit that will allow us to do some work around the house without costing us an arm and a leg. It'll still cost us, but maybe only a foot. The LOC will also allow us to get a new (to us) vehicle. We're trading in the Focus for a Mazda Tribute. My dad just bought a fancy new Accord that does everything except make a latte. Now he has a car, an SUV and a gas guzzling truck. It's pretty much a law in Alberta that you need to have a truck of some kind, so he offered us the Tribute. This leaves my mom with a truck that she doesn't like to drive, one that costs $42 dollars in gas just to drive around the block. (I don't understand why gas is $1.30/litre in Alberta) So, in a strange trade that I think will work, we are 'selling' dad the Focus when he sells us the Tribute. Let's just call the Focus a $3000 off coupon on wheels.

The truck will live at the lake unless someone needs dirt or lumber hauled. Wait, the truck needs to live in the city...

About that magic wand...


We want to, make that need to, renovate the basement. That was the main reason we applied for the LOC. If we want to expand the family any time in the next few years, then we need to add rooms. (Before anyone gets excited, focus on the 'in the next few years' part of the last sentence. Sorry, you'll have to wait a while longer.) We can't afford to go up, so we will go down. Our plans are to add one bedroom downstairs for Bryan and myself - one with a master suite and walk in/through closet. Further plans include a family room with a kid's corner (library/toy storage), a big kid's corner for Bryan's computer and Lego, and redoing the laundry area to include a craft/sewing/silversmithing spot for me to play in. Gotta do something in the winter if I can't play in the garden.

But, to start, we have to do some demo work. Since it's only partially finished right now, it won't take a lot of time to demo. I think. That's where the wand would come in.Wave wand, say the magic word and poof! Basement stripped back to stud walls. Wave it again and poof! New furnace installed. Once more and poof! New electrical panel.

I need the truck to get stuff to my house from Home Depot. Yes, the Depot delivers. But I don't want all the stuff at once, and even if I did, where would I put it? I'll bring in what I need when I need it, and have the big stuff delivered as needed.

So here is the beginning of the list:

Step One: Demo
Step Two: Furnace and tankless water heater
Step Three: New electrical panel
Step Four: Apply large rolls of masking tape to floor to decide where walls will go, and hope that the Framing Fairy takes the hint and surprises us with walls while we sleep.