Jan 7: Settling

Stephen goes by our new house every day to check on the progress of the renovation, but I only make it a few times a week. Tonight, we stopped by after work, and the upstairs is almost complete. Tomorrow they are going to move our stuff, which is stacked to the ceiling in the living room and dining room, up to the bedrooms so they can continue finishing up the heating system and start repairing the downstairs walls. We probably have another 3 weeks before we can settle in.

Advice often heard while we were hunting for our first house had to do with prioritizing what we were looking for and being willing to give up on some wants. Unlike the advice I got while single and dating, house hunting seemed to be all about coming to terms with "settling". And we did... a little. No fireplace. Only one full bath. Shallow closets. An awkward driveway that barely accommodates 2 cars. Near-ish to a main road. A tiny, sloping yard. But when it comes to what has snowballed into essentially an overall rehab on a place we originally considered "move in ready", we haven't been as restrained or willing to compromise.

We figured since we weren't living there yet, we might as well get things really in order - from all new piping for the heating upgrade down to all new light switches and outlets. Only when it came to major structural changes have we pulled back on the reins. Although we doubled the size of the full bath, built two new closets out of an awkward space, and reoriented the office, we decided not to level out the second floor that has spent the past 90 years settling around a central furnace chimney. It would have taken months and would have only been for vanity reasons. The house is solid as can be.

Tonight, I was seeing the upstairs cleaned out of construction equipment for the first time. "You barely notice the sloping floors from most angles," I thought to myself - until I looked up. The wall above the newly relocated (and level) office door is sporting a clear 4-5 inch difference from the left side to the right. But as awkward as it might be at first look, it's these kinds of imperfections and charm that give an older house personality... something our house has, something we definitely didn't settle on.