That was the question my partner (at the time) and I asked ourselves when buying our first home. We (well, he ) had the knowledge of construction and design and both really wanted a place that would reflect us and what we truly wanted in a home. The home we chose was the top floor of a triplex, built in 1928. Our unit was the result of 2 apartments that had been haphazardly combined, resulting in many small rooms that made up 1250 square feet of space. Our vision was to turn it into a proper 2-bed home with a new kitchen, bathroom, and huge walk-in closet.
Being first-time homeowners, we had no funds left after our down payment, welcome taxes, and various closing costs. We decided to renovate the house bit by bit, a painstaking process that lasted several years. In this time, we took down walls, ripped out flooring, put in beams and painted. We lived in various stages of renovation for a period of about 3-4 years. Finally, the day arrived where we settled on a budget and decided to complete what we had started. At this point, we thought it could be done over in a few weeks. We packed our essentials and moved around from our very generous friends’ and family’s homes for a period which lasted closer to a few months.
Although long and somewhat painful, the process itself was incredible. We completely gutted the kitchen and bathroom, took down any remaining walls that needed to be removed, replastered, and rebuilt the kitchen and bathroom using premium quality materials and finishing.
Since this time, I’ve had the experience of purchasing 2 move-in ready homes that required little more than just some strategic furniture placement to make them liveable. I’ve never felt quite as attached or had the same feeling of major accomplishment regarding these homes as I did with my first.
The real question is now, would I do it all over again? To learn more about my reno, check out the video below!