We opened up the addition last year in June. It wasn’t done, but it was done enough to move in. The kids had their rooms painted, but no base boards, the light fixtures were the cheap utility lights that are meant for the attic or basement. The closets were not finished, with no doors or trim around the frame.
The rooms were painted, the outlets were covered and the kids were moving in. My office and the new playroom were not finished either, and neither was the back entryway, but after working on building it for over 2 years, we had to move in and start enjoying it.
We also had to to stop working on it. At one point we thought we could get the last of everything finished, but Mr Wall Nut had spent over 2 years working on it. Most of that time he was working out of town and coming home and spending his days off in the addition. The awesome thing about a husband with mad crazy skilz is that we were able to almost double the size of our home for a fraction of the cost if we would have had to hire contractors for the whole thing. At the same time, it was hard on the family when he spent most of his time home on the other side of a boarded up wall.
So the wall came down and we moved the kids up. After that we settled in and took time off from the constant working on getting it done and kicked back to enjoy what we built…and I have to say We, because, I helped too. A little. If I didn’t have to climb up on a ladder I was good with it.
It also didn’t help that there were many times while we were building the addition that Mr Wall Nut’s employer couldn’t pay him. So it got to be harder and harder to come up with money for building supplies.
After the kids moved in we took time off from working on it.
And then we got our taxes!
We thought about doing the baseboards and the closets, but we decided on some vinyl flooring in the kids bathroom and lighting for the entire addition…minus the bathrooms which are not even close to being done.
Last weekend we went to Lowes for flooring, and ended up buying 9 new ceiling lights. This weekend we moved 2 lights and installed all 9 of the new ones. And my we, I mostly mean Mr Wall Nut. I make a wicked good assistant though!
They look so fabulous! It is amazing how different the lighting in the house looks now that the harsh, bare light bulbs have been replaced with real light fixtures. Not only is the light amazing, but it feel so much nicer. It is like our house just got a make over. Every time I walk into a room with new lighting, I feel like having a party.
We couldn’t have a party tonight, we the kids played Wii. That is about as close to party as we get around here.
