Comments on: “The House is Killing Us” http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/ A home improvement blog about renovating our Queenslander house in Townsville, Australia Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:30:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jocelyn http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1118 Jocelyn Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:24:16 +0000 http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/#comment-1118 Things can certainly get overwhelming. And we don't even have children at our place. I'm not sure what all the work you are doing and how liveable your house is, but if you can avoid doing it all at once. Definitely, breaks are a must. We tend to lighten up alot in the winters and take a year off from major projects. For example, we did our bathroom ourselves, and then waited a few years to take on the kitchen. In between we did alot of smaller projects, but we try to break up the major ones with some time to avoid burnout. This summer we had a huge project and now this winter we will do some smaller projects and then in the summer nothing major again. When I say major, I mean gutting and complete rehab. Also, when we had a major project going on like our kitchen for example that took us a long time (I won't say how long)- if we were tired, we took a weekend off. Blood from a turnip is an important thing to remember. Also, family obligations can save you and force breaks. Good luck and remember life and renovation are processes not about perfection. I hope you can work it out. Things can certainly get overwhelming. And we don’t even have children at our place. I’m not sure what all the work you are doing and how liveable your house is, but if you can avoid doing it all at once. Definitely, breaks are a must. We tend to lighten up alot in the winters and take a year off from major projects. For example, we did our bathroom ourselves, and then waited a few years to take on the kitchen. In between we did alot of smaller projects, but we try to break up the major ones with some time to avoid burnout.

This summer we had a huge project and now this winter we will do some smaller projects and then in the summer nothing major again. When I say major, I mean gutting and complete rehab.

Also, when we had a major project going on like our kitchen for example that took us a long time (I won’t say how long)- if we were tired, we took a weekend off. Blood from a turnip is an important thing to remember. Also, family obligations can save you and force breaks.

Good luck and remember life and renovation are processes not about perfection. I hope you can work it out.

]]> By: Bill Hutchison http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1117 Bill Hutchison Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:18:30 +0000 http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/#comment-1117 We feel like we have been at it now ever since we got our first house, almost 3.5 years ago. It's really getting to be too much. To add more challenges to it we are visiting Canada in February next year, and need to get certain things done and in place before we leave so that we can feel secure in the house when we go. This is proving to be a challenge considering how long it takes to get anything done here in Townsville, especially if trying to do it on a budget. We feel like we have been at it now ever since we got our first house, almost 3.5 years ago. It’s really getting to be too much.

To add more challenges to it we are visiting Canada in February next year, and need to get certain things done and in place before we leave so that we can feel secure in the house when we go. This is proving to be a challenge considering how long it takes to get anything done here in Townsville, especially if trying to do it on a budget.

]]> By: heather http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1116 heather Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:07:41 +0000 http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/#comment-1116 Yes! Put some of the work off for a while. Take the time to spend with your family doing activities outside the house or spend time together doing things that are not house related. It's difficult when you are in the midst of doing lots of work on the house to keep a balance with other aspects of your life. The tendency is to push through and get the work on the house done. We are going on our 5th year of a major restoration project. The first 2 yrs. we didn't do anything outside of the house or have any converation when we didn't discuss some aspect of the house. We ended up feeling so burnt out that we took a year off from doing any work on the house. We out to dinner, out to the movies and just started to have a normal life outside of the house. If we would have kept going with work on the house, I would have ended up hating the house. Now we try to do one major house project a year. I deally, I'd like to have our house finished but we had to step back and find the balance with the other aspects of our life. Yes! Put some of the work off for a while. Take the time to spend with your family doing activities outside the house or spend time together doing things that are not house related.

It’s difficult when you are in the midst of doing lots of work on the house to keep a balance with other aspects of your life. The tendency is to push through and get the work on the house done.

We are going on our 5th year of a major restoration project. The first 2 yrs. we didn’t do anything outside of the house or have any converation when we didn’t discuss some aspect of the house. We ended up feeling so burnt out that we took a year off from doing any work on the house. We out to dinner, out to the movies and just started to have a normal life outside of the house. If we would have kept going with work on the house, I would have ended up hating the house.

Now we try to do one major house project a year. I deally, I’d like to have our house finished but we had to step back and find the balance with the other aspects of our life.

]]> By: Maryam in Marrakesh http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1115 Maryam in Marrakesh Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:08:47 +0000 http://www.renovateaustralia.com/2006/12/18/the-house-is-killing-us/#comment-1115 I am just writing to send my support to you, all the way from Marrakesh. It always ends up being so much more expensive, time consuming and soul sapping than what is originally imagined. My advice to you is to make sure to do at least one very fun thing every single weekend with your family. Otherwise, life will pass you by and you will wonder why you didn't enjoy it more. I am just writing to send my support to you, all the way from Marrakesh. It always ends up being so much more expensive, time consuming and soul sapping than what is originally imagined. My advice to you is to make sure to do at least one very fun thing every single weekend with your family. Otherwise, life will pass you by and you will wonder why you didn’t enjoy it more.

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