I’ve mentioned time and time again that we have a rather lengthy update list for our house. There really isn’t anything here that we haven’t already changed or plan to change later. The past few weeks, Matthew and I have been a bit discouraged by that ever-growing list. Last week on the patio, we talked about how we probably just needed to start doing some things here and there to make ourselves feel encouraged again. We’d fallen in to the trap of waiting until we had all of the money to do all of the things. Let’s get real…that’ll never happen. After chatting on the patio for a bit, we decided we needed to just bite the bullet and get back to working on the updates. I had no idea that we’d start so soon.
Saturday morning we discovered some puddling water on the kitchen floor. After a bit of exploration, we (and by “we” I mean Matthew) discovered a leaky faucet. After I showed a few houses, he and I headed off to Lowe’s to pick a new faucet. We decided that we’d “price” some sinks while we were there. The old saying goes “everything but the kitchen sink.” In the case of our renovations, we had hoped to replace “everything AND the kitchen sink.” We just weren’t planning to do it quite so soon.
After shopping our options, we decided to go ahead and replace the sink while we were working in the kitchen. I practically loathed the one that we had, and while it wasn’t my top priority, we’d save a bit of money (and time) by doing it all at once. We said we needed to start somewhere. I guess the sink would be our jumping off point. In an ideal world, I’d have some lovely farm sink built into my cabinets. Since that’s not in the cards, this one-tray stainless option will have to do.
While we were at Lowe’s I browsed the hardware section and picked a few options for our cabinet knobs. (We haven’t had knobs since we’ve moved in. Don’t judge.) If nothing else, having to replace our kitchen sink and faucet, got me back in the mood to get things finished. (I use that term lightly.) I came home and pinned 100 light options on my Pinterest and started dreaming of the possibilities. (I also did a bit of housekeeping over on Pinterest, so if you’re not already following me there, you should!) While I’d absolutely love an unlimited budget to do everything I want at once, I also know that having to do things one at a time and as economically as possible has some value.
In addition to getting re-inspired, this little project also gave me the opportunity to think about my marriage a bit. You see, I learned early on to let Matthew have the reins on projects like this. For most women, that wouldn’t be a problem. For me though, it was a bit difficult. You see, I grew up with a mom who knew how to (and did) fix/repair/change/build/update everything herself. I feel pretty confident in my ability to do most minor fixes and updates around the house. I certainly won’t argue that I’d do everything perfectly. However, I do feel like I could make it work. When Matthew and I married, there was a bit of a standoff on who would be the one to handle these sorts of things. I definitely wanted him to fix things; I just had a bit of an opinion on how it should be done. Marriage is absolutely about a give and take between spouses. I decided the common DIY would be the area where I gave. That’s why I sat patiently and explored Instagram while Matthew selected what supplies we needed. He gives me the reigns sometimes and I hand them off to him sometimes. Today that means that I’ll search for amazing light fixtures while he determines how to best caulk the new sink. It’s a win, win for everyone.
Up next on Matthew and Pamela Very Slowly Update a House from Top to Bottom…..who knows. I guess we’ll see what breaks next. On a serious note, I promised you guys a house tour this month. I’m going to need for things to stop breaking in order to make that happen!
P.S. Don’t look too closely. Neither of the curtains pictured in this post are hemmed. That’s on the agenda for another day. I’m planning a before/after post (including details about that stenciled wall) once those curtains are hemmed and a few other items are marked off the list. Hang in there!
