About That Rebuild...

90% of conversations with non-Jesse adult humans these days start or include this:

"How's the house coming along?"

They do this out of love and concern and interest. Having people in our life who know what's going on and care about us? That's a great thing: I see and receive that as goodness.

This doesn't negate the fact that I now have a self-diagnosed case of carpal-tunnel syndrome in my tongue from answering it in the most diplomatic way I know how, over and over again:

"Well, they are saying we'll be back in by the first week or two of February...but then again they said before Thanksgiving and January 4th, also. Really, anytime before vernal equinox would be a slam dunk at this point."

I act breezy when I say that, like, "whatevs, I BARELY even care. I almost forgot I was building a house until you mentioned it," and hope they don't notice my insurance-sponsored facial tic.

And we all go on about our lives.

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The other, truer answer gives far more insight into our building experience and my general frame of mind, but may also qualify me for an involuntary psych hold, so I usually hold back. 

But hell, what's a blog for if not for saying things in writing on the WORLD-WIDE web that I wouldn't in real life?! (cue Jesse panic-sweat as he reads this).

You should picture a rubber band being wound progressively tighter as this reply unfolds:

"You know when you pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a beautiful sculpture you've always wanted and will have for decades? 

And then it breaks into a million pieces 10 months after you buy it? 

And you have to pick up the pieces and glue it all back together? 

And there's a chance you can make it even more lovely than it was before, BUT only YOU know how it's supposed to look once it's finished?  

But you're not actually allowed to touch the pieces yourself?

And how only a blindfolded person can touch them for you, but you can't talk directly to the person touching the pieces, and instead MUST use an interpreter/middle man? 

But you only share maybe 20% of a common language with the interpreter? 

And you only get ONE CHANCE? 

And the clock is ticking because time is money?

Yeah, that's pretty much how it's going. LaughOutLoud, right?"

And then I hit the powder room to freshen up because I'm sweating a hearty mixture of blood and concentrated stress hormone from my under-boob area. 

And I look in the mirror at my crazed eyes, and I think to myself "THIS. Renovating after a fire. THIS is the Joker's true origin-story."

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Oh, you were just wondering about paint color? Oh, yeah, ahem, it's white. We're going with white.

'Cause it matches my facepaint.

Reno-Inspo: Guest Bedroom/Office

We are slowly but surely turning the corner from "DISASTER RELIEF" to "Home Remodel." 

The air smells less of toxic brimstone and more like yummy new lumber/drywall. I have already met with the flooring company and the cabinet guy and have been really impressed by the speed and work ethic of our contractor. 

So much so that I was like, "wait, what? it's time for this stuff?" and started majorly stressing out because, hello, horrible tragedy aside, this is a once in a lifetime chance to redesign our home basically from scratch. I'm terrified of messing something up and blowing our one shot at a free (ish) build.What if I accidentally order purple tile throughout the whole house!?!

Obviously the good Lord invented Pinterest for such a time as this. It was time to take all those pins I've been amassing over the years and move them from "oh cool, maybe one day" into "ok, show this to the builder on Monday" pile...or more likely the "what the hell was I thinking pinning this, I can't have a bespoke reclaimed pallet ferret kennel  in my mudroom! (bc pinterest is drunk sometimes).

I never understood why anyone who is not in Forbes and has a lick of style would pay money to designers to decorate their home. BUT I GET IT NOW. It's a huge leap between pinning a room you see once and "love" and building/designing/sourcing/buying each element yourself to create an overall look. 

Lucky for me, all my hobbies burned down, so this is all I have to do!

After much pinning and browsing and drooling and comparing and imagining, I have started to put together mood boards for a few rooms in the house. These are basically a fun way to see all my pins sort of together as a cohesive space and tinker until the overall look is something we like. Just because a bohemian loft and and industrial condo look good beside each other as Pinterest pins doesn't mean they'd play nice in a room together IRL. Thus, we need the mood boards.

I am realistic enough to know that the final rooms may look nothing like my original ideas, but just feeling inspired and energized about CREATING again, after so much emotional and physical currency has been spent on cleaning/saving/salvaging, is a wonderful change of pace. Plus, I can always come back and laugh at how far off I was later on.

Guest Bedroom/Downstairs Office & Study:

Needs: House overnight guests as needed and be a cozy study for Jesse to write in. 

This room gets great light so we can go with a darker paint color. 

Masculine enough that Jesse and male guests don't feel like this is the TigerBeat break room, but feminine enough that it is NEVER accused of being a man cave.

Desk Lamp // Desk // Pillow // Chair // Floral Prints // Floor Lamp // Bookshelves // Throw // Ottoman // Rug // Trundle Sofa // Mirror // Corner Shelves

Leather+Wood+Flowers with a Midcentury glaze over it all. My instinct is to lather myself in Midcentury everything because I love the style so much, but I feel like that trend can only hold so long and don't wanna be left holding Don Draper's jock when the dust settles and 1959 is no longer the chic look.

I love it so much that I already find myself wanting to sneak away into this room. That's a good sign.

 Hopefully the entire house will feel that way when we're done. Whenever that may be...Spring Break 2017?

For now, here's a solid BEFORE:

This is in the living room, looking through the artist formerly known as Wall, at the guest bedroom last week. NO WHEELBARROWS IN THE HOUSE, YALL.