Last year, when we visited Chile with our good friends Scott and Janice – we were a bit surprised at all of the free advice we received from the locals. Everywhere we went, well meaning citizens from all walks of life would approach us with warnings to be careful. Very careful.
Tom and I found this perplexing, and soon we decided it had to be Scott and Janice. After all, they are as nice as they look – a wonderful, trusting, Canadian couple. On the other hand, anyone who meets us Ryans would immediately know that we are a street smart, take no shit kind of couple. Or so we thought.
When we (okay, when I) decided to renovate our little home, everyone tried to warn us. They all shared their own personal horror stories of Contractors Gone Bad. We appreciated the good advice and politely took note – but we never really thought it could happen to us. We decided to add new flooring to the hallway, stairwell, both bedrooms, tile the bathroom floor, paint all the walls, and completely overhaul our kitchen. All at the same time of course.
By now, we should have a brand new kitchen and bathroom, but in reality we are a full two weeks behind schedule. We have no kitchen sink. Our unplugged refrigerator is in our living room. Tom’s home office also includes a dishwasher, oven, and somebody’s electric sander. We have been eating ‘take-out’ for 15 days straight - and just last night I caught my husband washing the dishes - while having a shower. Our sweet house guest from Thailand has been surreptitiously checking for earlier flights home. The pugs seem befuddled.
Are we worried? Of course not. We’re the fighting Ryan’s! And after all, according to our calculations - everything should be completed by Friday. This will be perfect timing, as we are expecting a cheque in the mail……
Tom and I found this perplexing, and soon we decided it had to be Scott and Janice. After all, they are as nice as they look – a wonderful, trusting, Canadian couple. On the other hand, anyone who meets us Ryans would immediately know that we are a street smart, take no shit kind of couple. Or so we thought.
When we (okay, when I) decided to renovate our little home, everyone tried to warn us. They all shared their own personal horror stories of Contractors Gone Bad. We appreciated the good advice and politely took note – but we never really thought it could happen to us. We decided to add new flooring to the hallway, stairwell, both bedrooms, tile the bathroom floor, paint all the walls, and completely overhaul our kitchen. All at the same time of course.
By now, we should have a brand new kitchen and bathroom, but in reality we are a full two weeks behind schedule. We have no kitchen sink. Our unplugged refrigerator is in our living room. Tom’s home office also includes a dishwasher, oven, and somebody’s electric sander. We have been eating ‘take-out’ for 15 days straight - and just last night I caught my husband washing the dishes - while having a shower. Our sweet house guest from Thailand has been surreptitiously checking for earlier flights home. The pugs seem befuddled.
Are we worried? Of course not. We’re the fighting Ryan’s! And after all, according to our calculations - everything should be completed by Friday. This will be perfect timing, as we are expecting a cheque in the mail……
4 comments:
just like I said .... watching you guys are funnier than watching "The Osbourne" on MTV hahaha maybe this is why I love IKEA
Ohhh Noooo....I'm having a flashback!!! It's 3 weeks before Christmas and my sister and her family are coming and we decide to put in hardwood flooring on entire main level and renovate entire kitchen and repaint and redecorate the children's rooms......ourselves!!
Oh God I feel your pain.
We did it though. Christmas eve we're having 10 for dinner and we installed the countertop at about 2 that afternoon.
Ahh...fond memories of construction workers envading your home for months (instead of weeks), blarring "Lacookoracha" on the radio, seeing more butt-crack than a proctologist, and the smell of sawdust in the air...good times, good times...
Living with an architect means we're forever talking about renovating (actually getting him to do the renovations is another chapter). However, we did once completely renovate the kitchen and, as a result, I have some advice to those contemplating renovating - don't, just move!
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