My Little House

EVERYTHING HAS A HOME

Moving house is hard! It is said to be one of THE MOST stressful events in an average persons life. Hmmm, I am beginning to agree.

As a child my family moved a lot; I can remember coming home from school and finding empty packing boxes in my bedroom, this would be my signal… we’re moving again.

When I grew up, and had control over these life-changing events, I chose not to move too many times, but moving is inevitable. Moving from my little house, where this blog began, was an emotional time… it signalled the end of a relationship, not just with the bricks and mortar, but the people in, and around it.

So my next little house was a WIP, it had been mostly renovated by the previous owners but it needed some finishing… the best bits… so as I laboured the change of colour of the cedar cladding from brown to black I aptly changed my instagram name to LITTLE BLACK HOUSE.

The rest of the finishing involved making it fit ME, just ME, as it was mine and mine alone, so I could do exactly as I pleased, and that, my readers, has to be the most liberating thing I have ever experienced.

The wardrobes in every room got a make over; custom made to fit just me, the hall cupboard became a shoe cupboard and the existing kitchen and laundry cupboards got a zhuzh up, with accessories to make life more pleasurable and beautiful. Storage was a priority, spaces and places for things… my things!

I’m not a fan of lots of freestanding furniture; I tend to like things that are anchored, built in, belong. This is great until you leave and you realise that not everyone has the same thought and where you go most likely won’t have what you need to settle.

And so, my first few days in my next home were ones of anguish, nothing, I repeat, NOTHING had a home, and so I felt homeless too. Sure, the four walls that kept the outside outside, were solid and strong but inside it (and I) was a hot mess! There were cupboards-a-plenty, but a cupboard without an order of shelves, rails, drawers is just a box.

And so, there were tears-a-plenty and a hankering for the home I had just left. (On a side note, my tenants contacted me advising that they arrived and were unpacked in just four hours, due to the fact that everything had a home)… “It was so easy” she said, the words resonating in my confused and disorderly brain.

It was time to pull on my resilience; I’m always banging on about resilience, the teacher in me prioritises reliance as a disposition that you cannot live without especially in this crazy 21st century.

And so, I find myself again, in a myriad of finishing; of turning wardrobes into things of beauty; so beautiful in fact they don’t even need doors, of linen cupboards that insist on layers of order, a shoe cupboard and a cleaning cupboard. I can’t do this all at once, prioritising is the key to success, so here I go again with my lists and my timelines. This is what ensures my success and with the goal of an organised life becoming mine again by the middle of the year is all I need pushes me forward with purpose.

And so the deconstruction began. We removed the doors and knocked out the top cupboard to give the wardrobe some more height. Doing this gave a sense of space to the room. The bedrooms aren’t big so pulling open doors wasn’t an option unless I changed my bed from a king to a queen and so the doors came off and landed in the skip.

Removing the doors meant a fill, sand and paint job and some of the trim had to be replaced. I used Resene in half BlackWhite to match the existing interior. I chose Spacecoat; this is usually only used in kitchens and bathrooms but the fact the wardrobe is located in a south facing corner of the house I felt the better protection against damp and mould the better.

The kitset came from Wardrobes Online, a modular system that requires some carpentry experience, luckily, he who likes to talk much, the other inhabitant of this little house, is handy. It wasn’t a days project, with the demo, the rebuild, the paint and the kitset construction it came in at three, but the chaos was worth it.

And me, well I’m kind of a warm mess now… there is still another wardrobe that requires my help, the linen and shoe cupboard are not going anywhere, but next priority is the cleaning cupboard. I’m settling in to this the, LITTLE GREY HOUSE. Stay tuned, I’ll share our reno adventures, highs and lows, lessons learnt and budget blowouts!

Total Cost $1100.