A promise we didn’t keep

My husband and I bought our starter home in 2009 and told ourselves we’d renovate the kitchen once we paid down $50K of our mortgage. That never happened. A new business, a marriage, two kids, a backyard studio — life kept getting in the way. Somewhere in there, our tiny kitchen earned the nickname “Sorry,” because two people can’t move through it without apologizing.

Outgrowing the space

Our son is 14, our daughter is 11, and sharing a bedroom has gone from sweet to torturous. Two years ago our daughter moved to the basement guest bed — no closet, no privacy, laundry room on the other side of her bed. Something had to change.

Why we’re not moving

We love our neighbourhood, and I’d have to leave my studio behind. So we’re staying and putting that money into our own home instead.

The plan

After years of floor plans that were all too expensive, we’re working within our existing footprint — and putting more of the budget into the unglamorous things that matter most: roof, drains, wiring. We’re also doing this all at once, not room by room. Our kids are growing up fast. Now is the time.

When I showed the family

Before this ever went online, I sat my husband and kids down and showed them the finished video. I wasn’t expecting much of a reaction — it’s just us talking about a kitchen renovation. I was wrong.

My husband got quiet watching the footage of our house, thinking back on 16 years of memories in these walls — the home we bought as newlyweds, the one we brought both kids home to. My daughter, on the other hand, was thrilled for a completely different reason: she loved the idea that this would become a running record for our family — something we can look back on in years to come and remember what our home used to look like, before all of this changed.

I have to admit that going through old photos of the house when we first bought it, pre-kids, pre-marriage, made the passage of time suddenly real. When I moved on to finding photos of the kids in our house (a lot from when they were little), I was teary-eyed and realized how quickly time as passed by and how busy and yet full our lives have become since having them. I don’t regret a minute of any of it, I just wish I could get it to slow down so I could savour more of it. In a strange way, making this series has helped me dedicate time in our overflowing schedules to sit down and reflect, document and enjoy our family, it’s recent history, and hopefully prepare for its future with a home that will better support it.

That’s really what this series is now, beyond the renovation itself. A time capsule. I am not ignorant to the fact that one day in the future, we will sit down together and watch some of these episodes again and will look back at this time with nostalgic emotions. However, the goal is to look back with fond memories of the house as it was, and also with a sense of accomplishment in our project. I hope when we watch this series years from now, we wonder how we ever lived in the house the way it is now, since it will then be so much better for each one of us!!!

It’s exciting and terrifying in equal measure, and we’re finally jumping in.

Stay tuned for Episode 2: Finding Somewhere to Live

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