Reno Beat Down

Thanks so much for the comments and messages I received about our kitchen reno.  Renovations under normal circumstances are irritating at best.  The end result is almost always worth it but getting there can be quite trying on your mental health.  As revealed last week, we started our kitchen reno back in February and it wasn't done for five months.  Before that bit of detail, it was hard enough just getting what we needed to even start it.  Then you put whatever bad star the Mr and I joke we were born under and it's that much worse.  Lest you think I'm being dramatic, here's the list of the things that went wrong that should've had no problem going right.

The wood for the ceiling was supposed to be a light-ish to medium color based on what the reclaimed lumber place had.  We picked out our beams (3) which were taped together in front of us.  We specifically asked for certain pieces and specifically asked for others not to be included.  We were told they would match up the board from the supplier based on what was chosen.  What we got was dark wood, two beams, not three and the pieces we asked for weren't there and the pieces we didn't want, were.  We had to go back on our own and switch out two hideous water damaged boards they gave us (because water damage isn't the look one goes for in their kitchen) and get the two pieces we built the whole project around and grab the third beam they shorted us.  (Despite me not getting the color I originally wanted, we do like it since it matches the color of the floor.  But still, don't tell me I'll be getting one thing then have an order of something else completely dropped off with no way for us to take it back.)

I ordered a brushed gold curtain rod and I got one...with a bracket welded off center.  I asked for a replacement and the one they sent me after I already sent the other one back had the same problem (after it cut me.)  I ordered one that I didn't like as much from Houzz (Urban Nest) and they sent me an ugly olive/bronze color that was labeled gold.  I sent that back and ordered a black one from Amazon Basics that I used in the basement and mother effer if it wasn't scratched...deep.  FIVE FRIGGIN' RODS and they all had issues.  I said screw it, kept it and decided to spray paint it because I was done.

I ordered the twelve cabinet pulls I needed...nine of them were chipped.  NINE.  Do you know how long it takes a type A to find cabinet pulls?  I got a refund on those (they didn't want them back) and found the same ones from Home Depot online and hoped for the best.  Two of the twelve were nicked.  Luckily I still had the three good ones from Wayfair so we took the two damaged ones back to Home Depot.

I ordered $200 in switch plates for the kitchen, great room and two for the bathroom.  The two for the bathroom came and the others were delayed and it would be "a week or two."  Two weeks passed and nothing.  Their customer service people were a joke.  I tried three other places to get the style I wanted and there was always enough of one but not another that was back ordered.  Three days of back and forth with this place until I told them to cancel the order.  I pieced an order together from Amazon with a similar design from another company.  Based on how crappy they were packed, we didn't hold out hope on the shape they would be in but amazingly only one was nicked.  I gave it to God and said that one was going behind the couch while waving my middle fingers in the air.

I ordered samples from a reclaimed brick place of the blend I liked.  We both thought they were gorgeous and I ordered two boxes of them praying they would all arrive in one piece because I was told they don't cover anything if they break.  Thankfully, they arrived in one piece but many of them were a deep, terra cotta orange which I hated and were not remotely close to what was represented in the original sample.  I understand they come from other buildings but ask if there is a color I don't want if it's going to vary that wildly from the sample you send.  I felt like they gave us the ones they didn't like.  We went through every one looking for damage then taking out the ones we didn't like.  We kept the ones that had some whitewash, fire damage or a little more fading going on like we wanted and I kept the ugly ones back in a different box so they didn't use them by accident.

The woman who sent me the handmade valance from another country sent it in a box so flimsy (think a box you get from Kohls to gift a sweater) and beat up it was a miracle it made it here undamaged.   Then we opened the box and both had heart attacks when it looked like she shipped me the wrong valance.  Thankfully it was just a bag used to cover it but it still put a few more grays on our heads so it counts even if it worked out okay in the end.  😜

That stuff was all before it was even officially started.  (The ceiling was done but nothing else at the time all of that happened and it didn't end there but that's another post because we were unknowingly racing against Covid.)

It's like literally every single thing that was our responsibility to find/purchase, had some issue going on.  I wanted to scream and a few times I did.  I wanted to do this reno so that we didn't have some big project that was going to suck up our summer like last year did with the basement.  I'm not complaining being down in the cool, comfy basement but we started on the 4th of July and before we knew it, it was mid-September with no road trips or socializing all summer.  (Little did we know...)

So even when you hire out good people to make your vision a reality, you have to remember all of the "jewelry" that completes everything is your responsibility.  Just finding things that you want can be hard if you're particular and I am.  I have always been visual and what I want is in my head and I don't stop until I get just that.   I know the Mr doesn't like reno's but he benefits from me grabbing on like a rabid dog for the things that will make our home a nicer space to live.

(via Giphy.com)

I've always been detail-oriented and that does bring on extra stress for me but in the end, it's worth it even if it's not so fun going through it.

I think.

The Mr does not agree.

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