Looking Back

2009 was certainly a big year for us.  On the eve of 2010, we thought we’d look back at some of the highlights, lowlights and most memorable moments from our renovation:

Highlights

• Purchasing our first home (obviously!)  Remember how happy and well-rested we were when we first got the keys?

• Completing our new kitchen, which (once finally finished) turned out even better than we had hoped.
• Getting so much help from all our friends and family.  This definitely helped keep us sane and allowed us to get things done so much faster. 
• Making the front of the house a little more appealing.
• Finishing the demolition in one day!

Lowlights

• Discovering carpenter ants in the cold storage room. Ew!
• When the only functioning bathroom had no walls.
• Moving in without a finished kitchen.  That last month of eating fast food was the hardest one of all!
• When the City of Toronto workers were on strike.  Waiting for the building inspector to go back to work caused some delays.

And, as with any renovation, there were the projects that didn’t go quite as planned and the embarrassing pictures that didn’t get shared the first time around:

• Like working in the attic…

• And installing the vapour barrier when we were tired, grumpy and frustrated.  We called this the “corner of shame.” It was NOT one of our finer moments…

But all in all, it’s been a pretty great year.  Even with the ups and downs of spending most of 2009 in the midst of a major renovation, we consider ourselves extremely lucky. 

So, as we sip our Veuve and celebrate another year, we look forward to a new year with our beautiful home, wonderful family and great friends.  Happy New Year everyone!