One year later…

Writing today, Thanksgiving, we’re grateful to everyone who worked with us, shared their expertise and insights, and kept us motivated during the Larchwood renovation. We may have closed on the house on November 12, 2021, but it didn’t feel like home until today.

By the end of June 2022, when we left the rental up the street behind, our collective sweat equity on the renovation equalled 120 hours and we had spent around $50k, +/-. Other expenditures, mostly related to unforeseen plumbing issues, did arise, but the majority of our whole house renovations were things of the past. With daily navigation around stacks of moving boxes and renovations on weekends reaching a fevered pitch, the chronicling of hours and dollars inevitably fell to the wayside. I know: some people head to the beach, the parks, or the water in the summer months. We kept up a fast pace to reach a level of livability and comfort by fall 2022. And our work paid off!

For instance, in keeping with the Osage DTCB (the Deck That Chris Built) tradition, CP built the kitchen all by his lonesome. This is not an overstatement! Aside from the rewiring of electric and the new oak flooring, CP built every single kitchen cabinet, installed the new back door and windows as well as the appliances, range hood, and vent, plumbed the sinks, dishwasher, and icemaker, customized the pantry, painted the walls, installed the undermount lighting, built the ledge, and installed the counters and backsplash.

K8’s recuperation from her accident in mid-September slowed down the sorting and storing process, but all moving boxes from the first floor are now officially gone. Everything has found a home in the kitchen or in our now overwhelmed basement. The biggest holdout was the unbelievably big and heavy box of cookbooks!

This holiday season we’re taking a break from the renovations to enjoy the house. The work on the interior (installing and painting trim, for instance) will be waiting for us in February!