"Project Total Makeover"

Another of the "cost saving" events that has taken place in our small household this summer, instead of going to Florida for two weeks, has been a house makeover project. The project was perfectly timed with IKEA's opening in Dublin and not to mention the perfect DIY (indoor) weather in Ireland; windy and rainy.

"Project Total Makeover" is another of these family planned projects, to engage and gather the family, doing something together other than watching movies. We got close alright!

The changes and updates to the interior of the house are meant to create happiness and make the environment much more feng shui - which it did. However, at what cost? I personally have patience like the Tasmanian Devil and I like to do things a certain way - often the opposite to my wife or kids. This in itself causes some minor pillow fights, throwing of stuffed (and live) animals and a few tantrums or hissy fits. The latter mainly caused by me.

Our experience of IKEA has already been explored in previous blogs, so I'm not going into that trauma again - it's not good, according to my psychiatrist. Below are some of the activities we did during the summer, as a family; wife and kids looking at daddy loosing 20lbs working. :-)

- in fairness, my wife has a fantastic eye for detail and can easily tell me if I missed a spot. My son is brilliant at re-organising/demolishing anything and my daughter sings while I'm sweating. What more can a husband/father ask for?

Tiles 'R Us; the bathroom had, since the extension was done, been looking awful, with bare plasterboards and grouting all over. I had on several occasions offered to tile the bathroom, but my wife lacked evidence and trust in my tiling abilities. However, she did permit me to buy the tiles and get somebody else to do the job. End result, we have a beautiful shitter under the stairs.

Our House; so many things need to be done to the house, minor things, that we've postponed. Adding them up and getting them done just gives me bumps and makes me itch. I have many Microsoft Excel spreadsheets on my Mac, where we have tried to list them all. We really need to get something done about this list. Perhaps I could use Mac Numbers instead?

The Fields of Barley; or should I say, our not landscaped garden. Actually, it has been shaped so well by Mother Nature that we can't find the kids' swing. One of the dogs went missing in the garden last month, for two days! So, my wife persuaded me to get petrol for the lawnmower and run out between rain showers to cut the grass. I was amazed with the stuff I found. It was something out of Jurassic Park (Costa Rica memories), and don't step into the tall grass as that means the dogs have fertilised the soil there! I'm certain I discovered unknown plants, before they felt the pain of my lawnmower, and some new insects. At one point, standing in the back, I thought I was lost too, but then I discovered my homemade fence and followed it to the house. Ray Mears or Bear Gills, can you survive 48 hours in my garden?

Fruit of the Loom; this was a pure family (kids) project. I build a small vegetable garden with my daughter and the kids could choose the stuff to put in it, i.e. vegetables. We went to the garden centre, where my daughter quickly picked 11 flowers, different shades of pink, and new boots. The garden centre didn't have any vegetables, other than leeks and Brussels sprouts - so be it. Now we have a beautiful vegetable/flower/weed bed, and have absolutely no idea when we can eat the Brussels sprouts. The joys of being DIY gardener.

The Learning and Breathing Room; for my wife and I have worked on the kids rooms. We (my wife) have painted characters on the walls and wardrobes, replaced the floor, installed blinds. Another plan, for the past year, has been to give them each their room. IKEA is sneaking back into the picture. So, we bought the furniture and I assembled it, with my eagle eye wife and commanding daughter - while my son was throwing screws down the stairs! The result is that my daughter has a gorgeous HC Andersen bed, nightstand, office desk (still in the box) and a shelving unit (still in IKEA) in her room, alongside our son's bed. His room is not ready yet. BUT, it will be this weekend, I swear.

...and we did finish the room as promised.

Da Vinci master piece; my proud moment was building a fence from scratch, and it is still standing. The fence was meant to keep the dog pooh in one area, with the dogs, so the kids could roam freely in the garden. A mate of mine volunteered to help, so while the kids and wives were inside, we put on the gloves, goggles, tool belt and grabbed the saw. Two MBA graduates building a fence, how hard could it be. We carefully measured, dug holes for the poles, cut boards and drilled in screws. I don't know who were more surprised or amazed, our wives or us. Time to test it. We let the dogs out into their new dog run and they instantly started to chew their way through the fence....aaaaarrrrrggghhhh! Oh well, it was fun building it and I still find the odd splinter in my fingers.

We have had a very productive summer, as you can see, and it has been worthwhile, not doubt. I really enjoyed spending time with my family and friends, and would rather do gardening than go to Florida!!

Was it cost effective. Of course not. We've spend a fair bit of money on getting the house in order, but the house is so much nicer now. We can actually use the garden again and have friends over for BBQ as well. It was a nice feeling spending money on your own place rather than spending it on drinks, food and activities in an exotic location. Overall, we didn't spend as much money as we did on our holidays abroad, which is good.