It takes your life for a moment and also your social life for that renovation. Yes! But make sure that once your dream home is finished, you still have friends to enjoy together. And you do… so!
Ways to stay social life while renovating
Your friends: Let them come to you
If the mountain does not want to come to Moses, then Moses must go to the mountain. In less biblical terms: if you do not get rid of that house yourself, make sure that your friends and family are still happy to come to you. Organize working days occasionally when there are less technical chores: for example, swarm with the breaker, throw the debris in the container together and finish the day with a pizza party for all helpers. And – of course – always put a few cans of beer and soda cold for unexpected visits.
Fabric party
Organize a party at a strategic moment: just before that expensive parquet is laid, for example. Have everyone put on a pair of jeans with holes and a cool shirt, let those yardboxes pop up and let yourself go all the way, before essential parts in the house can be shattered. During the day you can possibly make a children’s version: the make-your-once-good-dirty-party!
Tighten the tires
Never forget that renovation is not the only thing in your life. If you plan every millisecond of your free time with caps, breaks and screws, you soon have nothing more to say to whom you are dear. Leave that mess in the house so sometimes lie down and speak somewhere. And certainly, with that cousin or girlfriend who happens to be able to lay tiles in exchange for a good bottle of wine.
Share the fun
Keep a blog or Facebook page on which you post the progress of your blood, sweat and tears. And preferably, do not do it too dry but slightly disturbed and interactive. Make polls on the floor covering, tell hilarious renovation anecdotes, draw spectacular before and after photos and idiotic selfies and let your friends understand a little better why you have disappeared from the globe.
Your relationship: before you begin
Be very aware of which mountain you are going to climb together, make a tight schedule and allow yourself the time to learn certain things. No, renovation is never simple. And yes, there are always somewhere out of the closet. So, do not do things that you cannot (yet) do. Focus each on other domains, so that you can complement each other. And if you do not get the hang of something, ask for help from a handy uncle or a professional because sometimes you invest better in a good Stielman than in a new wall (oops, mistake!).
Alternate
Does she make beautiful built-in cupboards, and is he a top occupier? Then let each other rest assured. Let her get started with planks and great ideas and pull you back to better places, and vice versa. You can trust it: working together is fun, looking at each other’s fingers just a bit less.
Go away!
If you notice that you can only talk about drills, grinding wheels and cross-screw drivers, make sure you are gone. Take a walk, have a nice dinner… If you only get a different experience that gives you and your relationship some oxygen. Always a good idea, dust or no dust in the house.
The children: timing is everything
Oh! irony of fate: at the moment you decide to start growing, it dares happen that there are young koters walking around. You cannot time your life, but your daily schedule does. Plan little work-free moments for their snack or bath, let mom dye for a while, while dad goes to the playground with the kids, or choose to stir all together in the pots when it’s dinner time. If they just feel that they are still ahead of those damned bricks.
Dare to turn to help
Dad or mom cannot always be free for the children. So, say it to yourself as a mantra: ‘It is not bad when grandpa, grandmother, brother or sister catches up.’ Let them romp for a weekend with cousins, nephews or classmates, and give yourself and them the total freedom now and then.
Let them join you
Put toddlers to work with their fake drills, let age school children dump rubbish or paintbrushes and put teens to work for feasible jobs. The more they get involved, the more enthusiastic they will be about the work and the more proud of the result. Be careful with dangerous material, so that small hands do not accidentally switch on a saw machine! And do the best jobs when there are no children in the house.
