Home Renovation

We had been waiting for months for this moment. I had prepared myself mentally because I knew the house wasn't going to be in perfect condition. The previous tenants had taken good care of it, but it hadn’t seen any major updates in over 30 years.

The moment I opened the front door, only one word came to mind "F..."

I knew there was a lot that needed to be done, but I also wasn't entirely sure where to begin. I called my cousin over to help me figure out the best path forward. I like to call that day Cousin’s X Consultation.

"I've seen worse places than this, way worse, all you need to do is a facelift," he said. Okay, that’s not bad, I thought. "Sand everything," he continued. "Trying to strip all this paint will be a nightmare. The kitchen cabinets have good bones, they're solid wood. Keep them." He walked through every room, pointing things out as we went.

“How much will it cost to hire someone?” "You could hire someone," he said. "It'll cost you about $200 to $400 a day, depending." I had already made up my mind before we even got the keys. I wasn't paying anyone if I could do it myself. My parents had taught me basic home repairs and how to use tools growing up. It had been a while since I'd used any of those skills, but I was confident. Sometimes confidence is all you need to start a project.

"Can we go buy what I'll need?" I asked.

I walked into Home Depot not realizing that in a couple of weeks the staff would recognize me.