Since this is in a room we did not have before, I suppose it could be considered to be a spare room. But that's not right since, ever since its building, I've spent every spare moment I have in this room, at least when my son was not occupying it. For months there has only been one chair. The couch is a thrift shop addition from last week, so the room is now hospitable to more than one person. The length of the couch is such that a guest (or a resident, for that matter) could sleep there.
We're calling it the "porch room" because it has windows on three sides, which means that it is much, much brighter than any other room in the house, at any time of the day, even though it's on the north side of the house. On the 4th side, there is a10 foot cased opening into the rest of the house. We put in a gas stove, so it will be cozy.
I now understand, of course, why marriages dissolve under the pressure of home renovations. I had heard that, but never quite understood. Both Joe and I are completely easy-going, and we had zero agenda for getting the addition put on by any particular date, so you would think there would be no issues. And the shenanigans of the cast of thousands required for a building project as relatively simple as a single room over a crawl space (though I think I would call it a "slither space " and have no intention of ever doing so) are quite entertaining, actually. Even dealing with the power company has its moments despite a months-long delay they caused. That problem was solved by a random encounter Joe had in town when he told his story to a power company employee he met at the supermarket, who shook his head and whipped out his cell phone. Two trucks showed up the very next day!
Nevertheless, a two month project that stretches into 8 months, has strange people in the house at random and unpredictable times, requires constant replanning and decision-making about small details no one had thought about, and requires multiple reschedulings of the arrival of the gas heating stove is trying even to such even tempered folk as me and Joe. And then there were the construction errors, having to decide what needed to get redone and what could be worked around. And, the outside part having to do with drainage away from the house is still not done, so it's actually almost 12 months though we've been using the room since mid March now.
Our marriage really had no issues whatsoever and we got along well with the builder, whose competence we respected, despite what I have written, though the same is not true for every subcontractor involved, and definitely not true for the salesman who sold us an imperfect plan. Him I could stick through with a (metaphorical) spear. But I did get a tiny glimpse into how it might come to pass that a home renovation project could put a lot of pressure on a marriage.
And oh this room! Not only did we get insights into what all the fuss is concerning home renovations, but we got a beautiful room that is in continual use. Definitely not a spare room.
I was struck immediately by all the beautiful light in it and how cozy and inviting it is! Sadly I fully understand the pressure a project such as this can put on a marriage all too well as I have endured several over the years and neither one of us are as easy going as you and Joe seem to be.
Glad that you have a new space. It has a lot of light and you will enjoy it all seasons I think. I had the house I'm living in now renovated before we moved in. I said "I" because I seemed to veto many of the idea my husband had so I think he just gave up although was excited to be moving. The only times we fussed were when I wanted him to help me make a decision, and about the guy who did the kitchen cabinets. (Actually we didn't fuss with each other on the latter but I had to hold him back a bit.) I'm still po'ed at the cabinet man.
July 30th, 2021
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