1. Living in a remodel makes you feel like royalty.
Since the kitchen is gone, and many walls are missing, we are relegated to the second floor. I call our quarters the upstairs apartment--just like Will and Kate's place at Kensington. Though my research shows that Apartment 1A at Kensington palace has six times the number of rooms we do, including three kitchens. That's not a complaint, just an observation. I'm happy for them. Really. Our upstairs apartment has plenty of space including a bathroom and two bedrooms--one that currently holds the title of sitting room as well as two chairs. There is also an oversized closet that serves as my office, and a balcony referred to as the sun terrace (that until last week served as the holding ground for an old sink, tub, and toilet).
2. You don't have to wash any dishes when you don't have a kitchen.
Really, that should say you can't wash any dishes, because I do have some dirty dishes, but no sink large enough to wash them. The other night some friends had us over for dinner, and in lieu of a hostess gift, I brought my dirty dishes and washed them in their sink. But for the most part, we've become a plastic utensil, paper plate, crock pot liner family. Colorado is about to kick us out for so much waste, but maybe they'll let it slide since we're recycling.
3. Washing dishes in the shower is fun!
When you do need to wash the ladle that served the crock pot stew and the knife that cut open the avocado and the mixing bowl you bravely used to make cookies without a kitchen, you can turn on your multitasking skills, and wash yourself and your dishes at the same time. It's kind of like having bath toys again, but made of glass.
4. You don't have to clean up when guests come over.
When you talk about your house renovations as much as we do--ie when someone asks how you are, and you say, "Pretty good, it's great to have a bathroom again,"--you set the expectations pretty low for your guests. Completion of our downstairs bathroom seemed like a great time to host a game night. The only detail we forgot was to put the door back on. Our brave friends were not daunted and used the bathroom anyway (after we all promised to stay in the living room).
5. The sweet old ladies in the neighborhood feel sorry for you.
So they bring you pies. They tell you the house looks really good though all they can see is the gaping hole where the front entrance used to be. They even help with your chores. The other day I was mortified to discover our 68 year old neighbor trimming our grass with a weedwacker. This was after the lady on the other side of the street pulled our trashcans off the curb.
My very favorite part of flipping our house, though, is that I get to do it with this guy. Last night he hooked up a dusty stove in an unfinished kitchen without electricity, and made me scrambled eggs for dinner because he knew I'd been craving them since our kitchen disappeared. TBH, he's pretty awesome.
