Rules of renovation

Easy, right? First rule: get three bids, add them together and that's how much it'll cost.
Funny/not funny. Unfortunately, pretty accurate.
I've come up with my own through the experience of home ownership in this past year and a half: It'll take twice as long as you think and cost twice as much.

Not meant to be a depressing post,  just the reality of renovations and remodels. There are many, many positives to home ownership, even if it involves remodeling. First and foremost- it's yours...(mine, in this case) The time and money put in, belongs to me. (and the mortgage company)

My home included a short list of must-do's. Since the studio that I use for my business is right outside my back door, that was the number one priority. Art pays my bills, must make sure I am always working. Once that was finished, time to head toward the house:

-Kitchen
Not a total disaster, first thing was to attack with white paint on the walls. All was fine until the studio was done and then I began to let the issues of the kitchen get under my skin. The cheapo counter tops and cabinetry combined with the original upper cabinets, the 1 and 1/2" of layers of linoleum. Yuck. I had a very specific list of the most important improvements in this tiny kitchen, that also is the only dining area of the house.
1. maximize storage
2. open up the door way to make a wider opening from the living room
3. create a larger eating area
4. rip out the floor and match the original oak flooring from the living room

-Master bath
-hall bathroom (main bathroom of the house)
here's a photo I took during the last walk thru before escrow closed. Plumbing issues? Uh...Yep. This photo is of an actual mushroom growing through the wall. At this point you may ask why I continued with the purchase of the house. One word: Studio.

-plumbing (whole house needs to be addressed) see above photo.
-landscaping (partially done at the time that the studio was finished, since there's a path that leads to the doors of the studio) I'm a firm believer that one can only tackle landscaping in portions. I have to live in the space to be able to see it's patterns. Weather, lifestyle, light. All of these things affect the way one lives in their homes.

In the meantime, I've secretly added "expand the living room by stealing about 2/3 of the garage's square footage"