Living in a Half-Renovated Home During Quarantine

Perhaps you feel like your life is flipped upside down during this time and making the proper adjustments to living this new “quarantine life” can feel a little daunting. Well, I’m here to share with you on what it’s like living in a half-renovated house during quarantine – because sometimes it’s interesting to hear about how other people are living right now, and know that it’s not just you that might feel like their home is currently upside down.

This is not to self-pity by any means (you’ll see we are having a blast) but also to just say IT’S OKAY no matter what your living situation is like right now and that we are all in this together and we will all get out of it, together.

Remember, Horderly is here to help you in any way we can to make you feel more comfortable at home – and that’s why we are offering virtual organizing services!

So, what’s it like living in a half renovated house during quarantine?

As a professional organizer, and so-called “perfectionist,” it’s especially insane but let’s just say it’s a fun project at home, as well!

For those of you who haven’t been following along our Hord Home Renovation journey so far, we are fully renovating the downstairs of our home (living room, kitchen, dining room and home office). During the renovation, Fillip – @husbandofhorderly – and I have been living upstairs.
We turned our guest bedroom into our living room/pantry and what we call “the nursery” into our home office/kitchen. Thus, making our bathroom sink our dishwasher.

We were about two-to-three weeks (yes, two-to-three weeks) away from completing our home renovation before COVID-19 hit. All that was left was some electrical work, some plumbing work, painting, and counters.

All I have to say is thank God our renovation was at the stage it was before Coronavirus shut down businesses because it definitely could have been way worse (like not having a floor or walls)!

Anyway, you’ll see in the photos above that our house was left in a bit of a disarray. There was paper covering all the floors, wood and parts everywhere, and what seemed like endless dust and debris (of course all normal things during a renovation).

The fridge and microwave were still downstairs, which Fillip and I were accessing often and we found ourselves constantly tracking debris up to our living quarters upstairs. It was also (obviously) annoying to run downstairs anytime we needed something from the fridge or microwave.

The more and more we kept hearing about the virus getting worse, we finally decided to move downstairs (because why not)? We spent an entire day cleaning everything up, moving the appliances into their proper spots, removing the paper on the floor, moving all the contractors’ things out to our garage and cleaning like crazy. We then spent another day doing as much electrical (that we knew how) and spent another day moving items downstairs.

We know we are going to have to move everything again once the workers are allowed back in our house, but I am a busy-body and always have to have projects to keep me busy (not organizing in-home is KILLING me right now) plus moving is my favorite hobby on earth – so let’s just say we are treating this as a few moving jobs! I am even decorating our shelves that aren’t finished yet, haha!

Although I am constantly reminded by my surroundings that the house is not complete yet and my patience is really being tested (even more than normal) going through this renovation, we are really happy with the decision of moving downstairs and just enjoying even the state our home is in right now.

Our furniture and appliance delivery from West Elm and Build.com were planned out exactly for when our renovation was supposed to be done, so we received all of those items (which we can’t wait to show you)! We had fun putting everything in place which has also been really helpful in planning ahead of time what I still need for each room as I see the rooms come together.

Watch our Instagram Stories for updates this week!

Although our “dishwasher” is still our bathroom sink upstairs, we only have one electrical outlet and it’s difficult to keep the cardboard countertop clean. It’s so much easier to cook and put meals together now that everything is on one level downstairs.

We are making the most of it and let’s just say we will never forget this! I honestly could even see myself wishing we were back in our “half renovated home during quarantine” in the future.

What’s your favorite part about being quarantined at home? Let’s bring some light to this situation!