Keeping up standards and motivation in an unrenovated home

[MoscowMule765]

Hi everyone, thread title is self explanatory really

For various reasons, our home isn’t renovated and is unlikely to be finished for at least five more years.

It used to be incredibly tidy and clean, well as clean as a unrenovated house can get, but as we have lived in it for over nine years, I have now lost the will. You don’t get the usual boost of seeing it clean and shiny when there are holes in the plaster and floors have bits missing.

Is anyone else in this situation? If so, any tips for handling it please?

Edited to say that if you don’t have a place for everything because certain rooms don’t have painted walls and proper storage, then everything seems just float about. And we don’t have lots of money to buy temporary solutions.

You might just need to invest in storage boxes and some shelving. Old suitcases, anything. You could even go with old bricks stacked holding planks for a rustic look.

Sometimes, living right now has to come before planning for later.

This is our house, but we've only lived in it for 6 months. I console myself with the thought that one day it will be beautiful.
If it's still like this in 9 years I think I might cry.

Is the property rented or your's?

if you're not able to move and don't have the funds to renovate or even have temporary storage solutions, then the best thing is to keep it uncluttered and as clean as you can make it.

is there an option to move in the future?

Have the same situation. Had the house rewired at huge expense a couple of years ago and it didn't include making good. Now have runs in the plaster and old sockets uncovered with holes around the switch boxes in every room etc.

You do get used to it over time but it is very depressing and especially when you know you've got layers of work to either do yourself or pay for someone else to do. I've had to admit I'm not plasterer and am saving up for one and a painter for a high hallway I can't do alone, but while saving for that the guttering needs doing and the house needs re-pointing and possibly a new boiler next year... It's never ending!

My way of dealing has been to use one or two rooms as storage while you work on the others, preferably the ones with most inbuilt storage, first. The best feeling is closing the door on a room that is functional and clean. Declutter what you can, tetris the loft to make sure you've got everything you can up there too.

Hello everyone I really appreciate the replies. I can tell from these very helpful answers that you have all lived or are living with this issue, as they embody the voice of experience!

Thank you. I do need to be more strategic about this.

I definitely need to declutter now too.

The pandemic did it for me really as my dh and I were wfh.

It’s an owned property.

One of the problems is that it doesn’t affect my dh in the same way it does me because he’s perfectly happy living out of a suitcase kind of guy. He also works away a lot.

Can you make a plan of what you will do and when, step by step. I think that if you’re always hitting mini goals you will start to see progression and that keeps you motivated.

is it a cost issue?

im not sure what wfh did?

Also nine years is a long time, with another 5 to go. Are you both able bodied, paint is cheap and you can do a room in a weekend.

I'm also 9 years in and cope by finishing one room at a time. I now have a finished living room and dining room and have the hallway painted. decluttering is ongoing. I've had to teach myself lots of skills and only work part time so that helps.

Thanks, yes a list of goals is a good idea thank you.

I meant that wfh was the point at which the lack of motivation set in. Up to that point I had coped well with everything being unfinished. And yes it’s a cost issue made worse by discovering loads of structural issues and not being able to find the right tradesmen during the pandemic. That’s changing now thankfully though and we are about to start with a new team of trades.

That's really impressive teaching yourself new skills.

Unfortunately some of work we are doing is structural and and overwhelming and makes it impossible to tackle room by room.

For me it it having one 'good room' to escape to in the evening/weekends.

For me that was a bedroom for a long time. That one room was kept ordered tidy and NO TOOLS. It does not need to be instagram perfect just decorated and comfortable.

Decluttering is also a good shout

I agree with you if it’s just a paint job but it’s much more than that unfortunately.

Thank you. Yes definitely going to have a purge of excess clutter that has crept up on us.

And that’s a great idea about having one room as a haven. I did start to do that but then the use of the rooms (as much as they are usable) were changed around during pandemic and it all went to pot!

Honestly I’ve just lost my enthusiasm for it which I never thought I would. I’m wondering whether to just “make good” and sell.

Maybe it's ok to lose motivation for a bit.

The pandemic was tough, many people have had a stretch of flatness after it.

Perhaps you need one room done enough to escape and just wait it out until the structural issues are resolved. Get yourself out of the house when you can.

Decluttering is always worth doing in the meantime.

I understand this very well. We are now making slow progress. It’s just worth doing what you can as small things make a difference. Fill a few holes with polyfilla and paint what you can.

But my new house that needs renovating is much less clean than my old house!

Sell it!

see what’s available elsewhere for your budget

no point breaking your soul for a house

I don't think the PP meant a lick of paint over the weekend and it would be complete, I think they meant it is a quick way of making it look more homely and getting that feeling of pride and love for your home back. Even if you will need to smash holes in it later, the small amount of effort is worth it with another 5 years ahead of you.
Obviously, if your renovation is the kind where you've knocked all the plaster off and are left with bare brick, that wouldn't work, although I'd be recommending living in a caravan in the garden as a minimum if that's the case! I have a trade, and have never known clients to live in the house through that stage.

I agree with getting one or two spaces free from tools and clutter (and dust if possible - you can route brush strips around the door edges to help with this). Paint if you can, hang hippy-style drapes across the walls if you can't. Lots of plants. Make them really nice places to be with minimal reminders of what is happening in the rest of the house.

9 years though? You deserve a medal! From my experience extending our house and looking how clients cope with major building work and renovations, usually after 6 months and definitely after 12 (if it goes on that long) they are definitely 'done' with it all. I'm not surprised you've lost all motivation.

Decluttering is free and a good start. I need to get on board too - there’s so much work to be done to our house but the money, resources and time to do it is non existent.

Yes this is what I meant. A list of goals then do one at a time, it would be unlikely that every room was impacted by a structural issue. As such, if rooms need painting it can be done quickly and cheaply. Decluttering can be done. Making a start can wield positive results and heighten motivation.

14-15 years is a very long time to be renovating a house.

Thank you SkankingWombat for your understanding and the v constructive advice. Much appreciated. That's exactly it! Your post makes me feel a bit better when you say your clients find it difficult too. I know I am really lucky to have a house in this day and age and after years of shared, then rented, accommodation, we are really grateful for what we have.

We've just muddled along until now and as mentioned earlier, it's time to get a lot more strategic. We've rewired and replastered a lot of it but the plasterer did a very poor job and quite a few patches of it need doing again. And we've been really busy with dc and careers and life and I suppose it has just hit me how awful it is and how much still needs doing. It's one of those old houses where nothing is straight, or simple, or standard.

Thank you for the encouragement Stainglasses and you are right that there is no excuse for lack of cleanliness/clutter, although you put it much more kindly than that.

Mammma91 yep that's it; work and dc tend to get in the way! We massively underestimated the time everything would take.

That's a v kind approach thank you Lightswerve

Quitelikeit I must admit the thought of selling has crossed my mind but we would need to get it to a certain level of readiness to sell anyway I think. What is problematic is that dh doesn't look at it the same way as me. He's a really great dh in all other ways but we don't happen to agree on this. He is entirely without any aesthetic appreciation, difficult to explain, he just sees it as a functional place to live. The thing is, it is not even functional, but he does not understand that as I work a day and a half less than him and therefore pick up the majority of the housework.

There is indeed an option to move in future and in fact we are likely to inherit a home through my husband's family which was completed unexpected and has come about because of really awful circumstance, that is, cancer striking far too soon and in someone far too young.

Sorry should make that clear that that won’t happen for probably 10 years or so. Hopefully longer!