Construction site update #Lüneglück

It's seriously the end of May and in just under three months we want to move into our Lüneglück. Where has the time gone? I had made such a firm resolution to write a construction site update regularly, but then unfortunately I forgot about it in the hustle and bustle of time. Because hand on heart: who doesn't love the before and after pictures of construction sites where you smile in amazement at the changes? Apart from that, it will always be a great memory for us of what the house originally looked like and how it gradually developed into our home.

You've probably already seen on Instagram that we went through all the rooms with a sledgehammer and didn't leave much standing except for the outside walls. OK, it wasn't that dramatic, but there's no denying that we've made some changes. All I can say is: "Bye bye pink and light blue tiled bathroom and hello large dining room."

But when and how did the renovation actually start? We bought the house last September, but then nothing happened for a long time, apart from a few initial changes in November.

Removing dark brown wood paneling from the walls and ceilings, prying out doors and door frames with a crowbar, ripping out carpet, swearing a lot while doing it, scraping wallpaper off the walls, swearing even more and finally letting out the frustration of four layers of wallpaper on the walls and stubborn carpet glue when knocking down a wall in the attic. That describes the two weeks in November quite well in which Felix and I made the first changes to our Lüneglück ourselves. It felt pretty good and we really wanted to carry on. But then nothing happened. Until the beginning of March, to be precise. The winter was to blame for this, or rather our conscious decision to wait for spring before we really got started. The background is that we wanted to continue heating our house with the existing gas heating in order to maintain a certain basic heat before it too had to be finally removed.

Luckily, the time until then flew by quickly and at the beginning of March we finally started making small steps. The very first thing on the agenda was to find the right tradesmen for our renovation, make appointments with them in the house and draw up a schedule. We had heard a lot of stories about this topic beforehand. Most of them were actually quite bad. "You're only looking for tradesmen now? Well, have fun then", "It all took us ages and we really failed with some of our trades" or "Your schedule is exciting, you'll never manage that in such a short time" were just a few of the comments we heard from outsiders.

Looking back, I can say that it made me really insecure and stressed me out from time to time. Nevertheless, I always had a basic trust that everything would work out. And touch wood, so far everything is going according to plan. I don't mean to say that we didn't have a few small setbacks that threw our schedule overboard for a moment, but we found a solution for them ourselves in no time. All I can say now is: 15 weeks delivery time for an important building material and a road trip to Berlin. But more on that another time...

Since we had our team of tradesmen together pretty quickly (yes, most of them actually had time and fit into our planned budget), we were able to start with the first demolition work. We had already done a few small things ourselves, but a few walls still had to be removed, as well as the two bathrooms on the ground floor. I was most looking forward to the changes on the ground floor. After all, a narrow, long hallway, two bathrooms and another small room were to be turned into a large, open dining area. I mean, look at the pictures, I still can't believe the change and I'm more than excited. Especially when you imagine that the windows will be floor-to-ceiling. Ah, pure anticipation!

One floor that has also undergone a significant change is our attic. Originally, a sliding door led into a small hallway with two rooms off it. One of the rooms led into another room. It was clear to us from the start that it should not stay that way and we quickly came up with a solution that would make the entire floor appear more open and brighter. At the beginning, I had no idea what the individual rooms in the attic could look like, but now I have a clear idea of ​​what it will look like and can hardly wait to see it in its final form.

New drywall walls were put in accordingly and we changed the floor plan of the floor. The hallway/staircase area remains open and we are also tearing out the steep stairs to the roof and the slope will get a skylight for even more light in the stairwell. We briefly considered leaving the roof beams in the front room open to create an even higher ceiling height, but unfortunately that is not feasible from a construction point of view. Well, unfortunately not everything is always possible and you have to work with the conditions that the house brings with it.

A bedroom with an adjoining dressing room and private bathroom was high on our wish list and has led to small changes to the floor plan on the upper floor as well.

Looking back, a lot has happened and every time we are in the house, we have the feeling that it is becoming more and more our house. But the most changes will happen in the coming weeks and months. The roof will be replaced, we will get new windows, the ceiling heating will be installed, the drywall inside will be completed, the floor will be laid and so on. Of course, there are also some decisions related to this, most of which we have already made.

Which windows and flooring should we choose? What should the doors and fittings look like? What kind of look should the bathrooms have, especially considering that we don't want tiles? Why are toilets so expensive? And why are nice fittings even more expensive? What should the kitchen look like? What kitchen appliances would we like?

Questions upon questions, and I can understand all too well when you're making a decision. Felix and I were usually quick to make decisions and always agreed (lucky us!). Since I know that you are also very interested in some of these topics, you will be reading more about them in the near future. As well as about the topic of 'sustainable renovation', which plays a very important role for us. But more about that at another time!