C+D OPINIONS: RENOVATING EVERYTHING VS. ONE ROOM AT A TIME, THE BENEFITS OF REST, AND DINNER PARTY ETIQUETTE

When it comes to personal opinions, Chris and I have plenty! We thought it would be fun to share our thoughts on three particular topics today – renovation timelines, the benefits of rest, and dinner party etiquette.

So the questions is –

Should you renovate your home all at once or one room at a time?

Chris’ Opinion – I think it depends on your situation. If you live in your home during the renovation and you decide to remodel your entire home all at once, you might get a little stir crazy! With every room in the house torn apart and dusty, you no longer have a comfortable place to relax. This can really quickly make you feel displaced and restless.

During our own renovation, we gutted the entire main floor except for our bathroom and bedroom. Because of this, we only had a 15ft x 15ft room to relax in (which also held all of our living room furniture and cooking essentials). We survived the 4 month renovation, but had it been any longer we may have started to lose it. So my thought on this is: if you have the budget to stay elsewhere during an entire home renovation, do that!

Danica’s Opinion – I agree that an entire home renovation can be extremely taxing on your mental and emotional state if you live in the home during the remodel. If your finances allow, I 100% recommend living elsewhere during an entire gut job. However, not everyone can afford to remodel an entire home all at once (um, ya that’s us!) which means that you’re forced to remodel in smaller chunks.

The issue with remodeling one room at a time is that projects easily creep from one room to the next. Like flooring for example. Unless you plan on having different floors in every room of the house (please don’t do that) it’s pretty necessary to do floors all at once. Wood floors, tile, and carpet will inevitably have slight variation changes in the product as the years pass so if you only do half (or a section) of your floors and then purchase the same flooring several years later to finish the project, you risk having visible variations and differences from the previous floors. So in my opinion, it’s best to work in sections with rooms that connect with each other. If your living room, dining room, and kitchen all flow from one room to the next, tackle that area at once. Bedrooms, bathrooms, the laundry room, and any closed spaces can easily be done in their own time.

The benefits of rest and how rest looks different for everyone.

Chris’ Opinion – There’s no denying that rest plays an integral role in being more productive. Allowing yourself a day or two to separate yourself from your job or daily tasks can do wonders for your mental state. It’s interesting how rest looks different from one person to the next. I love waking up early in the morning and giving myself an hour to just sit and think. No phone, no distractions. I need that time to gear up for the day and it’s crazy how much more productive I am throughout the day when I take the time to be intentional with my mind in the morning. But mindful thinking isn’t the only way I recharge. Rest for me could also involve tinkering on something that I enjoy. Like recently I fixed up my bike. That for me was incredibly restful because I was doing something I really enjoyed.

Danica’s Opinion – I can speak from experience how much rest has benefited me. Before, I typically worked for the majority of the day and at night I would lay awake thinking about the business. I never really gave myself a mental or physical break from my job. Then a couple months ago, I decided to create a better work schedule for myself that allowed me to quit work everyday at 4pm and I took the weekends off. I can’t tell you amazing it has been for both my creativity and productivity. For the first time in a long time, I’m waking up anxious to get to work and I’m crossing everything off my daily to-do lists (something I haven’t been able to accomplish for months). I’m actually getting more done in less time all because I’m allowing my brain to disconnect from work for a moment.

Unlike Chris, my version of rest involves shutting down mentally and physically. I love a lazy Sunday laying on the couch and thinking about absolutely nothing. It’s a wonderful change of pace from my work week! So for me, being absolutely lazy is the best thing I can do to be more productive during my work week.

It’s important to learn what version of rest refuels you and it’s equally as important to train your brain to do that.

So let’s talk about dinner party etiquette. Do you take your shoes off at the door? Do you bring food? Do you take that food back home with you when you leave?

In preparation for the Christmas dinner parties coming up, let’s do a quick refresh.

Chris + Danica’s Opinions –

Should you take your shoes off at the door? Look to see if the host is wearing shoes. If not, definitely take them off.

Should you bring food? Yes, definitely! Even if the host says not to, we like to bring something.

Should you take the food you brought back home with you when you leave? No way! Unless they insist on it.

Is it polite to put the leftovers in the host’s tupperware and take your dish home with you when you leave? To get technical with this question, we say it depends on how close you live to the host. If you’re close or you’ll see them again soon, just leave the dish. But if it’d require a bit of work to get it back, it’s ok to bring your dish home with you.