The other day I heard a news story on the radio that said 12% of couples who attempt an home DIY project contemplate divorce during the project. I wish I had written down where the survey came from, but I was in to much shock from the report to think clearly enough. That is a way higher number that I would ever think - I mean, I know full well the stress that can come with having your house torn apart...and working late into the night after working all day at your regular job can be very taxing on even the strongest of relationships...but WOW! To be so stressed and aggravated that divorce is put on the table...yikes! So I thought I would share some of the lessons and tips we have learned for surviving a *HUGE* DIY home improvement project...
* I shared a condensed version of these tips on Generation Building Center's website last week!
1) Before you start,
sit down,
make a plan together,
and write it out.
Making the big decisions together before you start will save you lots of discussions (and possibly money...and disagreements!) once you actually start your DIY home improvement project. Writing a plan down will help you both be able to see the big picture and it will be a good list to follow as you get your DIY hands dirty!
We did lots of research before we started digging.
We made lots of drawings of how we wanted the end product to look.
There were multiple lists:
supply lists
pro/con lists
what we wanted lists
We even got quotes from several contractors before we decided to DIY.
Like anything in life/marriage, good communication is really really really important. Before the project and during the project. I am blessed to have a husband who is constantly asking me my opinion on how I want things to look in our basement...and at the same time he knows what is realistic and do-able with the space we have.
(He is immune to Pinterest...where as I am NOT and go a little crazy with ideas!!)
When we have needed to change something on our original "Big Picture Plan", we have spent time together talking, thinking, and praying about the change before we jump in, to make sure we are both in agreement on the change.
To be completely honest, some things we did not immediately agree on.
(Shocking, I know!)
But having a plan before we started really helped cut down on the disagreements and conflicts that could have arose!
Stay tuned for the next tip for surviving a DIY home improvement project!
When we think of a DIY big project at home? I think of where can I go until its over so we don't get divorced? :)
ReplyDeleteI'll admit we have had our fights while DIY-ing but I feel like it brings us closer in the end because we have stories to laugh at and a room that we can look at and say, "wow, we did that!"
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