Renovations do place more of "you" in your home..

The floor is made of wood.
Originally uploaded by Princess Tat of Tinkle Shed

No, we aren't doing any major renovating at the momen, but I need to reflect on how the most minor change in our home is making it feel more "mine."

We've been in our house since 2003, and we were able to move right in, no alterations necessary. The wall colors weren't offensive (if not necessarily our choices), the flooring and carpeting were fairly new, the kitchen had nice cabinets and counters, so we pretty much let things be. We were actually very grateful to find a place that didn't need a lot of money and work sunk into it! That said, although the house has our stuff in it and we've been living there for close to six years, there are lots of things about it that just don't seem ours.

Back to the minor change: two weeks ago, Rosie had some horrific bug bites on her stomach, then her back and legs. I found a couple of carpet beetle wooly bears in her shabby, stained, lumpy shag and was done !DONE! with the carpet. That Saturday after moving all Rosie's stuff out of the room, I grabbed a box cutter, a prybar, and some plyers and ripped all the carpet out. Whew! It took all day, but after a little cleanup with some Murphy's Oil Soap? that wood floor underneath looked marvelous! Bulk trash got all the carpet waste and there's no evidence of the demolition now.

Ever since then, when I walk into her room and step on that wood flooring I feel like I'm at home—it feels right, and has "mine" stamped on it in my core. I'm beginning to understand a little more about why people enjoy renovating their homes. I made a change, a small one, but things are different and feel better because of my change. It's a really, really good feeling.

So, no bug outbreaks since then! And we still have two rooms with carpet in them...