Ready or Not... We Movin'

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately on where I am now and what I’ve come from. It doesn’t always feel like a ton of progress, even though I know that underneath all the stress, there’s a very real step forward happening. 

Andy and I have been living out of his parents’ condo in Vero Beach for the past seven months or so. Our house is taking far longer than expected, not only because of the financial impact from our wedding, but also because I’m going through a tough moment with the growth of Haus of Lawrence and Andy switched careers earlier this year. On paper, I know we’re on the right track. But in the midst of all this pressure, it’s sometimes hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We’ve been so focused on getting our home to a perfectly finished place before organizing our move-in.

It's the little things! Finding motivation as the guest bath at the Windsong House begins to come together.

But lately I’ve realized...

"it does

not need

to be perfect."

Apparently even missing durarock and the primary shower in its entirety isn't going to stop Andy from singing in the shower.

We don’t need our kitchen cabinets. One of the bedrooms and bathrooms can sit unfinished. Missing baseboards isn’t going to dramatically impact our lives.

What does impact us is continuing not to have our own personal space. Honestly, I’m actually excited about an unfinished bedroom where I can set up a little creative studio — free of wood floors I might damage and free of all the “formal” limitations that otherwise get in the way of my creative process.

The first days of living in Mariana. Our kitchen was still a plastic enclosed black hole with not even any floor boards.

When we first moved into our Coral Gables house, we had a tarp around what eventually became the kitchen. There were no floors, just a straight drop into the crawl space. All the windows and doors were still original, with huge gaps, blue tarps strapped over them, and some even boarded up with plywood. The guest bedroom was completely unfinished — down to the studs when we moved in.

And honestly, I look back at the memories of living in that house in that state as some of the best moments for both Andy and me. We were just grateful to have our first home and to be shaping it into something incredibly special, with both of our personalities built right into it.

Day 1: The flooring adventure begins! Stay tuned to find out while we'll NEVER buy glue-down floors again.

So for now, Andy and I are planning to get the floors done in both guest bedrooms (we’re about three-quarters of the way there!). A friend will help us install the plumbing fixtures in the guest bathroom, and all the electrical work will be done by a licensed electrician in both guest bedrooms and the guest bath. Once those three spaces are complete — which should only take a few weeks — we’ll move our butts over to that house.

And I know that once we’re actually in the space, we’ll be way more productive with all the little fix-ups.