ᐅ Your Projects for 2020 – What Are You Working on?

hampshire schrieb:

Who is really "one"? Anyone willing to take the risk with a smile and possibly live "alternatively" for a few months can simply do so. From the experiences gained, they can tell entertaining stories for years.

Interesting theory
Both here in the forum and when looking at local new developments, one sees the opposite. People rely on deadlines, give notice on their current apartments or sell their old properties 3 to 6 months in advance with tight handover dates. As a result, they face a lot of stress.

- Enclosing the trash bins, although that probably won’t happen yet; everything we like is ridiculously expensive, so it hasn’t been worth it for us so far.
- Garden: enlarge one flower bed, create a dry garden bed in the hottest spot in the garden, choose an apple tree.
- Hopefully, once the street is finally done, curbstones will need to be installed at the back boundary.
- ... no idea, I’m sure some minor tasks will still come up.

I am already being monitored, my partner has really gone all out. Electricity, water, and gas meters—he can see from the power consumption when I’m cooking or watching TV; messenger notifications when the washer and dryer start and finish; CO2 levels in some rooms... just like 1984.

We have now been living in the house for 2 years and still have a long to-do list:

• Finish the playhouse and the "kids' corner"
• Border the lawn area with granite cubes
• Buy and set up a robotic lawn mower
• Build a ramp to the raised platform (for wheelbarrow and robotic mower)
• Install about 8 meters (26 feet) of chain-link fence
• Create a wildflower meadow
• Expand the berry patch
• Level the green strip next to the neighbor's property and sow grass
• Complete the shed
• Set up a workshop corner in the carport
• Install lighting under the roof overhang
• And probably many other things that come to mind from time to time

Oh yes... and in the meantime, welcome our second child!

We have now been living in the house for one year. My husband had a lot of time during the summer, but unfortunately not for house projects. Retinal detachment – twice in a row. So none of the projects planned for this summer could be started, but health comes first. He’s annoyed that we haven’t made progress – I’m not. So there won’t be any boredom in 2020.

Planned projects (aside from the spontaneous ones that will come up :rolleyes

- Have more time for sports again
- Breakfast terrace. Fortunately, the main terrace is finished. A little spot in the morning sun is still missing
- Have more time for sports again
- Loggia. Wood cladding on ceiling and floor
- Have more time for sports again
- Wood cladding on the house – entrance area and a section in the garden
- Have more time for sports again
- Garden gate
- Have more time for sports again
- Garden lighting

As overachievers, we only have one light left to install (in the dressing room), all the baseboards are completed, and the garage conversion is currently underway and will be worked on over the winter. So we don’t even have things left that you usually have to do but never found the time for or didn’t feel like doing. The garden is finished (and also not really, because there is always something to do).

So: have more time for sports again

Having more time for sports and, in general, for myself should also be a main goal for 2020—I had burnout in 2017 and don’t want to go through that again. But I’ve realized that the actual process of building and planning the house doesn’t stress me out enough to lead to burnout. I usually enjoy it, and you can see the results. Of course, there are some tricky parts, but even then I know things will eventually fall into place.

Unfortunately, I’m a relentless perfectionist and a stickler for details. I can’t relax if I still see something that needs to be done (or should be done). Mea culpa—my husband is much more laid-back. By now, he’s already back to going to the gym or hanging out with his friends two to three times a week. I’m not quite there yet (unfortunately).

What bothers me more is the “surrounding stuff,” dealing with authorities, creating a renovation cost plan, updating the will, triggering the prenuptial agreement… we still have some unfinished business here, and it MUST be taken care of soon. Unfortunately, all of this depends on me—my husband is a master of waiting it out. He knows I’ll get it done eventually. This is also causing a lot of tension between us right now.

But some exciting projects for 2020:

Landscaping the small outdoor area we have (most of it will anyway be terrace/driveway/parking space). I want a raised bed and an herb garden. I especially miss the latter—I cook a lot with fresh herbs, and growing them in pots just isn’t the same.

- Depending on the offers received, either a solid shed or a wooden shed, each with a gable roof and carport
- Install cables in the upper floor to allow drywall installation on the sloped ceilings
- Pave driveway and terrace
- Step at the main entrance
- Buy some soil and have the plot leveled to the correct height
- Sow lawn
- Persistently contact the telecommunications provider to speed up the process. All our neighbors, including those who moved in after us, had internet very quickly. We have had multiple appointment changes, and although the fiber optic cable was installed in the house on August 29th, there are now multiple faults preventing the technician from coming. We were promised some compensation, but it doesn’t help us. My partner is doing distance learning, and I had planned to work from home one day a week...