THIS HOME IS TURNING A PAGE
I have seriously been waiting so long to work on this home. Mong has been living here ever since he was a young boy after leaving his old home in Detroit. I remember my initial thoughts of his home when I first came over. The house was very old and there was a lot of stuff. Everywhere. Everything was really outdated and it was really hard to see the beauty of the home because of all of the confusion in the house. For example, there is a beautiful fireplace located in the family room. The whole wall that it sits at is made of brick and there is a huge mantel that displayed family photos. It was a statement but it was used as storage to store all kinds of tools, cleaning products and a lot of random stuff. I was really confused because the home wasn't a small home. There was a basement, there was a garage, there were closets but yet the chimney was used as a storage area.
I was really surprised when I found out that basically everything in the home had never been or hasn't been changed since Mong's family moved in such as the carpet and curtains. I was really frustrated as anyone would be (if you saw the curtains). To be honest, I had a very hard time liking and accepting that it would be my home from then on. Everyday I complained about something and was not happy with anything.
But the longer that I lived here, the more I understood it. It is Mong's home. It's a place where he grew up and had many memories. It's a home that his parents bought for his family to be safe, to go to better schools, to grow, to have a garden and many other reasons. The more I looked at the pictures of his childhood and teenage years, the more I realized how much his home meant to him and his family. And now that we are married, it's my family's home.
Growing up, I learned so much from my dad. One of the things was to take care of our home and that is what I've done for so long. My dad taught me how to make a home by being organized, cleaning, fixing what needed to be fixed and other things. I knew that once I moved in with my husband, I needed to do that. I needed to take care of this home that is now my own. And I needed to help show my husband how to because he was never taught it and never learned. So many family members have come and gone to live their own lives. And now, it is a place that Mong and I can take care of.
One of the first things, we did was basically throw A LOT of stuff away. Furniture, curtains, appliances, and etc were thrown away so that the house would breathe again. Pictures were taken done so that the walls could be cleaned and sometime in the future, new pictures would be put up. Pots, pans and dishware were thrown away to make room for new ones. Everything not used was either thrown away or sold. The money we made from selling items went into buying new things for the house. And a rule that we decided on was that everything was to be replaced. So we started out by taking out the base trims, outlets, vent covers and etc. And eventually in the future, the bathrooms, kitchen and flooring would be gutted out.
Another thing that I worked on was rearranging and organizing where things went. The chimney was cleared. Tools and garage items were put where they belonged. The closet in the hallway was no longer used to store only 4 jackets and 2 shoes. It was now used as a supply and cleaning closet. There was a lot of space in the home, but space needed to be made and that is what we did.
The home is not yet finished yet but it feels so much lighter. The air isn't as thick and dusty as you could say. There is still so much to work on but we definitely are planning on doing more to the house. Everyday I am planning and thinking about what we could do to make it better and more beautiful. I am most extremely grateful for my husband. He has been helping me so much and I know that he's been inspired to make a better home. He has been working on all of the projects that I've given him. He has put in so much input and ideas on what we could do. I know it's new to him. He really just needed someone to motivate him instead of (nagging). But he's been doing so great and I appreciate him for listening to all of my crazy ideas. I know that he is proud of the work that we have put into making this a great home for our family.
