Rebuilding Phase 1

I am not going to lie, when I walked in and looked up from the bottom stair case to the second floor to see only framing, I was shocked.  The picture above is from our Master Bathroom and behind it was Madeline's playroom.  The amount of damage to our home is unreal and something I would not wish upon anyone.  I wish I could really find the words to put around it, but I am hopeful that as this process sorts itself out, I will find the exact descriptions for the feelings--the fear of hearing your house is on fire and scrambling to run out, the stress of trying to piece your life together in 48 hours to create normalcy and routine, the relief that things are not worse, and the excitement as you think of rebuilding and making it great again.

This whole process has made me realize how much I LOVE our house.  Chris says that I am always looking for what is next, but this situation has made me look at our house in a whole new way.  This is our home and this is where Madeline will grow up and where all of her memories will be based from when she looks back on her childhood.

I am oddly excited about the rebuilding process.  I almost think I have to be.  If I look at this as a hassle, the next 6 months will be even more difficult.  I truly believe that when things happen that are so out of your control like this, you have to embrace it, shake the dust off and move forward.  Why even look back and wonder, "Why did this happen to me?"  It is not worth the mental energy because trust me, you will need the mental energy for so many other things.

That being said, there is totally a business idea here hidden in all of this.  There are SO many moving parts in this process--securing the home, damage removal, dry cleaning, inventory of goods, pack out, insurance investigations, attorneys, etc.  That does not even include the rebuilding.  And, layer on top of that, the insurance company reminds you that YOU are the Project Manager and are responsible for every contractor that you choose to engage on the job, they just cut the check.  There really should be a consulting service who manages this for you...the sheer number of phone calls in a given day is incredible!

I have started to make my list of changes we will be making to the home:

1. We use to have an off white trim---I think we are going to go back to white trim (not 100% sure yet), but the off white was a little limiting with paint color choices 
2. Lighting fixtures- I am super excited about this for some reason and can't wait to make choices!
3. Our walls (other than the ones we painted) were all builder beige...I see a light grey in our future
4. 3 words--Freestanding Soaking Tub

I know the list will grow, as it always does.