The devil is in the details

I have spent some time each day last week at the house. I find myself wanting to spend time there alone in quiet. I recently posted on Facebook that I loved a quiet day at home and got a couple responses that said “what is a quiet day at home”? Well quiet time is when you put your kid in time out and the house is quiet for a few moments. No, really quiet time can be very hard to come by and so much can be accomplished in that short time. Remember we used to get to the office first thing in the morning and then close the door until lunch time so that we could get some work done? My best quiet time is without kids, phones, televisions or radios going and it comes first thing in the morning when I am in the shower and can hear my own thoughts undisturbed. I can plan my whole day and see dilemmas and how to solve them as I rinse shampoo from my hair. I now understand the thinking behind meditation. Being quiet and still long enough to know that multi- tasking is mostly if not completely a farce. So I “meditated” with the house this week. First thing I found was that I love this place. This dumpy neglected horrible little house is now “my baby” and I am so proud of what it is turning into. No worries, I will get this love thing in check just in time to disconnect myself from it and get it sold or leased. But for this week, it’s been just wonderful to enjoy the house and how far it has come.

A large part of needing to be alone in the house is to really look at the details of what is left to do to complete the project. This is the point where a lot of small things still need to be done. A few items come from incomplete work on big projects, like drywall areas that got changed or paint touch up. But the majority are items that never made it to the spread sheet of costs in the project. This is a time to pay closes attention and to realize that there is a larger purpose to staying in budget then just being concerned about profitability. If at this stage you are out of budget things start to go really bad.

I’m putting on my Realtor/ marketing hat for a moment…No Buyer is ever going to consider your home the best opportunity or think that great care and craftsmanship were paramount if all the small details are overlooked and not complete. This is what separates the boys from the men. This is where so many loose vision to complete the project or funds to see the project to the finish. The finish line is a complete home. In new construction they call the home “punched out”. That means every single solitary item is complete. It means that a buyer need only bring their suitcase to move in.

Some of our small items are doorknobs, toilet paper holders, dusting fan blades, clean windows, hand rails on the stair cases and paint touch up. I’m not quite there but have started pricing and searching for this small items. We still are working on the big items like countertops, hardware for cabinets and finishing the basement. These small things can really open up a big can of worms. When I decide cabinet hardware they need to match the light fixtures and the door knobs and that leads to mirrors over the bath vanities. See where I am going? It’s all connected.

We continue our quest to get it all on Craig’s list or from wholesalers. So a great deal of research goes into these decisions. And off to work I go to continue with large decisions and begin planning for the small details. The “devil is in the details” expresses the idea that whatever one does should be done thoroughly. Details are important in life and in real estate renovations.