We've had a winter full of surprises. Many of them were not good. Like the furnace breaking twice in the coldest February on record, leaving us with no heat for a month. Or the the day the second floor toilet flushing into the stud space one morning, and a short in a wire causing half the house to lose power in the afternoon. Or the day shortly after that when we woke up smelling gas in the kitchen (easy fix) and ended up with our water heater tagged because it needed a new chimney.
I have spent most of the winter hating my new house, and spending the reno budget on emergency repairs.
But I am trying to like it. I really am. So I am tackling the dining room on a shoe string budget-starting with that fabulous 1980's chandelier.