The House of Many Housecoats

No matter how much we plan, the journey of life will take us down unexpected paths. Most times, these paths shape our lives and lead to the most fulfilling moments. 

This may sound obvious, but if you really stop to reflect on those unexpected moments, you may come to discover that they were the most meaningful turning points in your life. Moments that made you who you are today.

Being pregnant in the last year of nursing school, was one of those unexpected life moments. Pregnant with twin girls? Well, that just added some sugar to the spicy moment. Regardless of this twist in the road, it led me to my first home purchase. Something I had no intentions of doing until years down the road. However, even if I didn’t realize it at the time, a Housecoat DIY’er was already in the making! 

I was a new nurse, new mom and a new home owner. I get nauseated thinking back about it now. It was with a little naiveness, determination and a whole lot of, “no other damn choice” that got me through this period of my life. One thing I remember for sure, time was of the essence and I had no time to waste.  We all adapt to our environment and this is the point where one little “adaptation” turned into a forever style… my Housecoat!  

Now, this Housecoat was by no means a representation of me getting all cozy and relaxed.  It was quite the opposite.  As I’m sure all new mom’s experience, on the days that I did manage to get dressed sensibly, it was a mission to keep said clothes presentable.  I was sporting baby puke and grossness on the daily! And I was tired of that look.  My solution -  a Housecoat!! 

I could whip this baby over my clothes and then throw it off when I was leaving the house!  It was a serious game changer.  During these days, my Housecoat was referred to as the  “spit rag,” and I relied on it with my life!!

By the time I welcomed my son into our crazy little lives, I was a pro multitasker and seemed to have things under control. However, space was becoming an issue in our tiny little house. I needed the house to be more functional, but hiring someone to do the work was not in the cards.  So, I started doing the work myself!

From painting to knocking down walls, I was all in! I had a hand saw, screw driver, hammer and crowbar. Limited tools, but they did the trick. Soon, it wasn't only the baby stains on my Housecoat. It was paint, caulking, and saw dust added to the mix. I was in my element! I loved this little house. It was a pure labour of love for me. But reality was, we had outgrown this little house of disarray. 

So, we built a new house.  It was a builder grade, and I loved going through the process of a new build. During the next decade, I “hung up” my limited tools.  My life was entrenched with the kids activities and I was soaking up every minute of it.  The one thing that stayed the same, My Housecoat! During this era, my Housecoat was often (jokingly?) referred to as, “the passion killer.” It had turned into more of a comfort to me it at this point. Many memories were made in this builder grade house, ones I will cherish forever. Even though space was not an issue in this house, my life had become stagnant…I had simply outgrown this house. It was time for big changes and new beginnings!!

So, on a blistering July 1st, the kids and I marched into our newly purchased home on Riverview, gallons of paint in hand.  It was invigorating to me! We didn’t have a care in the world. The DIY’er in me had been dormant for 10 years, but this house had unleashed her!!

The Riverview house will always be considered my “soul saving” house for this reason.  There were endless projects!!  As I navigated down this path in my life, I was surrounded by so much love and support. I no longer needed my Housecoat for a spit rag and I no longer wanted it to be a passion killer…but I could not part with it!! Time was still of the essence, but for different reasons this time. We had a life to live & to create! 

It was at the 7 year mark in the Riverview house, that I realized I had no “documentation” of my projects. If I did have any photos, they were left on old broken phones floating up in some cloud that was unknown to me.  So I started the process of retrieving what photos I could and organizing them into a “project” file on my laptop.  “Old school” style, according to my kids. 

While I was working away on this, the kids were deep in conversation about the pressures of social media and its effects. You know, the pressure of having that perfect shot, the perfect feed and consistently keeping up.  As a mother, I had to interject and remind them we don’t give a sweet f*@k about what people think or say about us.  

Obviously they didn’t think I “got it”.  To be honest, I didn’t. It was my son who pointed out the reason I didn't have any photos or videos of me doing my projects. It was because I wouldn't allow pictures to be taken of me ... because I was always in my Housecoat. Point taken. 

I walked away from that conversation bothered. Was I not practicing what I preached?  I felt it needed fixing, somehow.

Imagine the kids' surprise when I announced that I was signing up on Instagram…and my page was going to be called HouscoatDIY!!! 

A place where I could easily keep documentation of my projects and occasionally be caught in my Housecoat!  I thought it was genius, and a point sent back to the kids! I know who I am. I love who I am. I love what I do - I’m just doing it in my Housecoat!