I Survived in My Apartment Under Construction
It felt like my own mind was under construction
The two last weeks have been unusual for me.
I live in an apartment in Paris with my husband and our two sons. It’s an old building, and part of its structure is made of wood.
Two years ago, we realized that the wood was rotten. We had to replace the facade beams. But it wasn’t enough.
The beams of the apartments were also damaged.
Home renovations have been planned for each flat in the building. And it was our turn, these last two weeks.
It’s been a mess.
The masons worked mainly in our bathroom and our kitchen. They broke the ceilings. There was dust and rubble everywhere.
I am not really the tidy type but this was just too much for me.
It felt like camping in your own flat. Except that camping was fun when we were kids. I mean, usually we camp in a forest, not on a construction site.
Or maybe I’ve lost my inner child!
Do you know what they say, that tidying up the place where you live is like tidying up your own daily life?
I can assure you this is true, and the opposite is true as well. I was moody as hell. And it’s not because of my usual French grumpiness!
Now you can sell me all your books on Feng Shui and Marie Kondo and God knows what. I am very receptive.
I admit I didn’t try to tell the masons that their methods were not very Feng Shui. Unlike me, they didn’t seem receptive at all.
Anyway, I was so disturbed that I could not concentrate on anything.
I did not want to cook. I didn’t have the space I was used to.
I didn’t want to write. I felt too depressed, I was unable to write a sentence that didn’t sound like rubbish.
I could only mumble that I wanted to be anywhere else. Every evening. For hours.
Living in a disorganized space was like disorganizing my own brain:
- I was in a bad mood. Remember Grumpy from Snow White? He was a model of positivity compared to me.
- I could not focus. Actually, I could focus on the holes in the ceiling. So my subject of focus was very specific.
- I lacked motivation for almost everything. I didn’t exercise and stopped eating healthily. I can’t step on the scale right now.
The good news is that it is over. The ceilings have been repaired. We are just waiting to paint it.
Only my living room is still a little messy. I feel better.
I feel better because I spent a whole day cleaning my kitchen and bathroom. Remove rubble. Remove dust. Tidy up the mess.
Cleaning my apartment was like cleaning my mind. I finished stiff but so happy!
It was much cheaper than shopping and much more effective for my mood!
Yet I don’t recommend offering your partner a sponge for next Christmas and telling them “it’s better than shopping, you’ll see, I saw it on the Internet”. They might have a hard time understanding the value of your gift.
Unless you start breaking ceilings in your apartment of course. You do you!
