How home renovations strengthened by place attachment
As I sit here writing this, I’ve locked myself and my dog in my home office and am listening to relaxing ambient music a little too loudly while the noise of air compressors and nail guns fill my house. My husband and I decided to have our basement remodeled during the pandemic, with the work starting just before the Christmas holidays. When I write that out now, after the fact of the renovation, or on the supposed ‘last day of work’ as the contractors have told us for the last two days, I see the red flags of that decision.
Growing up I had the privilege to help my dad build the house that my parents have now retired in. This unique childhood experience, that lasted most of my summers before moving off to university, surprisingly didn’t provide me with the insight needed to realize that this reno would be a swirling tornado of stress and uncertainty.
I recently learned about the concept of place attachment. Place-attachment is the bonding between person and place, an environmental embeddedness, or at-homeness. Author of Psychology Today articles, Melody Warnick, uses the term place attachment which I agree is much more loving and expresses the sentiment of the meaning better than ‘place identity’. Her article on ‘Right Where you Belong’ speaks to me as I navigate the stressors of having my life turned upside down during a home reno.
Now I would like to state that I don't expect that my level of distress over a home reno would be so high if we weren’t living in a pandemic, and I was working from home as a psychotherapist, with my husband (also working from home), and dog (who has a high level of stranger-danger as a rescue).
Like many, I have been working from home since March 2020. Being at home 24/7 is something I got increasingly used to and even came to enjoy as the months passed by. I’ve found myself at the point where I don’t long for a lot of the spaces I would frequent before this all started. So the experience of having 1-3 extra people in my home per day leaves me fantasizing about screaming ‘get out!’ at the end of each work day.
Before starting the renovations, I liked the home my husband and I have created for our family, but I wouldn’t say that I was attached to it. Since the upheaval of our lives over the past month (not including the most recent lockdown in Ontario) I’ve realized how much I am indeed attached to my space.
Some of the upheaval I’ve experienced include: a change to my morning routine, living away from my home to keep the pup out of the way, a continual mess of drywall dust all over the house, furniture piled up in corners and an overall discomfort in my space.
All this to say there has been lots of change and I didn’t realize how much of a toll changes to my space could take on my health and sense of ‘at-homeness’. As the construction winds down, I’ve never been so excited to clean and organize (two things I do enjoy on a regular day). Having the privilege to live in a space that I own and can form a place attachment, is something for which I am incredibly grateful.
Now looking back on the lockdown reno experience that was a whirlwind, I am able to reflect that it was this perfect storm that led to a deepened sense of connection and care for my space. It was only after the construction was over and the top to bottom cleaning was done that I felt a sense of ‘at-homeness’. Since then I appreciate the quiet and organization on a new level. I’ve also began to feel that once I do decide to move, it will be more difficult and emotional than I had previously predicted. As it often happens, it is only when things are taken from us or change significantly that we are able to appreciate what we have lost in a new way.
Written Dec 2020
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