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Stuck at home during COVID-19? Follow one homeowner's lead and take time to complete new projects

Davenport resident Alex Hakanson bought a project home right before the pandemic hit the U.S., now he is using this time to focus on renovations.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Imagine buying your first home and less than two weeks later, a global pandemic hits the U.S.

That's what happened to 23-year-old Alex Hakanson who bought a home in Davenport in February 2020.

"Yeah, timing is weird," Hakanson said. 

Hakanson bought the fixer-upper to make the house truly his own. 

"Get the living space and the bedrooms done and then work on the kitchen," Hakanson said on his plan for renovations.

Goals he set for the year included ripping out carpet, patching up holes and adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls. What he planned on doing within the next few months, is already done.

"If we didn't have this extra time I'd probably still be working on the floors," Hakanson said. "They took a lot longer than I though they would."

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Working at his family's landscaping business has taught Hakanson a few things.

"Every now and then we do outdoor stuff, we've done a couple of decks and all that, but that's really the only handyman work I've done," Hakanson said. 

The rest of the work he is learning online through YouTube videos.

With endless free time, his mentality and the Internet mostly leading the way, Hakanson's only project left is the kitchen which he says will take around two to three weeks.

While COVID-19 definitely hasn't been a walk in the park, it's allowed Hakanson to dedicate his time to something important.

"Just do what you can when you can. You wake and you go to work and you come back and you either work on the house or you be lazy all day so just take that action and get it done," he said.

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