…and let’s focus on the entry way, shall we? After I finished the gallery walls in our hallway a few weeks ago and then gave the light in there a little pick-me-up with some paint, I felt so great to gaze down it and see the cohesiveness that “completing” the space gave (even though no space is ever really “complete”, right?) To a visitor, it looks finished and put together. None of the rooms in our house feel/look like that except the hallway now. Why? It’s because I jump around from project to project, room to room, never staying in one space long enough to complete the 48 projects I have in store for it.
Well, it’s 2014 and while I’m not one for New Years’ resolutions, I am making a resolution to work on one room at a time. You see, what happens when you’re like me and you’re constantly jumping from one room to the next is that you have supplies for a few projects for this room squirreled away while you work on the project in this other room over here. Eventually there are supplies stored everywhere. You check one project off your list and keep moving to the next. Meanwhile, you’ve found an amazing deal on something for another project and have had some awesome luck thrifting so you get all excited and work on something new and things get back-burnered and then clutter arrives at your house and settles in. You get the gist, right?
So, no more scattered projects. One space at a time for me. After the hallway, the next space I’m putting my energy into is the entry way. I’ve had plans and materials for projects in here for a long time. Here’s what it looked like shortly after we moved in:
This is after I replaced the mini-blinds that were there when we purchased with a rattan roman shade I found on clearance at Target that I later deemed too narrow (not to mention too long at almost six feet). It’s also after we painted all the off-white trim and the door a crisp white and the walls with Valspar’s Hopsack.
Last January we installed a hook system by the door and since then, nada. It’s not been touched. Until now. I just finished making a roman shade (tutorial tomorrow!) to replace the boring brown shade and have plans for a new rug, a new light fixture (a chandelier!!), a mirror, and some other things. Stay tuned.
While I’m (slowly) plugging away at the entry way, I’ll still be doing some little projects here and there – alterations and such – so those will be sprinkled in the mix of posts along with a few love stories. I’m not a fool to think I can pound out one space/project every week like I once could (read ‘like before I had kids’), so I have to keep you entertained and coming back somehow, right? ;)
. . .
So, tell me. Am I the only one that creates to the tune of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” or is there a support group to be had? Maybe you’re a Mission {insert a room} person and you have some words of wisdom to give? I’ll take any and all!
I am totally a jump around person. Your description of what you do fits me to a T--I'm all over the place tweaking here and there and squirreling supplies like there is no thrift-store tomorrow. (I'm cleaning out and organizing our storage room and it has waaay to much project-related stuff in there!) I've always wanted to have room/project blinkers but I have come to realize that it just isn't the way I operate, especially with little kids around. Looking forward to seeing how you tie this area together with the gallery hall!
ReplyDeleteSo happy I'm not alone! I love how you said you squirrel thrift stores away like there is no thrift store tomorrow! Silly but sometimes I think, "What if there's some great find there today, right now and if I don't go rightthissecond I'll miss it!" Haha!
DeleteOh, I definitely jump around. Usually whatever space gets attention is the one that is bugging me the most (thus necessitating change!) or the easiest/simplest/cheapest to address. I don't think we'll ever be done. ;)
ReplyDeleteI too jump around, especially right now getting ready for baby. Nesting is making me a little crazy and I can't seem to finish a project before I move on the the next thing that needs to be fixed or primped :) I can't wait to see your Roman shade tutorial!!!
ReplyDeleteThis May will mark 5 years in our house. I jump ALL over the place: a little here, a little there, nothing ever finished, but slowly, oh so every slooooooowly, I am. Curtains. Curtains are next. Perhaps, though, your focus on one room at a time would be less overwhelming and likely to put me into my usual "freeze" mode.
ReplyDeleteI think curtains are the exception to the "jumping around" rule! They make a room go from not finished at all, to "getting there" in seconds! :)
DeleteWe'll see how my one room at a time goes...I think the best thing about it so far is that I can plan for a room and plan better because I don't have weeks between projects to change my mind, if that makes sense. Everything will hopefully be more cohesive since it was planned and executed at the same time. :)