Things are going to get a bit real today. I’ve talked about this in the past in my New Year’s goals posts, but the reality is, not much has changed. I am a serial starter of projects, but a terrible finisher. I get excited with my progress and the improvements that were made and then I move on to another project. We have so many projects around our home that are 95% finished, and I never feel the need to wrap up that last 5% even though it does hang over me.
With all the visitors we have coming this summer (mid-June specifically), I’m using it as motivation to wrap up the projects that have been hanging over me. We’ll call them the 5% projects.
So, what do these entail?
Finish painting the dining room. Yep, the room is technically “done” but I never finished painting the ceiling around the edges on two sides or around the light fixtures. Additionally, I’ve never repainted the wall where the holes were cut from the chandelier/light box install. It all got mudded in December, but I never finished painting it. I also need to fill the holes from the old curtain rods and repaint those areas as well.
What you see in pictures:
What it looks like upon closer inspection:
In my recent powder bath makeover, you may recall I hired an electrician to replace the can light with a regular light fixture box so I could hang the star chandelier. I then had the drywaller fix that while he was fixing the tile I had to tear off and that spot in our dining room I mentioned above. Long story short, I have never painted that ceiling either and I obviously wanted it to go white as well. That white ring around the ceiling isn’t from the fixture. It’s the fresh mud vs. our old paint color.
The guest bathroom that is connected to our smaller guest bedroom is one of the last rooms in the house that hasn’t ever been painted. So, it’s that matte, fleshy-toned paint I don’t love. I also changed the cabinet color to gray this past fall in this post, but never actually waxed the cabinets so that the chalk paint fully adheres. I think I could crank out this entire room in a day if I just focused on it and got to work!
Last fall I also started painting our Jack and Jill guest bathroom that connects my craft room/TV room and our larger guest bedroom. Sadly, both of our parents have stayed with us since it looked like this…What. You don’t have a giant rooster in your bathroom?!
The mudroom is more like a 65/35 project. I still have quite a bit to do to actually finish this space.
Here’s what you see in photos:
And here is real life:
Not even joking: that frog tape has been on the walls for two and a half years and that’s probably the least offensive part of this room. I’m pretty transparent when I share the room that it’s not finished, but I also conveniently leave out the cupboard side of the room so you can’t see just how bad it is. This is our main entrance to our home from the garage, so I need to get this wrapped up. Now that I know how to best paint thermofoil cabinets, I’m a lot more confident that I can get a nice finish on the doors and drawers. I also need to paint the ceiling, the shiplap and add a second coat to the walls.
Side note: You won’t be surprised to know that I have a post written about how to paint thermofoil cabinets that is 95% done and has been for several weeks. Shocker, right? 😉
Let’s be honest. Kurtis is a saint for dealing with all of this.
Over the coming weeks, I really plan to focus on these projects. Although they won’t be radical changes, they’ll help me feel better when our guests arrive and they won’t be hanging over me over the summer. Kurtis may also be more willing to let me start new projects too, once these wrap up. 😉
So, am I alone? Do any of you have your own 5% secrets?
If you would like to follow along on more of my home decor, DIY, lifestyle, travel and other posts, I’d love to have you follow me on any of the following:
Pinterest / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Google+
disclosure: some affiliate links used
This is me, this is me, this is me!
Thank you for sharing this! We just moved to a new house about six months ago, and about a month ago I completely lost steam repairing the cracked, buckled, and dimpled plaster walls. There are currently six paint samples, joint compound, and the old wall color in what can only be called a “calico” pattern on the walls (with a shop vac hidden around the corner). I’m not even sure if my husband notices, or if we’ve all just grown so used to the house being a disaster. Thank you so much for showing that it’s not always perfect (or completely finished)!
I can totally identify. We have been moving from room to room repainting, and doing a few changes in hardware and lighting, and my job is the woodwork, doors and trim. In between, life has to be lived, so we have moved back in to several rooms without me finishing my part of the process! Thanks for sharing this post! Now where is that paintbrush?
I do the exact same thing! I get excited, dive in and never finish the last little bit before I’m on to the next thing. This motivated me to make a list and get things done. I am looking forward to your thermofoil paint post! That’s a project that I have wanted to do for a long time.
It seems like dragging out that paint to do just a little job is such a paint, so yes, I am guilty too.
This is 100% me. Missing shoe molding around the painted kitchen cabinets, no baseboards in the master bedroom or laundry room, no transition thresholds between the hardwoods and tile (just a lovely inset inch of concrete that gets gross), insides of doors still the old yellow-y white instead of the bright white I painted the fronts in, the list goes on haha. We’re thinking of selling at the end of the summer, I need to finish these things up!!
Oh. My. This would make me crazy…lol.
My stuff is more in the line of “never started” because I can’t decide what I want. Like a paint color for my living room or a functional storage system for my office.
My hand is raised and I am refusing to make direct eye contact….
Everyone can relate to this! Nothing will ever feel 100% done. But you will feel better if you tackle one or two of these things!
So I guess what everyone is saying is that we are all human and life is more than all the projects we take on! But y’all could have fooled me, with your beautiful posted pictures, you have inspired me to start (but not always finish) quite a few projects! I am trying to get the same motivation to complete some projects so I can get up off the floor all those pretty decorative things that are supposed to be on walls and shelves, and the cans of paint stuffed in closets because I haven’t finished the painting yet.
Thanks for this post! Here’s my worst offense: I decided to paint the shutters on my one story house, but only the front of the house is done! For 2, that’s 2, years! I have promised myself it will be completed this summer!
Oh my gosh, I was just laughing with my husband. Cause I am so guilty of this! Just about everything you mentioned was something I did in our last house! I can totally appreciate the honesty.
Totally identify with this! It seems I always have so much motivation when I start but life always seems to get in the way. Another thing that drives me absolutely mad is the amount of clutter from tools, materials, and decor that pile up all over the place every single time we do a project! Our house has a pretty open floor plan and our dining room always seems to be the catchall for these items which makes the entire house look like a total mess.
Ummm…. 100%! Our baseboards and crown molding were replaced 3 yrs ago and they are still just primed (luckily white) and not painted. And we still have 2 closets with unpainted ceilings where popcorn was removed.
Sarah,
I think you hit a nerve with this one, and everyone can relate! Love your honesty, and for letting us know that there is a mess “behind the scenes” at your house,
just like at our house! But the most important thing to remember is that life is about making memories, and the projects will always be there…. finished or not.
OMG, this is so me as well. I could kick myself for it. Unfortunately by the time I go to finish up what I didn’t finish before I no longer have the paint. Try matching paint you no longer have or know the color name. I have two rooms like that and the remedy is to simply re-paint the whole room, aarrgghh!
Thank you, thank you for this. It’s good to know I’m not the only person like this. I feel much better 🙂
Blessings,
Elizabeth
I think we can all relate! Really looking forward to your post about painting Thermofoil cabinets.
You may have 5%’s.. I have 75%’s!! We will bring paint brushes when we come! Please do not stress over this!
I love this post. So. MUCH.