Archive for February, 2010
Email Answer: Getting ‘Er Done?
Q: Dear John (no it’s not a Dear John letter) and Sherry. I’m begging you (on bare knees in front of laptop now) to write a post that teaches the following: HOW… HOW, I beg you, do you find the motivation and… ENERGY to take on such things after work?! Or even a whole weekend cooped up in a bathroom? I BEG you, please, how do you get that mind-set to get things done?! And after work! It’s incomprehensible to me but I would love to be that person. If you bottle it, I’m buying ten. I know this isn’t a motivational/self-improvement blog but I think your attitude to get things done so consistently does have a place. Please? Purty please? Luv luv LUV your blog. -Anna in Sydney
A: We’re not going to lie. Fitting in our constant DIY undertakings is definitely is a challenge. We know all about being short on time (I’m usually tethered to the computer from 8am-8pm and John has a full time job downtown) so we do almost 100% of our projects on nights and weekends (and many of them over holidays as well). Sometimes it just comes down to making the decision to put off the fun stuff like going out to dinner and hanging out with friends in the name of crossing things off of our to-do list.
But of course, just like any strict diet that won’t work for the long haul, we’re all about rewarding ourselves with outings and vacays when we finally finish something that we’ve worked hard to accomplish. We’re just super passionate about our home, so we’re weird enough to think that painting or demo-ing sounds like a good time… but we know it’s not everyone’s idea of fun. And sometimes we dread projects like you wouldn’t believe but we tell ourselves that we have to do it sometime, so we might as well bang it out and then go out to dinner the next day to celebrate (instead of dragging it out and having it hang over our heads for months).
Working in these little “accomplishment rewards” can definitely keep things feeling more balanced and keep you feeling motivated- and of course you’ll be full of self-congratulatory pride for a job well done- so that also comes into play (once you paint one room you’ll feel so good it’ll be easier to embark on the next one than it was to pick up that paint brush the first time).
And sometimes setting a goal and working towards it is easier than you think- especially if there’s something oh so sweet waiting for you at the finish line. For example, declare that if you complete five things on your list you’ll treat yourself to a mini vacay in a nearby city for the weekend or that you’ll finally order that pretty Etsy print that you’ve been drooling over. I guess it’s sort of like doing anything else that takes time and effort (losing weight, studying for finals, etc)- it really takes drive and motivation to stay at it. So anything you can do to push yourselves forward and encourage each other along the way can really make all the difference.
We also have another idea for ya… maybe you should start a blog. We find that we’re motivated to do more and work harder just so we can share our results with people who are chomping at the bit for pics and details. Maybe that will help motivate you as well? Not that anyone really has “extra time to start a blog” when they’re working on their home, but we didn’t think we did either (two years ago when John started this whole thing I was completely uninterested) and just look at us now!
Or maybe you can find another way to motivate yourselves by sharing your progress- like creating a super easy Flickr album with before & after photos and sending the link to friends and family once a week to share your DIY hardships- and all the glory that comes with them once they’re blissfully completed. Even privately documenting your process just for yourself can be hugely motivating. For example, you can take “before” photos of your entire house and put them in an album with a blank sleeve after each one that’s just waiting for an “after” picture. It definitely won’t happen overnight, but as you slowly start adding after photos and seeing exactly how far you’ve come you’ll be amazed how empowering, motivating and rewarding it can be. Heck, we’d even call it downright addicting.
And a lot of times when you head into each project your attitude can make all the difference. Just like if you’re training for a big tennis match or going to a job interview, if your internal monologue is saying things like “I’m going to fail- this is going to be a disaster- I’m so bad at this stuff- this will take me forever…” then you’re probably setting yourself up to fall on your face from the get-go.
We like to go into each project in a positive and optimistic state of mind. Just the act of putting on some music, having full bellies, and generally embarking on our next home improvement adventure in a good mood can make all the difference. Of course we’ve also learned that having unrealistic expectations is the fastest way to never want to pick up a hammer or a paint brush again. So even when we take on a should-be-simple task, we never say things like “this should only take a second” or “we can totally bang this out before our dinner plans in an hour” because those assumptions can really amp up the stress of the situation and make any small ten minute snafu seem like a major disaster since you went in with such unrealistic ideas about how the process would go. Instead we like to set aside large blocks of time when we know we can really dive into something (again with full bellies and some good music playing to rally our spirits) and then we often find that we’re pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things can go (instead of expecting everything to be effortless and being disappointed when things don’t magically happen in a matter of seconds).
In short: you definitely have to put in the time to get things done, but don’t forget to reward yourself and document your achievements along the way. And having realistic expectations and going into each project with excitement instead of dread can really make all the difference! Plus tackling one room at a time or breaking projects down into nice little manageable “bite-sized tasks” can definitely take the fear out of something that seems way too huge and ominous. Does anyone else have other secrets to staying motivated and keeping their to-do list in check without going crazy? Do tell.
Psst- Learn more about keeping your house sprucing projects more manageable by decorating in stages – and check out some of our biggest-bang-for-our-buck upgrades that were surprisingly simple to accomplish.
Reader Redesign: Bathroom Brilliance
When our bloggy friend Roeshel sent over her bathroom makeover it was love at first sight. Here’s her letter:
I’d love to submit my bathroom makeover for a reader redesign. Thank you so much for the inspiration! The entire project cost just $512 and I really love the outcome. The ceiling paint, primer and trim and door paint were free (we already had it from previous projects) and the wall paint is Benjamin Moore’s Light Pewter and Nimbus (color matched to Valspar’s Signature paint). The lighting was from Lighting Direct and the oval vanity mirror came from Lowe’s. I painted the floor myself with Valspar Porch and Floor Paint in “Journey” and some Benjamin Moore “Smoke Embers” paint I already had (using two of the same Elegant Bracket Stencils). Then I sealed it with Minwax water based polyurethane (which WILL yellow light-colored paint). Oh and I got the Extra long White Waffle shower curtain at Target and used Rustoleum spray primer and oil rubbed bronze spray paint and spray lacquer for the faucets. Of course you can check out all the details over on my blog (for example, the floor painting project can be found right here). ~Roeshel
Here’s what the bathroom looked like before Roeshel worked her DIY magic:
And here’s the amazing (and wallet-friendly) after:
Isn’t that breathtaking? Of course we love the horizontal stripes that she added to those walls (check out our subtle wall stripe tutorial right here) and that painted floor is nothing short of amazing. What do you guys think? Didn’t Roeshel do a stellar job in here? What’s your favorite part? We’re torn between that fantastic stenciled floor and the soft clean color combo of the white trim and pedestal sink layered on top of those tone on tone walls. Yummy.
Nursery Progress: Let’s Reflect For A Bit
We’re back to share how we painted our $39 Marshall’s mirror so it’s a bit less upscale-formal (in black) and a smidge more playful and nursery-ready (thanks to a few coats of deep asparagus green paint).
It was a super straightforward process, although I’m not gonna lie- all those curvy openings definitely took me a bit longer to work around than a basic mirror frame would have. But it was totally worth it in the end. As in, I’d do it again ten times without a second thought. We just love it!
We were inspired by the deeper green tones in the leaves from our curtain fabric so the color that we decided on for the mirror was a nice deep-ish green tone called Behr’s Scotland Isle (we got it color matched to an inexpensive quart of Olympic’s No-VOC Premium Paint in a semi-gloss finish). We passed on using any primer since our mirror was already painted (not stained) so we didn’t worry about anything bleeding through (and we wanted to avoid the primer fumes if at all possible). But we did rough it up with a bit of high-grit (350) sandpaper before picking up a paint brush. Note: if you’re not prego and not making over a mirror for a nursery, you could easily use a spray primer like Kilz followed by a few thin and even coats of spray paint in your color of choice for a perfectly polished finished product- just be sure to spray in a well ventilated area because those fumes aren’t great for anyone- pregnant or not.
So as I mentioned, I passed on the spray paint approach and resolved to do the work with a small craft brush instead. I left my usual 2″ angled paint brush in our tool drawer and reached for a tiny less-than-one-inch brush from Michael’s from my craft drawer instead- just to get into all those nooks and crannies. Two coats, and about two hours later, I was looking at a gorgeously green mirror that appeared as if it had always been that color. Not an ounce of black paint bled through the paint or peered around the cut outs thanks to my tiny brush. Oh and I painted the mirror on a flat piece of cardboard to catch any drips and make it easy to spin around so I could access it from all sides (which was crucial to ensure that I didn’t miss any of the many edges that needed green paint to cover the black).
Then I sat back and let everything fully dry (I didn’t even attempt to hang it for 24 hours, just to be sure it was fully cured) and used a simple straight edged razor to scrape the small amount of paint that had dripped from the frame onto the round face of the mirror in the middle. Then we used two heavy duty anchors to securely fasten it to the wall in the nursery. We intentionally hung it across from the only window in the modestly-sized room to reflect lots of light and make the space feel more open and airy.
We love how the color works with the tones in our curtains. And of course we adore all the fun little shapes that it makes on the wall (that we’re sure the beanette will love to stare at). We especially enjoy the four little hearts around the mirror’s perimeter that we never even noticed back before we painted it green.
See how smooth our paint job came out just from applying two thin and even coats of latex paint with a small craft brush? Painting a frame or a mirror is really one of the most simple and rewarding projects that you can take on (how about painting a bunch of them in a bold punchy color and hanging them in a grid above your sofa?). Easy peasy. Especially if they’re less ornate than this guy.
So there you have our latest little nursery project that we completed with just one cheap-o brush and a quart of colorful semi-gloss paint. Oh and we should mention that we do realize that when the beanette gets bigger and eventually can stand up in her crib (even though we’ll be lowering the mattress at that point) hanging the mirror even more securely on the wall will be in her best interest. At that time we plan to screw right through the frame and into the wall (we can countersink, putty and paint the heads of the screws to hide ‘em) so the mirror can’t even be yanked off the wall by a hulking adult. Stay tuned for all those little childproofing adventures that we’ll take on as Baby P grows and becomes more mobile towards the end of 2010…
And before we forget, did you notice that we snagged an awesome aqua colored 100% organic crib sheet? We actually ordered two of them (we’ve heard that it’s easier to always have a spare on hand) and also grabbed two 100% organic changing pad covers in the same color. We love the pop of happy hue that it adds without being too busy (we considered some patterned options but realized that with the scrolly mirror and the printed curtains it might be a bit too much).
Best of all? After sleuthing out about twenty organic crib sheet and changing pad cover options, these were the cheapest and the color happened to be perfect- plus they even offered free shipping so we couldn’t have been happier. Not bad for $18 and $15 a pop respectively. Of course we did that thing where you cross your fingers that the color n the monitor is close to the real color, but as soon as they arrived we breathed a sigh of relief. Now we just have to pick up about a million other things (waterproof mattress cover, changing pad, dresser, side table, lamp, art, cloth diapers, toy baskets, etc). Not to worry, we’ll get ‘er done.
Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the very beginning? Here’s our painting post, our big shopping spree, our crib hunting rundown, our curtain-making tutorial, and our fun little chair search.
Fab Freebie: Say Grace
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries***
Since our eyes are constantly peeled for fun nursery art lately, we’re psyched to bring you this week’s giveaway from Grace Hester Designs. And even if you’re not expecting a little one, you might just spot the perfect piece to commemorate your wedding, your brood, or even your love of foreign languages amongst Grace’s type and silhouette-based art.
We love the idea of our little beanette learning some Spanish numbers or French animal names through these punchy designs (or even picking up a Chinese character or two). And it’s because of Grace’s fun range of prints that we couldn’t bear to narrow down this week’s prize to a specific group of designs – so TWO of you are gonna score a $50 credit toward anything in Grace’s etsy shop.
Here are this week’s entry details:
- PRIZE: A $50 credit towards any item from Grace Hester Designs
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “GRACE ME” and…
- BONUS QUESTION: …share with us your favorite word or saying from another language. Do you love the way a certain Italian word rolls off your tongue? Or maybe you have a go-to phrase that you learned when traveling abroad? If nothing else, is there an English word that sounds especially funny to you in Pig Latin?
- GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, February 17th at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: Two
- PRIZE SHIPS: All over the globe!
- USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winners will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday. Good luck!
Find more freebie info on our Giveaway FAQs page. Pics courtesy of Grace Hester Designs.
Pop Quiz: Hue-man Resources
Ever thought your favorite colors could help you pick a career path? Well, we never did either until one of our readers (thanks Helen!) sent us a link to CareerBuilder.com’s “Color Career Counselor” quiz. It claims to use the Dewey Color System (which is referred to as “the world’s most accurate career testing system”) to point you in the right occupational direction, simply by predicting what may interest you most depending on which colors you like (and which ones you like the least).
As usual, Sherry and I took it for a spin. Sherry’s results said she’s primarily an ORGANIZER and secondarily a RESEARCHER. Some of the highlighted keywords – Systematic, Self-Control, Self-Motivated and Independent – certainly describe my better half, though the suggested career paths (Accountant? IRS Agent?? Budget Analyst???) involve far too many numbers for her. I think she prefers her own interpretation- that she enjoys organizing closets and drawers between researching furniture options for mood boards and whipping up posts about our progress at home. Plus you know we like to research every major DIY project before diving in so it’s not too far off in that regard…
My results, however, were far more accurate. I was said to be a CREATOR first and an ORGANIZER second. Although I might not be as “nonconforming” or “emotional” as they indicate, the first career listed is what I actually do for a living: Advertising Executive (and oddly enough, Interior Decorator is also on the list). Who knew my preference for blues and my aversion to reds said so much about me?
Now it’s your turn to take the quick test (just click here) and tell us how accurate you think the results are. Oh, and it’ll probably ask you to provide some personal information but you can just click “No Thanks” and skip that page without compromising your results. Have fun (who doesn’t love a pop quiz on Monday morning?)!
Screengrabs courtesy of CareerPath.com
