Well, I shouldn’t say “none” – last weekend we did finally hang the picture we bought way back in January to put in our revamped guest bath, thereby placing that project in the “done” category (oh, but wait, we do still need to put up the new door sealant we bought … and get new hinges … plus we never really did seal the grout on the floor or in the shower). And GAR finally hung the shoe rack in our master closet, which we worked on in February, so once I clean all that up, decide if I want more storage in there and purchase some sort of working accessories management system for the cupboards I’ll be able to mark that off the list too. And, of course, we finally patched and repainted that spot in the kitchen that’s been unfinished since March – now all that’s left to do in there is fix that spot on the ceiling, retouch the paint, repair the slanted shelves, build a wine rack, construct our pantry, and eventually replace all the trim and flooring. See! We’re practically done!
Okay, perhaps I should just take the first step and admit we have a problem. A problem, I mean, with actually carrying projects through to completion.
We’re really good at starting major undertakings. Heck, we’re practically pros at it. And, if I can give us due credit for a moment, we are also pretty effective at taking that project all the way through the hard parts, getting all of the big details taken care of. It’s just that last 5% – the finishing touches – where all that hard work seems to get forgotten. It can be something small, like the fact that 2 of the picture frames in the dining room have been sitting vacant since I “finished” that project last October. Or something slightly larger, such as having half-painted shutters on the front of your house for 3 months (and unpainted trim, chimney, mailbox and all those high-up, hard-to-reach spots on the house). Regardless of the size or scope of the work you can be sure of one thing – we will only complete 95% of it.
I don’t know why we deprive ourselves of the joy that comes with seeing a project done to perfection. After all, when we do actually finish a refurbishment – big or small – we always admire it for weeks afterwards, filled with the overwhelming sense of accomplishment that only two lazy desk workers can feel at completing such a simple task. Why just this weekend we bought new $10 throw pillows at IKEA and, by the way we’ve cooed over them since then (they really DO brighten up the whole living room!!), you’d think we’d just invented sliced bread.
But this is all about to change! Or, I mean, maybe after the wedding it will.
Oh, were you thinking that writing this post was an effort for me to turn over some sort of leaf? You thought I was taking initiative to pick up a paintbrush and get this done? Sorry folks, I don’t really have time for that right now. But I’m sure I will … you know, sometime this fall. Until then I’m adapting GAR’s philosophy – if you see painter’s tape in our house, even if it’s been in the same spot for a few months and is starting to lose its stickiness and sag, that just means that project is still “under construction” (like everything else in our life, including this blog) … and you can’t critique a project until it’s done, right?
In the meantime please enjoy these photos of (just some of) the projects in our house that are, well, you know, mostly finished.
Guest Bath Before
Guest Bath "After"
Master Bedroom Before
Master Bedroom "After"
Formal Living Room Before
Formal Living Room "After"
Swimming Pool Before
Swimming Pool "After"
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