Making My Home A Haven

This week Tammy builds on previous weeks routines and adds being loving to your family.

This is something I've always worked hard on; I don't ever want to fall into the trap of treating strangers or acquaintances better than I do my husband; something I've seen with others and which could be easy to do. I'm finding it especially difficult now because I think the pregnancy hormones are making me extra cranky - I can tell that things I would easily ignore irritate me so much more. I have to consciously remind myself that those things are not a big deal and I'm just overreacting.

I think this also makes me think of some of my feelings during my mother-in-law's most recent visit. She messed up my morning routine every day she was here you see, and I had to almost mentally slap myself for getting frustrated that she was trying to - horrors - talk to me while I ate my breakfast and then during what is normally my devotional and Bible reading time. Thinking about the fact that I'm trying to grow spiritually and become more Christ-like made it pretty obvious, even to me in my early morning cranky state, that I needed to close my books and respond to her. No, my morning routine never got completed those days, but it was only three days, and she didn't have to return to her home upset that her daughter-in-law would rather read spiritual materials than speak with her.

Sad that I actually had to point this out to myself, isn't it?

I'm also generally easily irritated by little things and I'm slowly getting better at reminding myself to look at the big picture and that I love my husband, whether or not he closes cabinet doors or whatever else it might be that annoys me. Would I rather have a loving home with the occasional kitchen cabinet left wide open or a husband upset at being nagged to shut the doors. Another one where it's sad how slow I am to get over myself and act with love.

This might be a little off track of where Tammy was taking her idea, but it's what her post brought to my mind...

Making My Home A Haven

I missed joining in last week when Tammy first took over Making Your Home a Haven, but this week she's talking about getting to bed on time.

Not that that's something I ever struggle with. (snort.)

Since writing that post a few weeks ago, I'm doing better as I pay attention to the time and don't let myself get distracted in the evening. Recognizing that in order to be in bed ready to sleep by 10:30, I need to back everything else up and think about how long it takes me to get ready for bed, how long to wrap up whatever I'm doing, etc. I try to really start thinking about heading towards bed at 9:30, and 10:00 is my absolute get-myself-moving deadline.

And it works. Amazingly enough. I've managed to wake up shortly after 7:00 without an alarm almost every day - weekends included. I seem to need significantly more sleep currently so I'm going to gradually see if I can nudge that wakeup time earlier without it demanding a bedtime any earlier than 9:30; anything earlier than that just doesn't work well if I want to spend any time with L in the evening.

I think the pregnancy is not only causing me to need more sleep, but also to have a shift in the timing for my energy levels - used to be that I was much more productive in the late afternoon/evening. Now, I find that I have better luck tackling stuff earlier because after about 5:00 I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally. This is also motivation for me to get out of bed and start working in the morning - I got lots done last Saturday before noon and I think most of the credit goes to the fact that I got up at 7:15 and got right into my morning routine.

And now, on that note, it's definitely time for me to get to bed!

Monday night/Tuesday morning update:
Was in bed by 10:30, although not really ready to sleep until 10:45 or so. I did sleep as well as I ever do now, and woke up without the alarm at 6:50. Got up immediately too, thanks to my need to visit the bathroom which keeps me from lazing about in bed too long.

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning update:
In bed on time, and although I didn't sleep well I still woke up before the alarm at 6:45.

Wednesday night/Thursday morning update:
Yeah, not in bed on time at all. More like 11:30 - I made a phone call when I should have been making my way to bed and then I talked for much too long. Then I compounded this by reading for another half hour before finally heading to bed. Still woke up at 6:30 though somehow. (Somehow in this case was definitely due to the shrinking bladder space)

This might be a sign that I'm nesting.

This weekend I was supposed to work on our taxes. I didn't. Instead I tore into my closet and have purged and cleaned and rearranged like I finally had some real energy. Oh, wait, I did finally have some real energy. I had to intentionally pace myself since I knew my energy level was higher than what my back could actually take (and I should have paced myself more carefully).
Let me first explain. My closet is HUGE. It extends the length of the master bedroom which is generously sized. Hanging rod all down the long side, and wrapped around the corner. The shorter side has 3 long shelves and a dresser.

The closet is so big it became a problem - I'd kept it fairly organized until our big bathroom remodel last year. During that undertaking, the closet that was in the bathroom (L's closet) had to be emptied, along with all the bathroom items. Everything got shoved into my closet. Once the remodel was completed, L had a closet again, but it was much tinier than before, so some things had to remain in my closet. And then I just couldn't deal with it so I ignored it. And what was bad became much much worse.

Until I finally couldn't take it anymore. I had to rearrange things to make room for the bookcase from my office; it's the best place to put it and once it's tidied there will be plenty of room. And then I just got on a roll. I went through every drawer in the dresser and purged. I went through my lingerie cabinet and purged (oh, how I purged there. I had some really ratty undies that should have been tossed ages ago). I found lots of random things that had been tossed in there and now are going into the trash or on to Goodwill if they're usable.

I've got the space cleared for the bookcase. Now I just have to empty the bookcase so L can move it. I even cleared additional space so the dresser can shift down and an additional bookcase can take that spot. Yes, we have a lot of bookcases in our house, because we have a lot of books. I am so thrilled with this.

It's not completely done; I've got to sort the luggage and figure out a better way to store it. First though I need to figure out how much luggage we really need. There are several pieces that I don't think we'll ever use, but I'll see what L thinks first. Then one of those shelves has some items that can probably be purged. It's mostly language books (as in, French/German/Italian/Spanish/ASL) but surely I can acknowledge that at this point in my life, I am not using them and am not going to be using them. Well, most of them anyway. That's going to be hard.

I'll try and get a picture of the new-and-improved closet once I get the luggage stowed. Currently it's spread out in groups - duffle bags / garment bags / rolling suitcases / totes, etc.

Getting Ready

I've begun making a list of what all I'd like to accomplish before the baby arrives this summer. I've started with the essentials, as in absolutely, positively, must be done. All that's on that list is buy and install a car seat, and pack a bag for the hospital. And in order to accomplish the second item, a third item: create a list of items to include in the bag. So far that list has camera, batteries, and battery charger. I've got the essentials! I tried to make this list the things that 100% had to happen; I mean, we can't bring the baby home without a car seat, and we'll have a family revolt if we don't get pictures from the hospital.

My list of things that sure would be nice to accomplish is much longer. Unrealistically long, but still. It includes some things that really ought to be done, or else we'll be scrambling to do them after the baby is here (such as setting up the baby's room), and some things that just would be convenient (like getting thank you cards/stamps/addresses ready to make sending them out much easier). I'm debating splitting this list even further; maybe into "B" or "C" priority. B priority items would be things like the nursery. It really does need to be done. C priority would be things like the thank you notes; it'd be great to set up in advance, but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen.

I hope to get my list finished this week (the creating it part; then I'll get to start working on it), and I'll post it then. And yes, this is inspired in part by Crystal's Preparing for Baby: Master To Do List.

Making My Home A Haven

Trying to continue the habit...

Priorities. I'm really having to focus on them now. I always knew they were important, and I had my own priorities (kitchen & bathroom cleanliness was very high. Washing windows was very low). But as I continue to deal with very low energy and stamina, I'm having to focus even more sharply on the top priorities for our home.

1. Food. As in, that we have food to eat in the house and that as much as possible/necessary, I (or L) cook healthy & satisfying dinners.
   
   
2. Clothes. That are clean and wearable. Fortunately we have a washer & dryer in the house and that makes it much easier to keep up with this.
   
   
3. A clean-enough kitchen. Clean-enough means it's sanitary first of all. And then it also means that we have space and clean dishes/utensils with which to prepare and eat our meals. It may mean that things are not as tidy as normal, and that the pantry or cupboards are a mess. And that's ok right now.
   
   
4. A clean-enough bathroom. Again, it's gotta be sanitary so we're not making ourselves sick. When I spent most days throwing up, a very very clean toilet was a super high priority, and even though I'm not vomiting quite so much now (hallelujah!) I still need the toilet to be very clean. Clean sinks and countertops too, because that is a major pet peeve of mine. Lower priority than normal are clean mirrors. Spots aren't hurting anything right now, so if it's a choice between cleaning the toilet & cleaning the mirrors, I'm going with the toilet every time.
   
   
5. A made bed. This is just a personal thing, but it makes me feel so much happier when our bed is made; every time I see into the room I smile. Yes, this can be easily ignored and the house won't fall to pieces. But the emotional satisfaction it gives me is worth it on all but the very worst days.
   
   
6. Caught-up mail. I didn't do so well on this in November and December. I was late on some bills for the first time in my life, so I realize now that I've got to keep from letting the mail pile up endlessly. Once a week is good enough, but once a month isn't.
   
   
7. A baked treat for L. No, this isn't an essential. But it can be fairly simple, and it makes him feel so loved and treasured that I make it a high priority for myself. Banana bread (especially Tammy's banana pineapple bread) isn't that hard, but it absolutely delights him - both when I first make it, and every day when he gets a piece. He would much prefer me to spend some of my limited energy on this then on many other household tasks, and I need to remember to prioritize what he especially values.
   
   
8. Quick decluttering patrols. Not truly decluttering as in getting rid of stuff we've had for awhile, but more of a daily/weekly pick-up of things that just seem to sprout throughout the house. Neither of us are particularly neat by nature, so it seems that all flat surfaces quickly grow piles of stuff - magazines, junk mail, plates, glasses, etc. I've noticed that just a few minutes a couple of times a day can really make a huge difference in the amount of this kind of stuff around the house, and that makes the house look much tidier and less neglected. Plus it makes me happier not having so much random stuff strewn everywhere.

If I can only focus on these items, no, my house won't be perfect, but it'll be functional and we can manage at that level until I can accomplish more.

Making My Home A Haven

It's been awhile since I even had the energy to think about this, but I'm obviously feeling at least well enough now to think I can get the house looking better, so I'm going to try and get back into the habit of focusing Mondays on making my home a haven.

The most amazingly effective trick I've discovered over the past couple of weeks is really only amazing in it's obviousness. Work first. What I mean by that is I only have so much energy. I need to spend it wisely, and pick the highest priority things and do them whenever I have any energy. Later, if I have more, I can do more.

In practice, where this has been most useful is on Saturdays. I never used to like to do lots of housework on the weekend, preferring to do as much as possible during the week, leaving Saturday open for fun stuff or running errands with L, etc. (I never really considered running errands with L to be work in the same way, so that didn't bother me). Sundays were always held open from that sort of thing; not a legalistic Sabbath, but trying to make the day special.

But now, I don't have anywhere near enough energy to accomplish much when I get home from work during the week. I've got to be more productive on Saturdays. And the best way for me to be productive is to not allow myself to get sidetracked by more fun stuff, but to concentrate on doing what needs to be done.

I know, it's an obvious thing, and people who are more naturally organized and all that are probably shaking their heads at my ignorance that this kind of thing makes a difference. But it's not just the time spent on other things that seems to cause the issue for me - if I sit down for an hour to read, I'm that much less likely to do anything more productive even after the hour is up. I'm not sure why that is, but it seems to put me into a different mindset, and it's hard to get out of it and focus on what needs to be done.

So I've been not allowing myself to pick up a book until Saturday evening (or late afternoon at least) when I've gotten done what I need to for the day. I do briefly check email that morning, but don't spend lots of time on the internet either.

Someday perhaps I'd have the self-discipline to not have to be so strict with myself, but for now, this is what I'm needing to do to ensure that I keep up with what has to be done.

*Checking my blog archives, I see that the last Homemaking post for me was just before leaving town in October. It was right after returning from that trip that I got the positive pregnancy test result, so it's not just my imagination that it's been awhile, but I guess I do have an understandable reason for it.

Making My Home a Haven

I'm starting my countdown until leave town. All that means is that I'm basically making a list of what I want to accomplish before leaving and when I think I'll be able to get that done.

Today I'll be trying to get as much knocked off the list as possible, if only to make the rest of my week easier. If I can avoid my usual day-before-departure scramble, that would be fantastic.

First up, I want to concentrate on the upstairs, and my office especially. I need to pay some bills and deal with other paperwork which includes cleaning off my desk. I also want to take care of canceling the mail; I love how the post office lets me do that in advance online. Then I need to straighten my bookcase which has exploded (in part because I was digging through it as I started making a stack of books I want to take with me).

I'd also like to get the guest room and bath ready for guests who arrive Friday evening. They're basically using our guest room as a hotel before they head out early Saturday to catch a flight home, but whether it's one night or a week, I still need to make the bed and all that other stuff. That shouldn't take long however; I washed the sheets over the weekend, just need to make the bed and give the bathroom a quick clean (it's still pretty clean from the last good cleaning I gave it; an advantage of it being used so infrequently).

Only if I get my office looking respectable and the guest room ready will I then let myself finalize the books I'm taking on the trip. I know, this is (mostly) a work trip, but I still have plan rides and car travel time and possibly some evening time I'll be able to read. And I'd hate to run out of reading material before my flight home! I usually have trouble keeping myself to a somewhat-reasonable amount of books considering the number of days I'll be gone, but one trip where my flight was delayed and delayed and delayed and delayed I was SO happy I had brought too many books; I got through them all! I almost had to go buy something additional in the airport which would have annoyed me, both because of the the expense and limited selection, and because I always have so many more books to get through at home.

Now I can't wait to get home from work and get started on this!

Making My Home a Haven

I'd love to report that I accomplished huge numbers of home-making type chores. Or at least a couple. Sadly, all I can report today is that I cooked dinner and cleaned up the kitchen afterwards. That is something of course, and I'll appreciate it especially tomorrow when I don't have to face a dirty kitchen before I even can think about cooking anything in it.

I still have not remade the guest room bed with fresh sheets, despite the fact that I always like to do that immediately after one guest leaves so it's ready for the next guest (we rarely go very long without having someone for at least a night). My mother-in-law will be here at the end of the week so I do have a deadline of sorts to get the room ready again. Today though? It didn't happen.

I did finish three books today. That sounds more impressive than it really is; I'd been reading them all for varying lengths of time and two of the three only one chapter and three (very very short) chapters left to go. The other had about 125 pages, but it was fiction and those are always fast.

Before and After: Final Update

I've been posting updates all along of my progress, so I'm not sure what else to say, other than thank you to BooMama for having this event because I know that if she hadn't, my office would still be unpainted. And I do so love how it looks now that I am extremely grateful for the kick in the pants to get it done.

To recap, here's what the office looked like before:





For a more complete view of it, here's my original post about the project.

Progress was slow but steady - the first week didn't bring all that much progress, in fact it mostly looked worse as instead of painting I decided to first tackle the important work of cleaning out the closet.

So here's a mini before & after. Before:



After:



The second update pretty much just involved the bookcase being emptied and pulled away from the wall. I was plodding along, obviously.



Fortunately for the third update I was still thinking that the deadline was July 25, so I was feeling some pressure and worked hard and got a lot done.



Wallpaper border mostly down, walls spackeled and sanded, and even some painting.





Lots more photos are at the Week 3 update post, these are just a hint.

Week four got the bulk of the project completed - the room itself was painted, and lacked only some finishing touches and minor things like replacing furniture. And again, there are more pics at that original week four update post.



Update five was a poor excuse for a progress report, having really just hung a curtain, but still, it's a nice curtain. The final update teased with a report, but no final pictures.

And I can't find all of the pictures I took so here are a few and if/when I find the others or take new ones (which has to wait until the camera batteries recharge), I'll post more.

Freshly painted!





Here's the new curtain:

Open. And yes, I realize the windowsill is horribly scuffed, to the point that it looks filthy. It's not, it's just scuffed and chipped. Maybe my next project will be to paint it.



And closed:



And one of my favorite things in the updated room, my new trash basket. I'm not usually into wicker, but I love this.

Making My Home a Haven

Posting last week worked so well I'll try again.

I have kept my kitchen table cleared off since last week, which I am very happy about. It's amazing the difference it makes. L even is trying to keep from piling his own stuff on the table which I definitely appreciate.

It's time for fall decorations, but I don't really have any to set out so I'm going to try to keep an eye out for some inexpensive things I could get to make the house more welcoming. Catherine recently posted about her fall decorations and it really made me wish I had some to use. Actually, considering how sparse any accessories are throughout my house, I should probably concentrate on that first, and then worry about seasonal decor. Nesting Place and the Inspired Room both inspire me with their talent.

I did some baking this weekend - oatmeal spice cake so L has some of the goodies he'd been asking for. Still want to make him a quick bread of some sort. Just having the kitchen clean and filled with a yummy baked good make me feel very domestic.

I got the family room cleared out a bit, though I still need to take a pile of donations over too Goodwill and a stack of books to the library for their book sale.

I had a guest most of the weekend (and she's still here) so I tried to make sure the guest room was welcoming - no fresh flowers to put in there but I did round up my latest stack of magazines and placed them on the empty dresser so she had something to read if she was interested. The guest bathroom is not where I'd like it to be since it's still waiting on L to finish the last things from the remodel, but it was clean and there were fresh towels so that's something I think.

Making My Home a Haven Monday

It's been almost three months since I last made a special effort on a Monday to, as Crystal puts it, make my home a haven.

I find it fairly discouraging how quickly the house falls apart; even without children it seems like it goes from looking great to looking messy in the blink of an eye. I've struggled my entire life with being fairly messy and always wished I was a neat freak. I really don't know how people do it who manage to keep their homes always looking so nice.

That's all a long intro to explain how my house is looking today. The kitchen table is buried; there are two baskets of laundry that need to be put away (at least they are folded). The master bath needs some attention (and that's usually one room I do keep almost pristine).

And, I'm sorry to say, L asked me when I would be baking again because it's been so long since I made him any banana bread. As in, all summer long.

So today after I finish this post I'm going to go and put away the laundry. Then I'll clean the bathroom, and clean off that kitchen table. Sadly banana bread will have to wait for tomorrow but I will make him some then. If I have pineapple, I'll make him his favorite version that I found last year from Tammy's Recipes. I don't dare start it tonight because there's not enough time to get it made and out of the oven before I need to be in bed.

Before and After Update #6

It is DONE!

The curtain is up, and I even got a new trashcan - instead of the big honking one I had which was super ugly, I now have a tiny little wicker basket that looks very nice. I don't usually have too much non-shredded trash, so this will work (the ugly black shredder is still here, but I can deal with it).

My bookshelf is packed full again, though I still may reconfigure the bottom shelf.

The hallway is clear and so is the guest room of all the bits and pieces left from clearing out the office.

And on the 26th I'll post the final pictures.

Previous before-and-afters:
Original
Update 1
Update 2
Update 3
Update 4
Update 5

Things You Probably Need To Clean

I subscribe to Home Ec 101, and a recent post there caught my attention. Titled "5 Things You Probably Need To Clean," it made me a little ashamed of my housekeeping.

#1 - Top of the fridge. Definitely I need to clean it. I do so maybe once a year. I'm not that tall and out-of-sight really does equal out-of-mind. That and even if I think about it there's usually other things to clean that are higher priority.

#2 - Tops of door frames and the tops of anything hanging on the wall. Door frames, yes, absolutely, I don't know that I've ever cleaned mine. I do dust the tops of picture frames whenever I dust a room though. Not that that's all that frequently though.

#3 - The back sides of your faucets. Happily, I can say that I do this. I am somewhat anal about having clean sink areas, and that includes the entire faucet. Not that you'd ever guess if you looked at my kitchen faucet; the hard water stains have left it looking hideous. I console myself that it looks better than it did when we bought the house, and there's only so much I can do. Someday we'll replace the nasty sink and faucet and I'll keep it pretty.

#4 - Underneath and behind appliances that sit on the counter. I do this maybe once a month or maybe every other month, and am pretty content with that frequency of cleaning; they're not usually that bad. I should decrumb the toaster more frequently than I do however; L eats toast daily and that thing fills up much faster than I expect it to!

#5 - Toilet paper holders. Yeah, I can't say that I've ever thought about it, but I will now.

Now, my own personal list of things I should clean:

#1 - The floors. The carpet is old and gets gross looking so fast, and it doesn't help my already low motivation to vacuum. I also shed more than anyone I've ever known and the hair is just so obnoxious to deal with.

#2 - The floors. The kitchen specifically. I must be a messy messy cook and I should sweep and mop daily, but I just don't.

#3 - Windows. Especially the sliding glass door off the kitchen.

#4 - The sliding glass door track. GROSS!

#5 - Shower curtain. The hard water makes it so nasty so quickly I've just about given up on having it not be icky.

Before and After Update #5

Not that much to report this week, really, since last week was the big one.

But the curtain is hung - big thanks to L for doing that for me!

I've got my bookcase mostly reloaded - I'm still debating what to do with the bottom shelf - it may get my photo albums again, but it may not.

The big things left to do is rehang my diploma, and possibly my clock, although I'm really thinking about getting a different clock. The one I have had up is an award from my undergraduate graduation, and I'm not sure that I really want to continue seeing it.

Oh, and I really need to get a printer back and working someday. L's brother (another brother from the ones who visited earlier this year) is coming out to visit next month and I'm sure he'll want to print his return boarding pass, so that's a bit of a deadline.

No pictures to share this week, but it's not that much different.

Previous before-and-afters:
Original
Update 1
Update 2
Update 3
Update 4

Before and After Update #4

The room, it is painted. No joke.

We were out of town for the weekend, Thursday - Saturday, but that left Sunday and I used it to cut-in and roll the 3 walls that were prepped.

Here's one wall completely painted:


And another view of that wall:


Then I shifted furniture, emptied my desk, shifted the desk (with help), and removed the border from the final wall. I even got it spackled and taped off that night and only had to stay up to midnight to finish it.

The final wall 4 with no border. Removing the border from around the TV mount was a pain.


The desk, shifted, along with the incredibly dusty TV:


Monday I had taken the day off from work, in order to finish painting (I didn't want the roller to dry out so that's why I needed to roll the whole room within two days). First coat was on before 9, and the second coat was applied right after lunch. Cutting in happened both before the first coat (all but the top) and after the second coat (the top, once L was up and moving). Yes, he was kind to me and did all cutting in along the ceiling.



The rest of Monday was spent dusting furniture and putting it back in place, vacuuming very very thoroughly (bits of wallpaper border were lodging in the carpet. That and I hadn't vacuumed in an embarrassing amount of time). 



Finally, the real priority: computers back & reconnected to the internet! In all honesty, I need to admit that my desk will never again be this clean.


All that's left is to hang the curtain. I've got the rod and the curtain, just need to either figure out how to install the rod or convince L to do it for me. He loathes doing things like that though so I may just try and do it myself.

At this point, I'd like to post a final glimpse of what the paint used to look like on my wall:



And finally, some recognition.  This paint job was powered by m&m's.


Previous before-and-afters:
Original
Update 1
Update 2
Update 3

*And yes, I realize that the button is now out-of-date after BooMoma moved back the date for completion. But this is still the only button there is, so it's getting used.

Before and After Update #3

Huge progress made this week!

I thought we were going out of town Thursday afternoon, so I took a half day off of work. Instead we left Friday morning and, as much as I wanted to spend my half day lounging on the couch reading a book, instead I went to work on the wallpaper border.

Here's what I used:





Wall number one:



Wall number two:


Wall number three:


This is going to be no fun at all, I can tell:


Wall number four:



Ok, wall number four isn't done. I'm going to finish the other stuff and then move that furniture back so I can shift the desk into the middle of the room. It's not the most convenient way to do it, but it's simpler than trying to move everything out of the room.

Then Monday evening I spackled the three walls.






And on Tuesday evening I taped and painted. At least I did the cut-in painting, no rolling yet.






L wants to paint the baseboards because they're in really bad shape. I'll let him if he wants to but I'm not waiting on that to finish the walls.

I would also like to point out the big hole in the closet door. It's usually hidden behind a calendar. This is also courtesy of the previous owners. When we looked at the house they also had it hidden behind a calendar, so that was a surprise for us when we moved in. We do have a door from our remodel that we may be able to swap out with this damaged one, so that's a project for L someday.



I think I may make the deadline! Although there won't be much to report next time most likely since we'll be gone for 4 or 5 days in between there. I *hope* to get the walls fully painted and the bookcase moved back against the wall. Maybe I'll even get the desk area cleared and ready to move away from the wall.

To see the evolution of the project, read the first post, then update 1 and update 2.

Before and After Update #2

I'm already starting to wonder how I'm going to get this project finished by the 25th when I start to think about how many days I won't be home between now and then.

There is some progress however - the enormous mess in front of the bookcase is gone, the bookcase is (mostly) emptied and pulled away from the wall. I'm hoping that L will soon find the wallpaper remover tool which he says is probably buried in the garage from when his brothers were here. I probably should have asked him to find it before I was actually ready to use it so I wouldn't be waiting like I am now.

We're gone for part of this next weekend, visiting family for the 4th. Then we'll be gone for 4 or 5 days of the next weekend as we do a little traveling. So the weekend of the 19th needs to be productive for me, or else I'll be trying to finagle a day off from work to get it done in time.

Visual evidence:



And see, it really is away from the wall:



Previous before-and-afters:
Original
Update 1

Before and After Update #1

Since I don't want to come to July 24 and be scrambling to get my before and after accomplished, I'm planning on posting updates on what I've accomplished.

So far? Not so much.

Here's what my closet looked like before. And here's my closet now:





Progress, yes?

However, here's what my bookcase & the floor in front of it now look like.



Yeah, that's a big mess. Most of it was pulled out from the closet and needs to find a new home, possibly in the nearest trashcan/recycle bin.

And yes, I did start on the "maybe I'll work on this" project rather than doing anything on the real project I said I'd do. 'cause that makes a lot of sense.

Before and After

So BooMama is having a before and after blog event. As in, accomplish a project before-and-after.

This kinda intimidates me. I mean, I've got projects to accomplish, but can I/will I really get them done by July 25? Yeah, I'm not so sure about that.

But, I've been dragging my feet on painting my office for something like 4 years now, apparently thinking that someday the perfect time will arrive when I don't have to move a bookcase and desk and file cabinets etc. etc. I think the fact that that day will never arrive has finally sunk in and I'm going to have to just grow up and deal with the hassles of moving the furniture and books.

So, yeah, one office. Painted. By July 25. This includes a wallpaper border being removed, and I want to be sure and mention that because that is not going to be fun if the guest room border was any indication. Curtains may or may not be hung by then, I'm making no promises about that.

There are even before pictures. Please note the dirty, scuffed walls and the border. And the lack of a window treatment other than boring blinds.

The TV holder is so attractive, isn't it? It came with the house.



The bookcase cleverly disguises the scuffed walls. Plus it holds some of my books.



This wall is in really bad shape, but I'd also like to point out the blue plaid loveseat. I adore it and spend a lot of time curled up in it reading.



In case you couldn't notice the lovely border before. And the nice dent in the wall below it.



Just in case you missed the dent, here it is with my unmanicured finger pointing at it. There are more gouges in the walls, but this one is the worst in large part because it's right next to the door so it's very noticeable any time you leave the room.



If I get really really crazy-motivated, I'll clean out the closet. It's officially a disaster. I've only been wanting to do that for six months or so.





So come back July 25 for the after pictures. And visit BooMama to find others who are participating.

Update! I'm posting weekly updates to keep myself moving along on the project.
Update 1
Update 2
Update 3
Update 4
Update 5