My Latest Procrastination Project

Enough of this random posting.  I am going to get back to my real point of this blog.....my old worn down house project.  Currently working on the transformation of my Dining Room.  In truth it is a NDR right now..... Non Dining Room.  Why you ask?  Well just take a gander at the picture and you can see.....

Now, this may not look like much to the average person but those awful walls were covered with brutally ugly wallpaper on top of paint on top of wallpaper on top of paint on top of awful plaster.  I am  literally working wall by wall in this room.  The molding on the bottom was artfully placed on top of the second layer of wallpaper which made it necessary to cut around all of it with a razor blade to avoid ripping all the trim work off the wall.

Talk about procrastination....been at this one wall for almost two months!!  I try to work on it an hour or two a day because the task is so daunting.  If I had the money to hire someone I would.  That option just isn't in the cards right now so it is just me, some spackle and my paint brushes making a little bit more of a dent every day.

The built in cabinet is what was once a cold cabinet and used to keep perishable items cold before refrigerators came into play.  I imagine that what is now the dining room was once the kitchen.  The unfortunate thing is that the inside of the cabinet is painted a very deep cranberry red color.  It's been awful trying to get it white!

If anyone has taken on a project like this and lived to tell about it please share your experience with me!!  I know it will be beautiful when it is done . . . just have to keep the faith and keep plugging along.

Pressure.....they say it makes diamonds and I am willing to try

2014 here I am....I just joined the charge of NaBloPoMo and have made a commitment to blog every day during the month of January.  O. M. G. do I even have anything to say?!  Actually, I think I do.  Love the saying in the above picture....Pressure Makes Diamonds.   If it does then I should be at least a sparkling 10 carat Princess cut gem.

I begin the new year with an enormous amount of optimism but also feel looming pressure.  So much to get done and so much to get done right.  My divorce was finalized two years ago.  Seems like I should be farther along then I really am.  But I am my own worst critic.  My entire world needs so much refinement but much of the time although I am in constant motion I find myself paralyzed inside.  Moving ahead yet standing still.  I wish I could figure out exactly why this is.  Maybe this will be my year.  The year that all the pieces finally come closer together and the landscape begins to come into focus.

My first order of business....for the love of God get myself organized.  I moved into my new house and ongoing project a year ago.  My garage is still packed with boxes.  I don't even know what the hell to do with all of the stuff that is in there.  Pieces and parts of my old life.  Memories packed away.  Who knows what lurking inside taped boxes of cardboard that I haven't looked at in over 24 months.  Clothes everywhere, furniture that I love but that doesn't fit with my new smaller quarters.  I need to shed more then just a some of what I have accumulated.  But, it is so hard to let go for some reason.

Pressure.  I think I need to really put the pressure on.  It will make me crazy to do it.  I know I will try to fight it every step of the way.  But I am going to try.  I am going to keep pushing through.  I am going to imagine and visualize and believe there there is a sparkling diamond of a future out there waiting for me to arrive.

Just One Word

I came across an interesting idea today through site called oneword365.com.   If you have moment take a look and consider this intriguing concept.  The idea is to choose one word to be your mantra, your focus, your theme if you will, for 2014.   The premise is to ditch that list of resolutions and have one single word begin to define the way you are going to live the coming year.  Not so easy to do when you sit and think about it.  After careful thought I decided upon the word BELIEVE.

For the next 365 days I commit to be guided by the word BELIEVE.  I will let this simple word that can encompass so much be my north star.  BELIEVE.  I will BELIEVE in myself.  I will BELIEVE in my dreams. I will BELIEVE in others and I will BELIEVE in my choices.

If you had to choose just one word for 2014 what would you settle upon?   Visit http://oneword365.com and learn about the power of one word.

2014 on its way and I am READY

Must be totally hones this whole blog thing has me so confused so thank you for sticking with me!  I will get it eventually.  I have so much to say and so much to share I think I need to better organize my thoughts and my projects {absolutely have to have ADD}.

2014 is just around the tiniest corner and I vow this will be my year to get my a** in gear.  I have started 50 projects that need to be finished and have hundreds and hundreds of ideas that I want to try out.

Bring on 2014...I am READY!

More work on the tiny bedroom

I have to be very honest, I never thought one tiny room could take up so much time. I am beginning to panic a little bit inside. I can't help but wonder if I will still be taking wallpaper down in this house a decade from now!

in my moments of calm I am happy though. I am actually amazed what a little attention can do to a room and it does encourage me. Slow and steady will get me there. I am on nobody's time schedule but my own.

The tiny room is being transformed. Take a look at the in progress pictures!

Tiny bedroom transformation

I honestly wasn't quite sure where to begin. I thought the worst room first approach might be the best. But, I honestly couldn't decide which room would win that contest. Instead I adopted a more practical approach. Bedrooms first because we have to sleep someplace!

The Little Lighthouse Room it is! Project number one a room for my youngest daughter to call her own. The room is itty bitty. Exact measurements escape me but its so small that it has a built in bed in it. The walls are completely covered with nautical themed wallpaper. Even the door panels are slathered with it.

I use DIF, fabric softener, a wallpaper steamer and I watch every you tube video I can find on wallpaper removal. I have never done this and it takes me days to strip the walls back down to its original plaster.

I find the signature of whoever put up this hideous wall covering on one of the walls. It says "papered May, 1947". I realize this wall paper has been stuck to these old walls for 66 years. No wonder it took me 3 full days to remove it.

Here are a few BEFORE pictures......

What have I done now.....

I fell in love with an old house.  A very old house.  1850 kind of old.  It stole my heart (and possibly my mind as well - at least the rational thinking part of my mind).  A very long divorce made it necessary to sell the house that I loved.  Now I begin again.  On my own.  With my daughters and my little dog who is my constant partner and my imagination of what could be.  I am taking on this old house which I realize is almost a metaphor for where I am in my life --- a bit broken - craving some attention and looking for revival.  As I take on each project to come I will be polishing myself off too.  Soon both this old house and I will be ready to take on the world again and greet the future with a smile.