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I did that thing I always say not to do. Of course, I thought “I can handle this” and “I’ve got it planned perfectly!” But then, life happened. And I’m in the middle of about 5 million projects. Instead of having tons of posts this week with all the finished projects, I can show you what it looks like to be caught in the middle of approximately one-billion.
First, my front door.
This project has been on my to-do list since we moved a little over a year ago. The front door faces the setting sun and it is a mess. The builders didn’t put a UV resistant coat of poly(urethane) over the stained door!! Seriously, the door is in direct sunlight. I was hoping to show you the entire transition, but right now my door looks something like this …
Next, my kitchen cabinets.
I started re-doing the kitchen cabinets last August before we even moved our stuff in last year. They’ve been mostly done for months, except this one little strip below the countertops and I still need to do the final buffing. Last Saturday I stained the strip and I haven’t added poly yet. Such a small thing, but I know how bad it smells. And the buffing job is sooo easy, but it will take a long time. So the procrastination cycle continues, but I am one step closer with the stained strip.
(Below, you’ll see the raw wood trim just below the countertop. When the counters were installed, there was an awkward gap due to leveling, so the contractor installed this strip.)
Then, my kitchen island.
When we had the remodeling done and they added ship-lap around my island, the side against the sink is still the old dark-ish oak looking cabinets (a lighter shade than the cabinets I’ve refinished). So there are dark cabinet and drawer fronts next to the bright white shiplap. I’ve been wanting to paint the entire island, shiplap, and dark cabinets, into a unified color. So, I painted on some sample colors to do a color-test and those are sitting right there.
And there’s the painting in the girls’ rooms.
We’ve started prepping my girls’ rooms for painting. You may ask, why would I do that instead of just finish all the other open projects? Well, my husband took Monday off (same day the kids are off) weeks ago so that we could do this. And I’d rather have my husband’s help with the intricate complicated painting we’re going to do, when I can do the other projects by myself. So, there are paint swatches on the walls, because painting starts tomorrow and I still haven’t picked the final colors!
(Below, my girls emptying their room into the garage tonight. We are pre-prepping tonight and tomorrow night so that we can get right to painting on Saturday … after 3 awkwardly timed soccer games and a volleyball tournament.)
Of course, there’s my son’s “new” bed.
I’m much further along on this one, but I can’t seem to get the bed in a place where I really like it before I take “REVEAL” photos. (Let’s be real, with so many blogs and so much content, better looking AFTER photos can make a big difference in blog traffic. Ugh!) Anyway, when I find the right placement for the bed, I still need to update everything hanging on his walls to coordinate with all the furniture movement. These are such simple things to do, but I haven’t had the time to really focus on just this with so many other things swirling.
(The walls are a metallic gold sheen, not vomit like it may appear in this picture. This is the night we set up my 4 year old in his first big-boy bed, which was made by his great-great-grandfather. I just refinished the bed.)
And sooo many doors to paint.
It doesn’t seem to matter that I found a quick way to get lots of doors painted. Because there is still the work of painting all the rooms the doors are connected to (working on it) and all the trim around the doors (working on it). With so many other projects always taking priority, this is a project loop I can not wait to close and I’ve done very little work on it! Do you ever have a project that feels HUGE and weighs on you and it feels like it is taking a ton of your energy, but you’re not actually doing anything actively to work on it? Yeah, that’s the feeling I feel about wanting to paint every.single.door. in my house.
(Below, from when we painted the office a few weeks ago. We left the doors un-painted until we’re done painting more rooms. I want to paint a whole bunch of doors in one go instead of one at a time. This picture was during prep – the office is now the same color as the wall through the doorway.)
I’ve shown you mine, now you show me yours!!
The crazy thing is this list is of the on-going projects, and it doesn’t include all the things I’ve actually gotten done in the last few weeks. And imagine if we all counted all the laundry and meals we prepared in the week as projects. I imagine we all do way more than we give ourselves credit for!
Okay, I’ve showed you my in-progress projects, let me hear about yours. What are you in-the-middle-ish of working on!!
From my home to yours,
Mary
It all looks great, Mary! We are drowning in the tedium of thermostat locations, rock mortar width, and gas venting directions. The painting and setting up of a real home looks more fun!! You do such a great job!
That all sounds fun too! I can’t wait to see pictures of your new home!!
We’ve been finishing our basement for the last six months. Those last few finishing up projects keep dragging on and I just want my garage back!
Yes! Me too! The garage always suffers when there is a million projects!
I just texted a friend the final version of our bathroom after 10 weeks of crazy-new floors, new walls (we had water damage), new paint in most of the rooms, and a completely gutted and remodeled bathroom. We still have to get the doors painted-what is up with doors?!? But we are sooooo close to done!!
You are soo close!!! Ignore everything else this week and finish it. lol! Easier said than done. 😉
Timely, as I just stumbled onto your post after googling “help I’m drowning in unfinished projects”. ! Love your honest photos, and feel a bit better, as we have so many projects that are 80-90% done.so many are completely done, but the unfinished work is a weight somedays when you just want to come home after work and Sit Down. LOL
Our unfinished projects are: upstairs – install thumb latches on 2 bedroom doors, install a bathroom door and add knobs to BR and yet another door. Install door trim and floor trim in hallway, install crown molding in one bedroom to hide crack between paneling and new drywall ceiling, paint the new trims/moldings. (for some mysterious reason, the stairs are done.) Downstairs – move 2 outlets before new counter arrives Friday morning (so that probably will get done soon), tile the backsplash, fix one light switch that has an open ground, patch in drywall in one spot in kitchen ceiling, make and install dining room light… and not going to bother listing the outside stuff 🙂
Happy weekend!!
Goodness, you’ve got a lot on your plate. One thing at a time! At least, that is what I keep telling myself. I have a list of all my projects in my planner, but I’ve started only letting myself put 1 at a time into my planning for the week. If I have time for more than one, I know what to do. It’s really helped me relax about it, but still be productive. Feeling all the stress is so counter-productive. You’ll get this done. One thing at a time!!
ps – glad you found me!! Welcome!
Ok- mine are finishing removing wallpaper in master bath(half off) repair hole created by removing towel bar, then change lights and paint! Then paint daughter’s bedroom and fix closet so she can reach her everyday clothes, turn a bedroom into a craft room/ guest room, purge playroom, purge office, and purge garage so we might be able to park at least one car in there!
Those are great goals. You can totally get through those!
I am the queen of unfinished projects!! Between painting my living room (which includes stripping, sanding and varnishing some old woodwork), scraping and painting the exterior of my house, painting a couple of doors and behind the washer and dryer in my laundry room, I think I have enough to keep me busy over the summer! This doesn’t include my sewing projects that are unfinished, and the clutter I have to continue working on, as I didn’t finish it in the winter during the Declutter Challenge! Good thing I have the summer off, as I work in the school system! By the way, I live alone in the century-plus old home that I grew up in (and my grandmother grew up in!), so there is no end to the projects I want to do!
Oh wow! How amazing to live in a family historical home. I would love that!!! But, any non-new home has projects, so I get that!!
OMG i hear you. I also have a odd colour trim with matching doors, that all need painting. I have light fixtures to change, im building a fence out the front, paint touch ups, i repainted my kitchen cabinets but need to detail all the edges, a cat enclosure down the side of the house, i need to fix the back gate, replant my garden, restain my decking, caulking and spray gap fill under all my window trims, new hardware, moving my island bench and refitting my walk in robe. The list never ends. I dont know why I start so many things at once hahaha
The crazy thing about lists like this, is 80% of it seems to happen on one big crazy day of getting stuff done!! I’m trying to take off less in this new house. 🙂