One Little Space at a Time

Happy August!

We are settling into our new house and finishing up some projects. I don’t know about you, but I loathe having a sense of undone-ness. I don’t even think that’s a word, but if it’s not I’m making it one because it fits. I’ve been torn between spending time with the kids, writing, our business and getting the house organized. I finally decided the other day that I’m just going to do one little space at a time. I thought it was interesting how that also transferred over to writing. One hour of writing at a time. One shelf at a time. One box of photos at a time.

So, I thought I would share some before and after pictures. I’m taking you all the way back to the house from the start.

I am a big fan of painting fireplaces. I did at our old house and loved it, so that was a no brainer at the new one. It is a favorite simple/affordable upgrade in my world. It was a family project. (AKA we forced the kids to participate. ;))

We weren’t sure how to replace the shelving on the sides of the fireplace without spending a ton of money, so we decided to salvage and use what was there. Unfortunately, that was AFTER we had already thrown out the bottom doors. Lol. Remodeling is a constant stretch and pivot! 😂 So, we ended up painting the brown paneling that was there. Sadly, on one side I did not prime and that is the side that I now have to go back and touch up from installing the shelves. Whoops!

I sorted through all of my stuff to try to finish this space and used a lot that I already had. I had been collecting bottles for a while, so I have a lot of those. The books were my grandfather’s along with the slate that he used in country school. Before the idea of moving was even on the horizon, I had written God makes all things new on the slate. I thought it was fitting to keep that at the new house.

Since this living room is also the entrance into the house from the garage, all the shoes and things seem to pile up here. I love that the shoes are being removed, but I don’t love the mess. 😊 I decided to find a basket with a lid so that I could cease being an angry mom. 😂 And then since I was at TJ Maxx I bought the matching lidded basket because if you don’t buy the matching piece at TJ Maxx/Home Goods and then go back the next day for it, it WILL be gone. If you can’t tell, I speak from experience. 😭 I ended up liking both baskets, so I’m keeping both. The one by the door is already filled with shoes…and I’m less annoyed by the mess. 😊

I also tried a cord hiding kit I found on Amazon. I kept leaving the cord hiding kit lying around and mentioning it to my husband hoping that he would take the bait and install it, but alas, he called my bluff and I ended up doing it myself. (lol – marriage!) I threaded three cords through it and then found it would not click shut because I had too much going through it. I ended up using the tape that came with it to adhere it onto the brick and then I used the tiniest bit of super glue between the two pieces of plastic to keep them together. (I didn’t superglue it to the fireplace, though the temptation was strong. 😉)

In my opinion these are getting tossed if they ever come down anyway, so there was really no harm. The only issue is I won’t be able to add or replace cords. But since I couldn’t get the plastic to stay shut without that, I improvised. 🤣 This is why writers shouldn’t be allowed to install things like this! Ha! Cord hiding was a project I considered doing in our old house and never got done. I have to say: I love, love, love the hidden cords!

I cannot believe how much more I like this room now that I spent a little time piecing it together. Every time I walked through it previously I felt a sense of disquiet. One little space being done feels amazing! On to the next!

What have you been up to this summer? Any projects on your docket? I’d love to hear.

Jill Lynn