one room challenge: all the piles (week 5)
It’s Sunday night as I write this post, despite the fact that most participants posted their One Room Challenge week 5 updates on Thursday. Not me, though. I’m sitting on the floor of the A-frame looking at piles of stuff in every direction. Any of you procrastinators out there feel better about what ever it is you haven’t done?
Just when I thought week 4 was unproductive, week 5 was upon us and, like the rest of America, I’ve been gripped into inaction by the election. The good news is that the delivery folks have come through for me and I received the chairs and rug I ordered for the sitting area this week as well as some art for the living area. I made a successful trip to IKEA for frames and bookshelves, had another mat cut for artwork, and selected a few more pieces that I’ve yet to order.
The new chairs and rug. Had my coffee here this morning looking out at the waves.
The bad news is we are nowhere near finish ready. We will not be done by next Thursday, the official end of this edition of the One Room Challenge, and I’m crossing my fingers we make it before the extended end date of November 29. The pandemic has led the ORC organizers to extend the final reveal date until the end of November as so many participants are experiencing shipping delays and needing more time to safely have work done in their homes.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that my husband “finished” the kids’ side of the bath over the weekend. He installed the sink and faucet, hung the mirror, and re-installed the old light fixture (it isn’t beautiful but it is period correct). We still need to paint the doors to the bathroom from both the bedroom and from the shower. Low priority given our budget and insanely long wish list, but I’d really like to replace the cheesy pulls that came with the IKEA sink cabinet. We also need to start working on our side of the bathroom. It never ends, I tell you.
The baths, of course, are not part of the space we were seeking to transform over the six week period that is the One Room Challenge. Neither were we expecting our hot water heater to go out or the kitchen sink to randomly start leaking everywhere last weekend. And were we hoping to get a call or text back in response to the dozen or so messages we’ve sent trying to get someone to fix the living room roof? Yes. Yes, we were. Sadly, no luck. There is still a hole in the roof right over the sofa.
look! more piles! and art hanging in process.
This is where I let you in on a little secret about the design/decorating/home renovation process. We’ve come to expect that a well-designed space can be created in the blink of an eye (thank you very much TV shows that shall remain nameless). Sure, you can decorate an entire house in no time flat if you are willing to give up (or fake) character. You can even remodel in a minute if you have the budget to pay for everything to be done *right now*. The real truth about decorating is that it takes time to create a home that reflects the people who live in it. Truth number two? Most people don’t have thousands of dollars sitting around waiting to be spent on a renovation or redecorating project.
Our A-Frame is no exception to either of these truths. Will our living/dining/sitting room be “done” next week? No. We might be pretty handy and we might be good at lots of things but we are only human. This house, like everything else, will always be in process. I can say that the house will be closer to reflecting our family on November 12 (or maybe November 29??) than it was when we started documenting this process, and that feels pretty good.
