Girls Bedroom Repair Work
In my mind this week went like this: Monday in the girls bedroom we did repair work on the ceiling, drywall, and floors. Carpets are out, closet is gutted, and there are no more unsightly holes in any part of the room. Tuesday we made DIY curtain rods and got a first layer of primer on the walls. Wednesday we put in the new ceiling fan and did a second coat of primer. Thursday we begin to paint.
But this week did not go like that at all, because before my name is Wannabe Joanna Gaines, my name is Mama, and the girls we are updating this room for come before the room.
Our two year old broke her ankle the weekend before the One Room Challenge began, and she has begun to adjust to scooting herself across the room in her full leg cast. Her eight month old sister is standing unassisted and trying to beat her sister to walking. But instead of either of them walking, we all ran head first into a head cold, and then a stomach bug. Yuck is an understatement. And that is what I have done on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and what I will do tomorrow on Thursday.
But today I finally began to make progress.
I did my second-ever-in-my-life drywall repair with a “California patch” which I learned on YouTube. (Thank God for YouTube! Oh, the glories of modern technology!) It only took me about 20 minutes start to finish, but it is a significant thing that the room needed as well as a significant new thing I now know how to do!
I also used the joint compound to patch a few smaller dents and punctures in the walls instead of spackle, just because I already had it out.
Tomorrow I will try to sand those places to make sure they’re smooth, and do another coat of compound on my larger patch to help it feather out into the rest of the wall so that it is invisible when I paint.
While I didn’t make nearly the amount of progress I wanted to, I have put some thought into my “Why?”
I took on this challenge not only because this bedroom needed to be completed so that my little girls have their first ever bedroom, but also because I have a lot of fear that I want to work on defeating.
I am afraid of failure, of making mistakes, of costing us extra money to redo things, of costing my husband extra time to either show me how to do everything or to redo it when I have messed it up. I am afraid of criticisms I hear and even more of criticisms that I don’t hear. I am afraid of embarrassment.
So many little things make me say to my husband all the time, “no, you go ahead and do it, I’ll just watch.” And then I don’t try my hand at something I’ve always wanted to try.
So a huge, huge part of my WHY in taking on this challenge is to defeat all that. I am doing as much of this room by myself as I can, with very minimal help or advice from my husband. It is a room that he will not often spend time in, nor will most people who come to our house. And our little girls will never know the difference if there are mistakes or not. So, it is the perfect place in our home for me to try my hand at all the skills I have watched my husband master over the past several months.
It isn’t that I don’t think I’m going to make mistakes but more that this is an acceptable place to make them. I will learn even better if I DO make mistakes and if I learn how to fix them on my own as well.
Hopefully that makes some kind of sense. In my head it’s this huge creative crusade to become the person I want to be – smart, capable, skilled, creative… And I think I can do it. I will do it, even if for “life reasons” it takes me more than the desired 8 weeks.
Maybe this glimpse of “family paced” home renovation resonates with you. I really hope that it does. I think that a lot of people muddle through “real life” but struggle to find the other people doing the exact same thing. That is why I am writing this post about how very little I accomplished this week, because I want to be really honest and up front about what this process looks like for a couple of people with no experience, a very limited budget (money OR time), and with two little babies underfoot. This is my life, and I hope to find some people whose lives have looked the same at one point or another.
Please comment and tell me about a time your family had to come before your reno, or that you set a goal and despite your best efforts did not do as much as planned. Or if you’re living in a fixer upper with kids… I’d love to hear from you!
You can also find us on Instagram (@thewelderandhiswife) where I share a little more than here, and talk a tiny bit too much about my kids probably, and where I try to get to know all of you even better!
And, if you’re interested, sign up to get all my ORC updates in your inbox for the next 7 weeks!
Thanks for being here!
- The ORC link up page to see all guest participants
- See all ORC posts for The Welder and His Wife
- Our Instagram
- The ORC Instagram
- Our ORC Bedroom Pinterest Mood Board