Unlike my major bathroom renovation three years ago which I attacked with my full attention until it was finished, I’ve been puttering around with this project and that one this year, not really focusing on any one at a time.
The results are predictable:
- Currently there is a large bathroom vanity sitting in my living room. I’ve been waiting to find some superheroes to get it upstairs and installed. Such heroes are hard to find these days.
- Also in the living room are two boxes, each containing a new light fixture for bathroom walls.
- There is a missing vanity in the master bathroom.
In the missing vanity’s spot are tools from my vinyl floor tile and white baseboard installations some time ago.
- In the upstairs hall there is a ladder for helping me paint the upper part of the walls of said bathroom—when I get to that particular project. I only painted the walls high enough for the new vanity; since I need to change out the light fixture, I figured I’d wait to finish the painting after the new light has been installed,
- I’ve gotten one quote for removal of the rest of the popcorn ceilings in the house, along with the repainting of said ceilings, as well as installation of some recessed lights downstairs. That quote knocked my low-rise socks off, so I hope to find more reasonable offers.
- Meanwhile there is a notebook on my desk logging all my calls to various handymen, recommended workers, and the ongoing expenditures. I seem to add something in that notebook daily.
- I’ve begun a kitchen remodel, too, although my actual sweat equity in this project will be minimal. I’m working with IKEA for cabinets and their contractors for installation. Nope, not gonna DIY on that colossal endeavor.
Get the picture? Lots of multitasking going on with no one task completed.
This all started with the upstairs master bath remodel, but as is often true, that project led to a different project that required tools and other folks’ help.
This multitasking AND dependence on other people’s response times and schedules are harshing my DIY chill, y’all! My MO for a long time has been solo DIY projects, and I find myself getting impatient with the delays and dependency on others’ timetables. The trade off of that frustration, I suppose, is having others do the really heavy-lifting work for me instead of doing everything myself the way I did with previous popcorn ceiling removal and bathroom renovation a few years ago. (In the words of Scarlett O’Hara, “As God is my witness…Ah’ll NEVAH do popcorn ceilings AGAIN!)
So…..More frustration, less sweat. More waiting, fewer blisters and sore muscles. More calls and text messages, fewer visits to the hardware store to browse the aisles for the tools to do it myself…
I’m still on the unfinished fence about which way I prefer.
Oh, and this DIY blog topic isn’t finished either 😉 Watch for progress reports as I tackle this different approach to getting my home improvement projects done!