Back On Track In The Studio
Alright, y’all. I’m back to working in the studio. I’ll be honest. I’m having a very hard time concentrating on getting that room finished. It’s just how my brain works. When I get a room to the point where it’s about 90% finished, and I can completely envision how the finished room will look in my mind because there are no other decisions to be made, and no other variables in question, I find myself ready to move on to something else. It happens every single time, almost without exception. It’s that mysterious 90% completion mark. I hit that mark, feel satisfied that my vision is going to work out, lost interest in finishing it, and find other things to capture my interest.
And right now, with people working in my house and taking down walls, taking out flooring and subfloor, etc., it’s such a temptation for me to want to be where the action is. Even if I’m not doing the work myself, I love watching construction (or demolition, in this case) take place. Even right now, as I sit at my desk in the studio writing this post, I’m hearing the sound of a saw at the other end of the house, and I want nothing more than to go in and see what’s being done. When it comes to the sound of tools being used in my house, I’m like a moth to a flame.
I want to focus on things like obsessing about my soon-to-be-built workshop, or watching the people work on our future bedroom, and planning and designing our bedroom, or obsessing about my future closet, or gathering inspiration for our new kitchen, or deciding how I want our future dining room to look. And then yesterday, someone left a comment on an older post urging me to find another place for our exercise area other than my big future closet. So that sent me off on another (very welcome) tangent as I tried to figure out how to make that work. (I didn’t, but I’m open to suggestions). But what I’m having a hard time doing is getting excited about that last 10% in my studio.
So yesterday, I made myself peel away from all of that other stuff and try to get refocused on studio. I mean, I have so few things left on my list, and I could get it done very quickly if I’d just have a little bit of self-discipline and focus on getting it finished. So I was determined to make progress. Any progress. I decided to focus on trim.
For months, the side door of the studio was covered up. I had one of the rolling shelves there, and behind it was the second door that I had purchased for our bathroom when we were going to add on a bedroom. I have no idea what I’m going to do with that door now. But with those things sitting in front of the door for so long, I almost forgot that there was even a door there!
Even after I got the storage closet finished, this stuff sat in front of the door for a bit longer.
So I finally got all of that stuff put away and finished installing the trim. The side of the cabinet hasn’t had trim on it until now because the baseboard against the wall had to be installed before the cabinet trim could be attached. So now all of that is installed. It all still needs to be filled, sanded, caulked, and painted.
This piece had to be cut to fit around the cabinet. That was easy to do with a jigsaw.
And here’s what the whole area looks like now that it’s trimmed out. Finally, after seven years of this room being “in progress”, the side door finally has trim.
I didn’t take step-by-step pictures of how I trim out my windows and doors because I’ve already written a pretty detailed post about that. This trim is so easy to do (no miter cuts!), and it really elevates the look of doors and windows. It’s how I’ve trimmed out every single window, door, and cased opening in our house.
If you missed that tutorial, you can find the details here: How I Trim My Windows And Doors (Easy DIY Window Casings With No Miter Cuts!)
I’m going to do my best to stay focused this weekend so that I can get this area finished (including painting the door), get the trim finished on the opposite wall, and hopefully even get all of my wiring finished (I still have six outlets that need to be installed).
If I can stay focused and get those things done, that will leave me with reupholstering the desk chair, finishing up with organizing the cabinets and drawers, and then cleaning up and finishing up the little things like installing switch plates. Ugh. The last 10% is just the worst!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
You’re in the home stretch, just think of all the other wonderful things you can start working on when this gorgeous studio is finished.
Keep going, we’re with you all the way.
Cheers!
You can do it! Just think how relieved you will feel after it is all finished, and you can step back and just admire it. Now that is a great feeling!
Have you considered a workout space when doing the addition?
Or a corner in your studio?
Nice job! Looking good!
It would be especially wonderful if the Studio gets done while others are working on the new bedroom. By the time you get some of the studio caught up, it will be time to think more about working on the bedroom/closet and planning your kitchen and workshop!
You have so many exciting things coming up…you REALLY don’t want to have annoying things left over on the other side of the house! And, I wish your gym would get moved to a better place too! You need a bit more room, and maybe not so stuck in a corner where the equipment becomes part of a closet with clothes draped over it…what happens with A LOT of exercise equipment. (Including mine)
I have only two words: “Good Luck!”
I used to follow a DIY Renovating YouTuber who would make herself do at least “30 minutes of House” on the days that she really did not want to do anything. Once she got started, her tasks either took less than those 30 minutes, or she found herself not minding the work once she got started and didn’t want to stop after 30 minutes.
Bargain with yourself!
It would seem your builder’s mind is more about the journey than the destination. Not so, your creative’s mind, which seems to balance the two elements better.🤷♀️😁
No more excuses. No more bellyaching. No more psychoanalysis exercises or head-spinning about any of it. I know your cheering section is on board in championing what you can do. The comments are all similar. We all know what you can do, just as you know. So, yes, discipline yourself and DO it. Clean up that studio mess and finish your work. One task at a time as you plug away. Tough love.
Do you know there are two types of perfectionists? One type cannot tolerate any kind of ongoing mess so they tidy as they work. The other type creates a series of messes along the way and gets a rush out of finally cleaning them up to attain ‘perfection’— that feels like a great reward.
No reformation suggestion is intended here. It wouldn’t be welcomed or followed. You have your own work style. More power to ya.
I look forward to admiring your grand studio sooner, rather than later.
I can relate to your dilemma. I have always procrastinated over the last 10%. As I have gotten older, I have learned to just jump in and do it. Usually when I get started it goes pretty quickly and I am SO happy when it is off my list. I try to get just a little done each day on things that need doing, but are not much fun. I tell myself I need to do some good, some bad and some ugly tasks each day. Good luck!
Ha! Do it for us! We can’t wait to see that amazing studio all finished! 😀
You have to just press on so you can see it all finished the way you have envisioned it. Just keep thinking about your new bedroom. Kitchen, and workshop
So many good things to look forward to
Kristi…to heck with focusing on the ‘few’ things still needing to be completed in your studio. Go watch the action. The studio things to be finished will still be there. Those workers will be gone and you will have missed seeing it all in real time. Go watch the action while you can. Now.
I love this “seize the day” attitude Nadine! I may very well use “Well Nadine said…” today to take a break and focus on something else 😉 I do agree with you though because so many times I wish I had stopped to enjoy what is temporary and fleeting over what will still be there after.
Maybe try working by time instead of task. So instead of trying to complete all trim on the door (which could take an hour or more), you say that you are going to work for 25 minutes and then force yourself to take a break for 5. Then add another round or two or three if you like. It’s the Pomodoro Technique. I find it easier to tell myself that I can add rounds or not, but whatever I do in just 25 minutes is better than what it was before, so if all I can do is one round, then that’s all I do. Breaking it up like that helps you laser focus because there is a stopping point and a break. No more getting distracted because 25 mins is perfect for telling yourself not to look up something or do another task you think of. If you think of something you need to do, you just do your 25 mins, take a fiver and then go do that other task. No harm, no foul.
Praise God! You can do it!!
Hot boudin, cold couscous, come on Kristi, poosh, poosh, poosh! GEAUX, Kristi, GEAUX, Kristi! You can DO it! There, your cheerleaders are with you! Looking forward to seeing it done!
I am JUST LIKE THAT with projects!!!
I just never put it into words! Either my attention turns because I know the vision is almost complete and the vision satisfies me enough to take a break from a project or some other project urgently screams at me to ‘come hither’ due to the weather window, or the need to appease my hubby’s project plan (since he is unable to do physical projects), or the need for a special tool that I’ve not built skill in using (so fear of messing up), etc…
Whew! I’m not alone!
Such an amazing ‘go girl’ as you even faces the 90% mark doldrums! Lol
Thank you for being real!!!
I wish there were something I could say to encourage you to finish the studio, but having followed you for years, I know it falls on deaf ears! YOU are the only one who can move you. All I can do is tell you to get it done in case you end up like I am right now! I have a broken shoulder and am typing this with one hand, as I do everything like this now, and for at least six months!!! I see all around me the things I cannot do since that one day that changed my life, and I get so aggravated! I can’t even write, because it is my dominate arm that is in a sling. Doing anything of note, like laundry, wears me out. So, maybe ask yourself if it would irritate you if you were UNABLE to finish the studio because you were disabled by an unforseen accident! Does that help? (Now I’m in need of a rest after typing with one hand!)
If you are anything like me, I think that the problem is that the room IS finished in your head. You can actually see it finished, so you don’t have this longing to see the finished thing, that drives other people. Not sure if there’s a remedy, but maybe try sitting in the room for a little while, when everything else is quiet and nothing else draws your attention (night, probably?) and observe it, get re-acquainted with it. Don’t do anything, just sit in the room and observe it, all of it, with every little detail. Hopefully this will trigger the need to fix this room you love, so that it goes “back” to how you see it in your mind.
I’m so excited about your red chair. You do need to finish the other studio room
things before the chair so it can make a grand entrance! Where does this long forgotten door go?
You have so many projects to think about that you should make a list of #1, #2, #3,etc so you are less overwhelmed.
Have a good week.
That is AWESOME! Stay focused and get ‘er done. Then you can focus on all the new and exciting things happening in your house without your studio 10% hanging around the back of your mind. And it will feel so great sitting in your all finished office/studio while you dream and research plans for your home.
I recently had a dream come true for myself. I invested in a she shed that was built in our backyard July 3rd. It is my paint studio. I’ve dreamed about it for years and I’m so happy with how it turned out. And I love working inside it. I hired a carpenter to finish the walls for me and I had him install trim like yours around the two windows and the door. I would love to share pictures with you. Please let me know how I can do it. Thank you. Lori
I am so looking forward to the finished result. You can do this Kristi. Thing how could it will look and how good you will feel when you see it all done and it will make your business so much easier. You are a STAR!
ME TOO!!! I can hardly make myself do that last 10%. Drives my family nuts. 😆 You do it for the pictures. Just think how pretty those finished pictures will look!