Inspired & Motivated!

Last Updated on December 24, 2015 by Kristi Linauer

Hello, all!  What a difference four days can make!  Last Thursday, I was feeling so uninspired and unmotivated to work on the front rooms in my house. The big projects were feeling so overwhelming to me, and I had zero desire to tackle any of them.

I knew when I wrote my post last Thursday that I would get lots of comments about me probably being tired and exhausted, and needing to take a break. And while I knew that being tired and exhausted wasn’t the issue at all (I get plenty of rest and sleep and days off, I promise! 🙂 ), I still decided to step away from all house-related projects this last weekend.  So I did absolutely nothing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Three whole days of nothingness.  Three days of eating comfort food, taking long naps, binge-watching various shows on Netflix, and hanging out and relaxing with Matt. Three whole power-tool-free days. And two-and-a-half days free of thinking about, obsessing about, and planning house-related projects.

Why only two-and-a-half days on that last one?  Because by Sunday afternoon, after plenty of relaxation time, and with me feeling completely rested, I still didn’t have the slightest bit of motivation to wake up the next morning (yesterday morning) and tackle any of the big projects in these rooms.

Nope, exhaustion wasn’t the issue.  There was something else going on, and I just needed to pinpoint it. And then it dawned on me that sometimes when I lose all motivation, it’s because either something hasn’t turned out the way I hoped it would, or I’m trying to force something that, in my gut, I know probably won’t turn out right in the end.

So Sunday afternoon, I went into the dining room and just took inventory of all of the projects I had done for these front rooms, and the projects I have planned.  Painted buffet?  Love it.  Fireplace?  Love it now that I removed the hearth. New doorway to the kitchen?  It’s my new favorite thing. Bird and limb “wallpaper”? I think it’ll be fantastic.

And on and on I went until I hit upon three problem areas. The first issue is my door casings. I love how they look, but I think they’re just a tad bit too simple, too understated, and too Craftsman in style.

I don’t think it’ll take much work to make them a bit more traditional in style. It’s mainly just a matter of removing the top 1″ x 2″ board, and replacing it with some small crown moulding.

The second issue is the dining table.

It’s a lovely table, and I’m so thankful to my step-sister for giving it to me. But the fact is that I was going to use it because it was free, and not because it’s exactly what I envisioned for my dining room.  So I asked myself, “If you could have any table, what would you want?” I didn’t really know exactly, but I just knew that I wanted something much more simple in style, more streamlined, and maybe a bit modern.

So Sunday afternoon, I started looking at dining tables online. It took a while for me to find one that actually made me excited about a dining table, but I did find one. And the awesome thing is that when I showed Matt my top three choices and asked him which one he liked the best, he chose my favorite! He wouldn’t even consider the other two.  Want to see what I chose? It’s the complete polar opposite from the table above. It’s the Torano Marble Rectangular Dining Table from Restoration Hardware.

Now THIS table makes me excited!! Y’all know I generally lean traditional (with a twist) in my decorating, but I love to mix in some modern, clean lines to keep things looking fresh and interesting.  And I think this table will be perfect. I also love that it’s streamlined in its design so that it can be black without looking really dominant and heavy. And that not-quite-black marble top is amazing.

Of course, I’ll pay $2500 for a dining table when pigs fly, so in the meantime, I’ll be making a table inspired by this design.  🙂

But while the dining table and door casings were definite issues for me, they pale in comparison to the one really big issue in the room for me. And honestly, I’m not quite ready to share details. It’s one of the biggest projects I’ve done, and when I redo projects (any projects, but especially bigger projects) I generally catch flak about “wasting time” and “wasting money” and “being happy with good enough rather than perfect” and stuff like that.  And right now, I don’t want to hear that. (I’m just being honest.  🙂 ) Right now, I just want to continue feeling motivated, inspired, and giddy with excitement about the changes I’ll be making without the threat of rain on my parade.  😀

The whole point is that once I was really honest with myself and allowed myself to say, “I’m not pleased at all with how this looks,” and stopped beating myself up with thoughts of “wasted time” and “wasted money,” and allowed myself to entertain the thought of making significant changes, I got so stinkin’ excited about the new plan.  I mean, SO excited!! But I wasn’t just excited about the new plan for that particular project. I was excited about the ENTIRE thing — all three rooms. I was suddenly feeling motivated to install window casings, and sand drywall, and wood fill, sand, and caulk trim, and install crown moulding, and do all of those tasks that have had me gritting my teeth for the past few weeks.

Yesterday, for the first time in weeks, I was excited to work on my house. I continued working on my music room ceiling, and rather than having to force myself to do it, I was motivated to do it. This has been a big lesson learned for me. The next time I’m feeling wholly and completely unmotivated and uninspired to move forward on my house, my first thought won’t be, “I just need a break.”  My first thought will be, “What project have I done that isn’t quite working in this room, and what changes are necessary to make me feel excited and inspired again?”