Pretty Soon…Everything’s Different
Yesterday, I was working on projects for the dining room and thinking to myself how it seems like this room is taking so much longer than it should. And then I had to laugh at myself when I realized that this happens during every single room makeover or room remodel that I do. Things start off great and I feel like I’m making good progress, but eventually, I start to feel like I’m living in the movie Groundhog Day, and I feel like the room is never actually going to get finished.
When I start feeling that way, it’s so helpful for me to take a little trip back in time and remind myself that things do actually happen, and projects do actually come to an end. It’s one of those “gradually, then suddenly” types of things. Of course, that quote is attributed to a character in an Ernest Heminway novel when he was asked how he went bankrupt, so hopefully it’s not exactly like that. 😀 But I think we can all identify with the general sentiment. So often, we feel ike things happen gradually, and then suddenly.
Perhaps a better quote, which I’ve always heard attributed to C.S. Lewis, but I learned this morning actually comes from the cartoon Calvin & Hobbes, is this: “You know what’s weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon… everything’s different.” (I have to laugh at that misattribution. How in the world did a quote from Calvin & Hobbes become attributed to C.S. Lewis? 😀 )
But that quote pretty much sums up the last 13 years that I’ve been remodeling our house, decorating our house, and working on projects for our house. Day by day, it’s hard to see a difference, and it feels like nothing is changing. And yet, everything’s different. The last few years have been especially busy, and when I look back on them, I’m amazed at just how different everything really is.
In October of just last year (2025), I was still working on our bedroom suite. October ended with me installing the grasscloth wallpaper in the bedroom.
We’ve been in our “new” bedroom for less than a year. And yet, somehow, it feels like so much longer than that. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that I was still working on this bedroom at the beginning of this year. When this year started, I had gotten a lot done on the room, but I still hadn’t even started on building the bed.
I didn’t finish the room until February…of this year.
And yet, somehow, just eight months later, it feels like we’ve been in this bedroom for years.
In October of 2024, just two years ago, my workshop was built. Take a look at what it looked like on the day they finished building it.
Also during October of 2024, we were in preparation mode for having our driveway poured. When I looked back on these pictures, I couldn’t believe this was just two years ago this month. This truly feels like a lifetime ago that the side of our house looked like this. There were trees grown up on the side of our property that made it feel like we lived on the edge of a forest. I was driving and parking on dirt that would turn to mud when it rained hard, and if I wasn’t careful, my car would get stuck in the mud.
I was still mostly parking right in front of my studio, which was originally the garage, on the last remaining remnants of a gravel driveway.
And the side door to my studio had cinder blocks as steps and a concrete pad that led to nowhere.
I can’t believe those pictures were taken just two years ago this month. So much has changed since then! While I can remember those days of parking on dirt and gravel, it seems like so much longer ago than just two years.
And as of just this past summer, my side studio door has proper steps that actually lead somewhere.
While my workshop is still just a big storage room at this point, at least the outside is cute!
But probably the craziest thing for me was realizing that it was just two years ago, in October 2024, when I was finishing up my studio.
So it has only been in the last two years that I’ve started almost every single day sitting at my desk in my studio. And yet, it feels like so much longer. It feels like this has been my routine for a decade. The passage of time is such an interesting thing. When we’re in the midst of something, it feels like it will never end. Or when we’re longing for something to happen, it feels like it will never happen. But then when it does actually happen, and you look back on it, it feels like it’s always been that way. “You know what’s weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon… everything’s different.”
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.
When I think of all you have accomplished in the past 13 years I am in awe. And it’s not just the changes to the house, it’s building furniture, custom cabinets, light fixtures … I could go on and on. You are amazing at what you have accomplished and I know some of the work is mind numbing; sanding, re-sanding, refinishing floors, painting thousands of little spoons or round wooden pixels yet you push through and the end result is something beautiful and functional and something to be proud of. You are an inspiration to many. And to know you did 95% of the work yourself. Thank you for persevering.
WOW!!! What you have accomplished is totally terrific! Don’t let yourself get down—you have carried on and achieved a beautiful home! Betsy
So, so true!
One of my favorite quotes about motherhood reminds me of the ones you are talking about here: “The days are long, but the years are short.” It is so accurate! And the older I get, the more I find it can be applied to.
I always think that if something feels like it’s been around longer than it has (in a good way), it probably means it feels like home. 🙂 I am so happy that your house is feeling more and more like your home.
Lovely post, thank you. At work, it’s sort of my special assignment to remind my collegues of everything we’ve actually accomplished in the last 6, 9 or 12 months. It’s so good to turn the frustration of today into thankfulness for yesterday and the Lord’s faithfulness – and let that rekindle the hope for tomorrow. And I’m a huge fan of both C.S. Lewis and Calvin & Hobbes, but the attribution mix-up is indeed funny. Now I think I need to go searching my study for a couple of those old original C&H books…
You’re amazing! I do have to comment on the studio steps. The color difference in the concrete from the drive and next to the steps. It gives me an illusion that the driveway is higher than the concrete base of the steps. Totally weird! I know that they are the same ht. cause I “watched” you build it!
Same! For a second I thought it was an edited photo, and couldn’t figure out why it was cropped so oddly. It’s NOT! 🙂
You are amazing, and yes, it is amazing to see the things you have done in just a few months, years! We are always amazed when we look back and realize things were not that long ago, and then some things are SO long ago. I don’t know if it’s because we are getting older, but now the weeks escape us so quickly, and yet when we hear how long ago, like when my beloved mom passed, we can’t even believe it…it seems like she was here with us only a few years ago…now 11 years! 🙄 Sometimes I think it is because sometimes I feel like she is here with me. You are amazing, and I love watching all you do. Thank you for wonderful posts, often, and showing us all what can be done!
You have accomplished a tremendous amount of work in the last two years. It’s good that you have pictures to look back on as reminders.
What will you do once you remodel all the rooms?