The Two-Month Countdown

But I have two months left, and my goal is to be laser focused on two things — finishing the dining room and finishing the storage room. Remember the storage room? 😀 We haven’t talked about that in a while. I’ve been so focused on the dining room that the storage room has kind of fallen off the radar. Here’s how it looks right now…

And the goal is to make it look something like this, although the pink ceiling is still up for debate…

The room is small, so I have convinced myself that I can surely get it done by the end of the year. But I tend to have a Super Woman mindset that tells me I can do way more than what’s actually humanly possible, and I can get it done in a way shorter time than reality would allow. And small rooms can be deceiving. I very often trick myself into thinking that small rooms should take much less time than large rooms simply because they’re small. But small rooms require all the same attention to detail that large rooms do. Even after 30 years of DIYing, I have yet to understand that phenomenon.

The good news is that I’m pretty sure I have almost everything on hand that I need in order to finish that room as quickly as possible. The IKEA cabinets have been sitting in the entryway ever since they were delivered, still boxed up and leaning against the console table. I have the sink, the flooring, the ceiling light, and the wallpaper. The room is empty. It has new drywall, electrical, and plumbing. So it’s ready to go as soon as I am. And I’ll be ready to jump into that project just as soon as I finish up the dining room.

If you’ve been following along, you know that the dining room is well underway. The only project I have left in that room that I can do without fabric is the artwork that will go above the benches.

Every other project requires fabric, and I’m still waiting for that to be delivered. It shipped yesterday, so I should have it either tomorrow or Monday. Then I can get the benches, dining chairs, and draperies finished.

So this is the goal for the remaining two months of 2026, and I’m going to do everything in my power to finish both before we welcome the new year. In my mind, it seems doable. We’ll see what reality has to say about it. 😀 To meet my goal, that means that over the next two months (roughly eight weeks), I need to:

• Upholster four dining chairs,
• Paint and upholster two benches,
• Sew two lined drapery panels,
• Make two pieces of colorful textured artwork,
• Prime and paint the storage room walls,
• Install the hardwood flooring*,
• Unbox and assemble the IKEA Pax wardrobes and install them in place,
• Hang the wallpaper,
• Trim out the room (crown, baseboards, chair rail, and wall trim)
• Prime and paint all of the trim,
• Install the sink,
• Install lighting,
• Finish out the electrical outlets.

I think that’s it, but I’m sure there will be other details along the way that I can’t think of right now. See what I mean? When I look at the small storage room, my mind tells me I could knock out that project in a couple of weeks. But the list says otherwise, especially when other factors (i.e., requirement of everyday life outside of DIY projects) come into play. But I do love a good challenge, so I’m going to do my very best, and no matter how this year ends, I’m going to be proud of what I accomplished.

But oh my goodness, how amazing would it be to finish out 2026 and start the new year with the entire interior of our house finished (with the obvious exception of the sunroom)?!

It would be the realization of a 13-year dream. That’s what keeps me motivated. So let the countdown begin!