We've all be there before. In a rush, hurrying through the aisle of a grocery store, or driving a bit over the speed limit to make it to work on time, or even rushing to make an appointment. We all seem to be hurrying through life. Recently, I learned how important it is not to rush through a season. You'll miss the value in the lessons along the way or make mistakes and have to go back to correct them before you're able to step in to your next season.
Several months ago, when Scott planned to be away at a conference, I decided to attempt the biggest surprise DIY project for him. 6 months prior, I had begun gathering Pinterest photo inspiration on one of those private boards so he wouldn't see--right, Steph, because he browses Pinterest daily and may stumble upon your wacky ideas. At any rate, better to be safe then sorry! I love a good surprise!
Anyway, I had it all planned out in my head. Because our kids have grown to where they don't really need an entire separate room for their toys, I decided I would turn their playroom into the one room Scott probably never dreamt I would agree to him having; a man cave! And not just any man cave. I'm talking about an Edmonton Oilers hockey room complete with projector, movie screen, floor to ceiling wall decals, and an air hockey table. Yep, wife of the year here, folks!
After scouring the Internet for inspiration (because, surprise, there AREN'T hundreds of people crazy enough to paint royal blue and bright orange walls in their house, but hey, love is blind right?) I had it all mapped out, and even bought all the paint secretly while Home Depot had a paint sale going on (#winning). I had researched color hues, paintbrushes, drop cloths, painters tape, and edging tools. Let's face it, I've never painted a wall in my life except a small Sunday school room for kids in the back of a church building years ago. But I measured. I calculated. I gathered (and hid) all my supplies.
The morning Scott was leaving for his conference, he'll tell you I rushed him out the door like I couldn't wait to have 3 days alone (and he's not lying), but I knew I would need every single hour in the next few days to paint, let dry, and touch up to hopefully pull off the most Facebook-worthy man cave unveiling of all time.
There are two types of people. Those who measure, and calculate, and meticulously apply painters tape to every nook and cranny, window, and inch of baseboard. Then, there are those that buy a can of paint and slap it on the walls like they're freaking Picasso turned loose at a glow-in-the-dark rave. No piece of furniture or square inch of carpet is safe.
Which type of person am I, you ask? Well, maybe there's a third type. Those who research, plan, measure, and calculate, then read an article explaining how unnecessary painter's tape is when you buy a handy-dandy painter's edger tool and decide to wing it a bit. (Cue the forehead smack again) Guys, I even laid down the drop clothes. I strained my back getting all of the furniture out of the room by. my. self. I was on the right track for heaven's sake!
For the love, I even researched and bought drywall repair putty to fix at least a dozen dents and nicks in the wall the week before Scott was leaving, AND repainted it in the original wall color so the walls were all ready to go the minute I could get rid of him! What's hilarious is after I finished the repair and repaint, I was worried Scott would notice it and suspect something because the wall looked TOO perfect! I didn't realize how banged up the wall was until it looked brand new again! I'm telling you, wife of the year, people!
So, I guess I'm the third type. I bought the paint edger. I started at the ceilings. Within the first five minutes, I had royal blue paint smudges on several places of my stark-white ceilings. I was so frustrated! Did I step back and reformulate a plan? Consider my options of fixing it? Nope! I pressed on, bumping my way around all four walls that met the ceilings in that room. Truth: I may have been called hard-headed a time or two in life. Confession: they may have a point.
By the time I was down to the baseboards, I'm proud to say the painter's tape didn't let me down! There may have been two spots in the entire room where I made a mistake on the baseboard. All the time I spent applying the tape had paid off!
Three days came and went. I worked every night late into the night using every lamp in my house plugged into that room to be able to see. I can't remember if I made the kids dinner any of those nights though! Actually, I'm pretty sure I did. I probably picked up Chick-fil-A on the way home from picking the kids up at 3pm and called that dinner! Hey, I can't be wife of the year AND mother of the year!
The room was nearly complete. The walls were dry enough to apply the Fatheads (wall decals). Had I considered that maybe I needed another person's help to apply a life size, 6-foot-5-inch hockey player to my wall? Not initially. Thankfully, I only rushed the 3-foot team logo decal because when it decided to roll up and stick to itself, while I said every curse word in the book in my head, at least I hadn't ruined the captain of my husband's beloved hockey team! I was able to salvage the team logo, thankfully, and now on the wall, the wrinkles are not even noticeable. I was at least smart enough to wait for my kids to get home from school to apply the giant man in skates and hockey pads to the wall; like a 7-year-old and 12-year-old would be prepared to take barking orders from a paint-covered, sleep-deprived mad woman anyway! Thank God, we got it up! And even straight! And actually, the kids were so gracious, and patient, and a huge help!
Are you dying to see the result of three days of an insane idea?
First, here's the work I had to do on the largest wall that needed all the repair. Tell me you're impressed.
The top picture I had already added the putty, but still, the scuffs, dents, and general dirtiness was always obvious. See! I was so afraid Scott would notice all the scuff marks and dents being gone!
Here's the completed room!
So, what did I learn from all of this? When we rush through things we make mistakes and have to spend time going back to fix them. When we look for shortcuts and tricks to save time, we end up spending even more time correcting the mistakes. Spend the hard, meticulous, and time-consuming job of applying painter's tape for heaven's sake!
So many of us are in a rush to get ahead, to reach a new level of success, or to enter a new season, but we're missing the valuable lessons along the way. We're failing the tests along the hard, uncomfortable road, and we don't realize we won't enter the next season until we've submitted to the lessons of this one. Walk past the aisle with "as seen on TV" contraptions that promise to save time, but end up being junk that actually costs you more time and money. Resist the urge to find shortcuts, and commit to the work of staying on the straight and narrow. While this season may hold some pain, struggles, or even heartache, the consequences of trying to bypass a particular lesson is far greater than if you'd surrender and commit to growing through the trials.
I also learned the importance of stepping back to assess the situation, evaluate your progress, or in my case, your mistakes, and either scrap the original plan all together (seek wise counsel), or tweak it here or there in order to keep moving forward. When you're struggling, admit it. Don't just keep plowing through a season in life refusing to admit that you need help. Step back. Get some fresh perspective. Then roll up your sleeves and start again!
And for the love of all things holy, do yourself a favor. Hire painters!
Several months ago, when Scott planned to be away at a conference, I decided to attempt the biggest surprise DIY project for him. 6 months prior, I had begun gathering Pinterest photo inspiration on one of those private boards so he wouldn't see--right, Steph, because he browses Pinterest daily and may stumble upon your wacky ideas. At any rate, better to be safe then sorry! I love a good surprise!
Anyway, I had it all planned out in my head. Because our kids have grown to where they don't really need an entire separate room for their toys, I decided I would turn their playroom into the one room Scott probably never dreamt I would agree to him having; a man cave! And not just any man cave. I'm talking about an Edmonton Oilers hockey room complete with projector, movie screen, floor to ceiling wall decals, and an air hockey table. Yep, wife of the year here, folks!
After scouring the Internet for inspiration (because, surprise, there AREN'T hundreds of people crazy enough to paint royal blue and bright orange walls in their house, but hey, love is blind right?) I had it all mapped out, and even bought all the paint secretly while Home Depot had a paint sale going on (#winning). I had researched color hues, paintbrushes, drop cloths, painters tape, and edging tools. Let's face it, I've never painted a wall in my life except a small Sunday school room for kids in the back of a church building years ago. But I measured. I calculated. I gathered (and hid) all my supplies.
The morning Scott was leaving for his conference, he'll tell you I rushed him out the door like I couldn't wait to have 3 days alone (and he's not lying), but I knew I would need every single hour in the next few days to paint, let dry, and touch up to hopefully pull off the most Facebook-worthy man cave unveiling of all time.
There are two types of people. Those who measure, and calculate, and meticulously apply painters tape to every nook and cranny, window, and inch of baseboard. Then, there are those that buy a can of paint and slap it on the walls like they're freaking Picasso turned loose at a glow-in-the-dark rave. No piece of furniture or square inch of carpet is safe.
Which type of person am I, you ask? Well, maybe there's a third type. Those who research, plan, measure, and calculate, then read an article explaining how unnecessary painter's tape is when you buy a handy-dandy painter's edger tool and decide to wing it a bit. (Cue the forehead smack again) Guys, I even laid down the drop clothes. I strained my back getting all of the furniture out of the room by. my. self. I was on the right track for heaven's sake!
For the love, I even researched and bought drywall repair putty to fix at least a dozen dents and nicks in the wall the week before Scott was leaving, AND repainted it in the original wall color so the walls were all ready to go the minute I could get rid of him! What's hilarious is after I finished the repair and repaint, I was worried Scott would notice it and suspect something because the wall looked TOO perfect! I didn't realize how banged up the wall was until it looked brand new again! I'm telling you, wife of the year, people!
So, I guess I'm the third type. I bought the paint edger. I started at the ceilings. Within the first five minutes, I had royal blue paint smudges on several places of my stark-white ceilings. I was so frustrated! Did I step back and reformulate a plan? Consider my options of fixing it? Nope! I pressed on, bumping my way around all four walls that met the ceilings in that room. Truth: I may have been called hard-headed a time or two in life. Confession: they may have a point.
By the time I was down to the baseboards, I'm proud to say the painter's tape didn't let me down! There may have been two spots in the entire room where I made a mistake on the baseboard. All the time I spent applying the tape had paid off!
Three days came and went. I worked every night late into the night using every lamp in my house plugged into that room to be able to see. I can't remember if I made the kids dinner any of those nights though! Actually, I'm pretty sure I did. I probably picked up Chick-fil-A on the way home from picking the kids up at 3pm and called that dinner! Hey, I can't be wife of the year AND mother of the year!
The room was nearly complete. The walls were dry enough to apply the Fatheads (wall decals). Had I considered that maybe I needed another person's help to apply a life size, 6-foot-5-inch hockey player to my wall? Not initially. Thankfully, I only rushed the 3-foot team logo decal because when it decided to roll up and stick to itself, while I said every curse word in the book in my head, at least I hadn't ruined the captain of my husband's beloved hockey team! I was able to salvage the team logo, thankfully, and now on the wall, the wrinkles are not even noticeable. I was at least smart enough to wait for my kids to get home from school to apply the giant man in skates and hockey pads to the wall; like a 7-year-old and 12-year-old would be prepared to take barking orders from a paint-covered, sleep-deprived mad woman anyway! Thank God, we got it up! And even straight! And actually, the kids were so gracious, and patient, and a huge help!
Are you dying to see the result of three days of an insane idea?
First, here's the work I had to do on the largest wall that needed all the repair. Tell me you're impressed.
Here's the completed room!
So, what did I learn from all of this? When we rush through things we make mistakes and have to spend time going back to fix them. When we look for shortcuts and tricks to save time, we end up spending even more time correcting the mistakes. Spend the hard, meticulous, and time-consuming job of applying painter's tape for heaven's sake!
So many of us are in a rush to get ahead, to reach a new level of success, or to enter a new season, but we're missing the valuable lessons along the way. We're failing the tests along the hard, uncomfortable road, and we don't realize we won't enter the next season until we've submitted to the lessons of this one. Walk past the aisle with "as seen on TV" contraptions that promise to save time, but end up being junk that actually costs you more time and money. Resist the urge to find shortcuts, and commit to the work of staying on the straight and narrow. While this season may hold some pain, struggles, or even heartache, the consequences of trying to bypass a particular lesson is far greater than if you'd surrender and commit to growing through the trials.
I also learned the importance of stepping back to assess the situation, evaluate your progress, or in my case, your mistakes, and either scrap the original plan all together (seek wise counsel), or tweak it here or there in order to keep moving forward. When you're struggling, admit it. Don't just keep plowing through a season in life refusing to admit that you need help. Step back. Get some fresh perspective. Then roll up your sleeves and start again!
And for the love of all things holy, do yourself a favor. Hire painters!
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