There are many stages I travel through when I work on a project.
Here, let's use my current project, the photo studio as a fine example.
Starting stage
I'm all excited to start something fresh and new! Creativity is at an all time high and I just wanna MOVE. Full speed ahead! I giggle and run and jump and prepare for a gay 'ol time!
And since I love speed so much, I was going to attempt to cheat with the photo studio. I wanted the far wall done so I could use it immediately while I slowly completed the rest of the room. I have a fun treatment in mind and couldn't wait to get to the best part!
But as you know, one thing touches another and soon you're moving backward at a much quicker pace than forward if you don't do things in the right order.
The fun wall is officially delayed. I have to finish the other (yawwwwn...) stuff first.
Boring stage
This is the point where I tend to lose interest in a project. What you're doing isn't creative, it's just a task. It's getting... boring.
So now let's sprinkle on some glitches and move on downhill shall we?
Lookin' good, huh? Yeah well, let's move in a little closer...
Grit your teeth stage
The ceiling was being fussy. These pine ceiling boards have been up for some time now but they've long since settled and pulled apart a bit, making it difficult to paint in between all the sections. Honestly, if I had a can of spray primer on hand, I would have given it a workout on the ceiling. Since I didn't, let's just call this look the vintage boarded up look and call it a day. NEXT! (how does one paint all that in between stuff anyway?)
Then the curtain hardware (not shown, it was too boring) fussed and moaned when I wanted to try and remove it. Some weird screws were jammed into the window moulding (isn't this suppose to be in a WALL?) and I couldn't remove it easily without hunting for the weirdest tool known to mankind. Taking too long. PASS.
And why oh why I didn't completely empty the room before working I don't' even know. Oh right... I'm actually using it while in reno mode. So there all my props and mess sit... wonderful tripping material.
Quitting stage
Fuss, moan, whine, stomp, I walked in and out of this room a bazillion times yesterday looking for a GOOD reason to quit. Start, quit, start, quit.
Danger stage
And then comes the dangerous stage. This is where I wander around the house looking for something fresh and NEW to start because I'm craving that Starting Stage again. I honestly was carrying around a roller loaded with white paint looking for a new place to smack it!
RED ALERT! Walk away from the walls! Get back downstairs and finish up!
Procrastination stage
But I got so bored my eyes crossed so I went on the net to play for a short spell, dreaming of going to Hawaii or some such nonsense like that. I even played out in my mind where we'd go camping this summer. I was about to walk outside to start cleaning the trailer that very split second but naturally I do have about 5% common sense clicking in from time to time. I shuffled my way back to my boring room instead.
To take artsy pictures of a crudded up paint can. I'm sure paint stores all over are shuddering at how I did not anally wipe the rim clean after each and every single use. This here is livin' on the EDGE in paint country, friends! Fists in air... WOOOOO!
I've officially lost it.
Blog about the pain of it all stage
Yup. I made it here too. That's good, right?
So, is this why top designers have a team to take care of the boring? Where's that sign up sheet?
I think I've figured me out. I need quick and rapid change at an alarming rate. I guess that's why I have 7 projects or so on the go, huh?
Hey.. at least this way I can have a fresh new boring to wander to when an old boring gets too boring.
Need some help staying motivated?
I wrote a post on that very topic back in August.
10 tips on staying motivated, positive and productive!
Guess I'd better reread it. :)
Do you bore easily?
Girl, I COMPLETELY understand the boring stage! I moved into my place last June after getting the keys a couple weeks in advance. The whole place needed paint...one room had bubble gum pink walls with brown polka dots. I got -most- of the painting done before moving in furniture. And that's where it ended. One room is "finished"...the guest room. But, in order for guests to get there, they have to go through the unfinished BORING stage in every other room. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time getting started. I think of an idea...and I know it's going to be good and then there is all the prep to do before I can even begin..this is when I'm most likely to stall. Once I've got the project going and set up where I can easily come back and work some more on it...my momentum usually increases. Yes, I hate the boring part...or the steps back that you didn't plan on....but as long as I'm making progress...I keep trudging long....knowing there will be a pay out in the end.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh. Your entire post is me. And that is why, I have a gazillion projects sitting unfinished after the new stage. 3 pieces of furniture only half painted, 1 room only fully decorated completely(and that is probably debatable).
ReplyDeleteWendy from Wonderland
Oh I so too get bored and look for other rooms to start!! Ha!!
ReplyDeleteMy studio needs finishing!!! My bedroom needs a light hung and pictures put back up!!! Etc., etc.
Maybe this will motivate me??? Sigh!
Good luck..sounds like we all need a kick in the butt!!
Hugs
SueAnn
This post was nothing short of genius, thanks for the giggles!
ReplyDeleteI bore so easily I rarely make it past the planning stage! I think gnats have more of an attention span than I do. Don't know if it's procrastination or what, but it is hardly productive. God forbid I actually do get started and run into a roadblock - forget it! Nap-time! I have *no idea* how I actually finished university. It's getting worse the older I get and I am wondering if I might actually have ADD or something?
ReplyDeleteBest,
Kimberly
oh yes, i ALWAYS get bored before something is done and i think of my next project.
ReplyDeleteBTW...you need the caulk the ceiling and it will look great. The grooves will be there and then paint. (of course that is more hard work!)
San
It sounds so me...thanks for sharing to let others know it happens not only to us but it also happens to the best of us. Sure is gonna be an awesome room when you are finished:)
ReplyDeleteHope you have a good and productive day!
We are putting planks over our cottage cheese ceilings. I am priming an painting the boards first then one more coat of they are up. Really helps. But what a pain in the neck and back.
ReplyDeleteUgh, it is nice to know that someone else thinks like me. I hate the boring stage. I also hate when I plan everything out, buy all the materials, start the project and need more materials cause I didn't plan enough. Of course there is no money to buy more cause I just spent the next month's grocery money on it. So not only are we hungry, but the project is half done! Yeesh! By the time I get back to it I am so past that project, I move onto a new one.
ReplyDeleteI can sympathize with ya on the window coverings too. I say we ban all window coverings! Of course then I would have to stop walking around nekkid. Hmmmm..... I may have to rethink that one....
oh YES! i do this with refurbishing furniture. sigh, i get to a point where the project doesn't look like my vision or something isn't working out as smoothly as planned and i start to wonder away. find ANYTHING else to occupy my time. what's worse? having my hubby point out my half finished project OVER...and OVER...AND OVER to me. like he keeps pushing on a bruise i have. ha.
ReplyDeletesometimes i come back with a different plan...that helps too. just a slight change gives me enough drive to continue.
*wishing you MUCH motiviation*
Amy W.
Oh my gosh, that's exactly what happens around here. I thought it only happened to me. I love to start and I love to finish but that's it. Sometimes it takes just absolute willpower and the embarrassment of how my house looks just to finish it.
ReplyDeleteI do like the vintage look of your ceiling though.
This is too funny.... I can so relate! I'm 'trying' to make myself finish the current project before starting the next one, but I keep sneaking over and just doing a little bit of it.... Thanks for the day brightener and motivation! (I'm ALMOST done my current project - maybe today.) ~Rachel
ReplyDeleteLove your abuse of that paint can! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking it was just me that had a million projects going on at once because I just get too bored to finish 1 at a time!! My favorite is when I'm stalling on a project and after sitting on it for a few weeks I completely change my mind and go in a whole other direction! And the cycle continues!!
ReplyDeleteHeck yay, I am all gung ho when I start a project, but by the end I am just cussing my way through it just to get the stupid thing done. And these are projects that I really wanted to start and really love once it's done. It's just that boring time in the middle that is just plain old work that gets me!
ReplyDeleteOh, so true! The worst (for me) is when life (namely, that pesky big-grrrl job) gets in the way. Halfway through a project and I need to drop everything. Next thing you know, a few weeks have gone by, and not only interest but urgency has waned. ARG. And, I totally do the same thing to my paint cans—glad you admitted to it.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. You sound a lot like me. I develop extreme ADD when attempting some projects. I've now learned I'm mostly a one sitting person... it can't be done in one sitting...it's at risk of not getting done.
ReplyDelete*hand raised* YEP! Me, too! Start. Dive in. Bore. Dive out. Stare at it all for weeks.
ReplyDeleteand just so you know, our paint cans all look exactly like yours.
xo
~K
You really hit this nail on the head (see how productive you were?!). You are so right about the boring stage! I started ripping fabric off a chair for reupholstering, I know putting the new fabric on will be fun, but I'm currently looking at white "stuffing" and the old fabric and no new fabric. And, it's sitting in my poor husband's office...
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lot of us are the same way. I could have written every word. Only, I probably wouldn't have started such a big project. I let the hubby do those. Me, I love the planning stage and the starting. Once I see how it's going to look I lose interest and am ready to move onto something else. It's quite a challenge for me to see a project to the very end. Oh, and if it takes me too long to round up the supplies, I'll lose interest at that point.
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice to know there are others out there suffering from this affliction. I'm more of an idea person...not a finisher. And I've been known to paint only part of a wall so I can speedy quick hang that cool artwork!
ReplyDeleteI am soooo very much like that!! I am
ReplyDeleteloving the paint can too!! That is totally me ~
xoxo
Lori
LOL!! :-) Ask my husband, I've been there and never left. Partially stripped door frame for the last 20 years. Those fussy real estate agents on Designed to Sell would say eeeewwwww ;-P It became part of the decor many years ago.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh yes! Thats why i have a bazillion projects going at once. i could so relate to this post. Besides working on the house i have a lot of craft projects going too and i'm the same way with them. Many of them are tedious and i just have to keep skipping around.
ReplyDeletebut naturally I do have about 5% common sense clicking in from time to time.....
ReplyDeletebawaaahhhaahahahaha! That was hilarious!
I too am known to STALL OUT... with projects. Ever wonder why I hardly ever show a finished one? 'Cause by the time I get it done... it's all but forgotten--
As far as walking around with loaded roller in hand... LOL... I call that "wandering aimlessly" I do that A LOT!
glad to see my paint cans aren't the only ones on the planet with LAYERS of paint on the outside...
Pat
Yes. I get bored that is why half of my house is in a state of unfinished. Your so brave to blog about this. I would imagine we all need a kick in the pants from time to time. Unfortunately I have figured out my problem...you see I prefer to tear it up, deconstruct, demolish. I would walk on slab floors rather than look at gross carpet, so I rip it up.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend, my son's room will finally get a new floor and man oh man was this post timely.
A.C.O.U.N.T.A.B.I.L.I.T.Y
I vow not to walk away when my knees begin to hurt.
My arms begin to burn.
My back begins to break.
Then I get to blog about it.
By the way...aren't paint cans supposed to look like that? :)
Wow, you just wrote my autobiography, so I don't have to! It's as though the Mothership has landed, and we A.D.D. DIY aliens now know we're not alone....that there are others like us. :) I've always said my epitaph is gonna read "I'm not done yet", since that aptly describes the status of all my projects. Thanks for reminding us all that we're not so unusual.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I think a tube (or 2) of caulking/sealant/wood-filler is probably the way to go on filling those board seams. I know, boring task right?
Oh, Dear, I truly needed this: there stand my 9 freshly trimmed and caulked windows and a door frame, waiting for me to give them the final coat of paint...finally!! BUT the sun is shining and soooo warm and I just bought 9 18 pot cases of plants for my plant sale and want to dig up and pot another 500 plants before my plant sale in 3 weeks, and I have another 2000 or so plants that have over-wintered and are so covered in weeds, I'm hoping there are some plants in there. Yes, we common folk need some of those "menail task" laborers like Martha Stewart has to get all this dull stuff done...so why aren't my kids lining up to take advantage of the job openings? Last year my daughter got a pony for helping out (and with her own savings). I think I should have made the pony a "5 years of helping" reward. I wonder if I could find any help for free pony rides upon completion. Anyone? Please?!
ReplyDeleteHow did you get into my head?
ReplyDeleteI just walked in my house from boredom of my current project and SOOO needed to see this! Made me smile and laugh...back to it!
ReplyDeleteI am the very same way. I bet most creative people are. Impatient. Need results now. Because when your mind is flooded you are afraid you're going to forget something awesome!!! At any rate, I am excited to see how it turns out! I'm also a photographer. :)
ReplyDeleteI have at least one hundred unfinished things. A few months ago I just threw away an unfinished Holly Hobbie doll I was sewing when I was about 15. I figured by 50, I was never going to get to it. My mother even used to remind me once a year to finish that doll... don't tell mum it's in the garbage.
ReplyDeleteAbout the ceilings...A HA! Finally someone has honestly posted about the failings of painting furniture or wood articles. Unless you live in a climate where it never changes, you will have wood movement, shrinking and expanding. The only solution is to prepaint. Please do not caulk the ceiling. Wait for the driest time of the year (lowest humidity) and then either spray or paint with a thin brush in the lines.
Anyway, your mind is just TOO creative, it's a few projects ahead of your actions!
haha my paint can looks just the same way! i had to dig the dried old paint out of it the other day cause mine would no longer close haha!
ReplyDeleteFirst about painting in between the boards on the ceiling.... Had that issue with some especially LARGE gaps one time and just got too darn tired of painting it away until I got the bright idea of filling those gaps with white, paintable silicone caulk. Oh GOD I love that stuff now. I get a little OCD with it when I find "settling" gaps here and there in the house and need to rid my sight of them or they'll drive... me... nuts!
ReplyDeletePlease bear in mind that caulking those cracks on the ceiling will get messy and a tacky hair net might be an accessory not on the "needed" list yet - but you will need it!
Oh, about the project list; I'm SO relating to it as I have 5 projects backed up because of a severe outbreak of head colds between me and 5 other family members here. Everything has been on total hold for 3 weeks and I'm now finding myself, like you, hunting around for another project to start because I can't get the other 5 going yet.
At least there is watering my vegetable seedlings which will get into the ground...... eventually.
Thanks for the laugh and knowing I'm not the only one in this "rut".
It took me exactly 5 hrs 15 min to work up the courage to walk downstairs and remove the blinds that took approximately 5 minutes to remove.
ReplyDeleteMay I say, it's great to see I'm not the only one in mental anguish here. Thank-you. :)
Donna
Oh my gosh....I totally do the same thing...it's insane but ya...the kiss of death is looking for somthing new to do :) I feel like I'm reading about myself & it just makes me giggle! Keep at it girl! You can do it!!!
ReplyDeletexo,
Shellagh
I love your post, were you talking about me??? I have so many projects started, some in the almost done but what if I finish and hate the whole dang thing stage . . .
ReplyDeleteI have finally begun the process of finishing up one project at a time so I can begin some new projects swirling about my brain.
Good luck, you always do something to inspire the rest of us!
How interesting, I don't think the fact that you can actually now walk outside is helping. I've got the urge to run away also so. so Ready for Summer vacation, and haven't even made it past Spring break (it came late this year at the schools around here).
ReplyDeleteI almost posted on my Facebook the other day - "Looking for an Intern, will teach you to sew, to write & Illustrate patterns and start a business!" And then realized it would only be more work, so I didn't.
I look forward to reading your solution to this...Your book will need to come with a 'Getting through the boring stages worksheet'.
God yes I get bored tooo quickly. I think I have about 4 projects in the works now. I just wrote a post about it yesterday.
ReplyDeleteGoll, thanks for the laughs ladies! lol Oh yeah, I too, have the same problem... mine is I get bored so fast, I have to do and get the project DONE as fast as possible... I HATE details! Ok now... LOTS of projects keeps us all from getting too bored, huh??? I come up with so many projects all at once, that my hubby, when I say, 'honey, I wanta show you something...' 'uh oh... now what?' is his usual reply, along with a deep sad -sigh- Good to know. That there are many out there with the same [troubles?]... and we are all the same. Thanks for the laughs Donna and friends!
ReplyDeleteGood Lord, this post spoke to me! Ha! Yes, I get bored so quickly and I do the same thing where I walk into a room and walk out, in, out, in, out. Or, I'll stand at the doorway with my arms folded just staring and thinking, hoping that somehow osmosis takes care of the rest. I don't know! I can tell you that like you, I waste enough time 'thinking' about something or starting something new. I think it's just part of being creative and not having a crew! As for your ceiling, the planked paneling in my living room gave me the same troubles trying to get in those grooves but I just LOADED a roller with paint, zipped the roller down each groove with the edge of the roller, then when back over the panel with roller and smoothed everything out, like you'd normally paint a wall. I did 2' x 8' sections and knocked out the wall in about an hour which included two coats. If those are actually gaps though (and not just unpainted grooves), you'll want to run a thin bead of painter's caulk along them and smooth it with your finger tip & a wet rag (I'm sure you probably know that though). Great post. I giggled the whole way through!
ReplyDeleteDamp rag, not wet.
ReplyDeleteI think this is why I never start anything! Big projects, anyway. I'm in the middle of a bedroom makeover, and I can't wait for it to be done, so I worked way past my bedtime getting it painted three nights in a row (full time, working mommy here). Now it's done and I have nothing else to work on till I have time to shop for hew stuff grrrr! I'm worried that I too will lose interest....
ReplyDeleteKristin @ A Simply Klassic Home
WOW! This post was like reading about moi!
ReplyDeleteI love creating the ideas ... I love imagining the finished project... and I love to start things... but...O my ... I also get bored waaaay to quickly...especially when something goes wrong. My paint tins look just like yours too Donna :) ... and I hate the prep stage of anything. It's only the 'thought' of the finished project that I have in mind, that keeps me going :)
Thanx for the laugh!
Min X
Oh, I just HAD to comment. That is ME, exactly! I know I drive my family crazy and I love what I've done but I always have a list a mile long and there's always curtains to make, rooms to paint, furniture to build or re-do and I've been making a penny rug (12' x 14') for at least a year. I love projects, the ideas and the creating, but man can they get to that boring stage quick where you just want to move on to the next one.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your Blog, thanks for all you write! Inspiring and like I have a pen pal who totally understands me.
Your post, and some of these comments are hilarious. I can totally relate!! Glad to have found your blog!
ReplyDelete