Q: Dear John (no it’s not a Dear John letter) and Sherry. I’m begging you (on bare knees in front of laptop now) to write a post that teaches the following: HOW… HOW, I beg you, do you find the motivation and… ENERGY to take on such things after work?! Or even a whole weekend cooped up in a bathroom? I BEG you, please, how do you get that mind-set to get things done?! And after work! It’s incomprehensible to me but I would love to be that person. If you bottle it, I’m buying ten. I know this isn’t a motivational/self-improvement blog but I think your attitude to get things done so consistently does have a place. Please? Purty please? Luv luv LUV your blog. -Anna in Sydney
A: We’re not going to lie. Fitting in our constant DIY undertakings is definitely is a challenge. We know all about being short on time (I’m usually tethered to the computer from 8am-8pm and John has a full time job downtown) so we do almost 100% of our projects on nights and weekends (and many of them over holidays as well). Sometimes it just comes down to making the decision to put off the fun stuff like going out to dinner and hanging out with friends in the name of crossing things off of our to-do list.
But of course, just like any strict diet that won’t work for the long haul, we’re all motivating ourselves to finally finish something that we’ve worked hard to accomplish. So here are three strategies that have worked to keep our DIY momentum going strong.
Strategy #1: Motivate Yourself With A Reward – We’re pretty into updating our home, so we’re weird enough to think that painting or demo-ing sounds like a good time… but we know it’s not everyone’s idea of fun. And sometimes we dread projects like you wouldn’t believe, but we tell ourselves that we have to do it sometime, so we might as well bang it out and then go out to dinner the next day to celebrate (instead of dragging it out and having it hang over our heads for months).
Working in these little “accomplishment rewards” can definitely keep things feeling more balanced and keep you feeling motivated- and of course you’ll be full of self-congratulatory pride for a job well done- so that also comes into play (once you paint one room you’ll feel so good it’ll be easier to embark on the next one than it was to pick up that paint brush the first time).
And sometimes setting a goal and working towards it is easier than you think- especially if there’s something oh so sweet waiting for you at the finish line. For example, declare that if you complete five things on your list you’ll treat yourself to a mini vacay in a nearby city for the weekend or that you’ll finally order that pretty Etsy print that you’ve been drooling over. I guess it’s sort of like doing anything else that takes time and effort (losing weight, studying for finals, etc)- it really takes drive and motivation to stay at it. So anything you can do to push yourselves forward and encourage each other along the way can really make all the difference.
Strategy #2: Share Your Home Adventures With Others – We’ll just come out and say it. Maybe you should start a blog. We find that we’re motivated to do more and work harder just so we can share our results with people who are chomping at the bit for pics and details. Maybe that will help motivate you as well? Not that anyone really has “extra time to start a blog” when they’re working on their home, but we didn’t think we did either (two years ago when John started this whole thing I was completely uninterested) and just look at us now!
Or maybe you can find another way to motivate yourselves by sharing your progress- like creating a super easy Flickr album with before & after photos and sending the link to friends and family once a week to share your DIY hardships- and all the glory that comes with them once they’re blissfully completed. Even privately documenting your process just for yourself can be hugely motivating. For example, you can take “before” photos of your entire house and put them in an album with a blank sleeve after each one that’s just waiting for an “after” picture. It definitely won’t happen overnight, but as you slowly start adding after photos and seeing exactly how far you’ve come you’ll be amazed how empowering, motivating and rewarding it can be. Heck, we’d even call it downright addicting.
Strategy #3: Get Your Mind Right – A lot of times when you head into each project your attitude can make all the difference. Just like if you’re training for a big tennis match or going to a job interview, if your internal monologue is saying things like “I’m going to fail- this is going to be a disaster- I’m so bad at this stuff- this will take me forever…” then you’re probably setting yourself up to fall on your face from the get-go.
We like to go into each project in a positive and optimistic state of mind. Just the act of putting on some music, having full bellies, and generally embarking on our next home improvement adventure in a good mood can make all the difference. Of course we’ve also learned that having unrealistic expectations is the fastest way to never want to pick up a hammer or a paint brush again. So even when we take on a should-be-simple task, we never say things like “this should only take a second” or “we can totally bang this out before our dinner plans in an hour” because those assumptions can really amp up the stress of the situation and make any small ten minute snafu seem like a major disaster since you went in with such unrealistic ideas about how the process would go. Instead we like to set aside large blocks of time when we know we can really dive into something (again with full bellies and some good music playing to rally our spirits) and then we often find that we’re pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things can go (instead of expecting everything to be effortless and being disappointed when things don’t magically happen in a matter of seconds).
In short: you definitely have to put in the time to get things done, but don’t forget to reward yourself and document your achievements along the way. And having realistic expectations and going into each project with excitement instead of dread can really make all the difference! Plus tackling one room at a time or breaking projects down into nice little manageable “bite-sized tasks” can definitely take the fear out of something that seems way too huge and ominous. Does anyone else have other secrets to staying motivated and keeping their to-do list in check without going crazy? Do tell.
Psst- Learn more about keeping your house sprucing projects more manageable by decorating in stages – and check out some of our biggest-bang-for-our-buck upgrades that were surprisingly simple to accomplish.
Cassie says
I really like this post. Mainly because motivation is the biggest DIY home-improvement roadblock for my husband and me. Also, we have trouble with coming up with an actual plan to act on. For instance, we know out guest room is not up to par with the rest of our house but just have no idea what to do with it. This blog has definitely given us a lot of inspiration. We love it!
John and Sherry, will you keep up your blog and projects once the little lady arrives? Maybe she’ll have to learn to be a little helper. :-) And by the way, the nursery is darling! Love it!
Stephanie says
Loved loved this blog post. Thanks for the tips. I have to say that the first photo was really blinding though….so much so that I had a hard time reading / focusing on the text above it. Love you guys!
Grace Hester says
I’ve always wondered that about both of you – where you find the motivation to work on home improvement projects. But if this is what you love, and it is what your jobs are about, and you have an audience following your projects, then it’s such a productive and effective way to merge work+play and therefore to stay excited! Thanks for sharing!
Matt says
Guys, thanks so much for this. My wife and I have a lot of things we would like to accomplish on our house as well, but we find lack of time and motivation to be the keys to failure. We are both bloggers already, so it could be an opportunity to document – but I think the self rewards could be the best advice yet!
Jen Z. says
great advise Sherry! I make a To-Do-List, but I also break that to-do-list down to the actual project list. So when we were doing our Family Room (which was a huge project for us), I broke it out into the supplies we need and then another list of the actual product. Step by step in order of what we needed to do first before we could do other things. We would only work on this project on weekends, so on Friday night or early Saturday morning we would sit down and talk about the next thing we had to do and how much we thought we might be able to do on Saturday and then on Sunday. Of course checking off each small task as they are done makes you feel great. For me, taking before and after pics and posting them always made me feel good. I also love to shop ;-), so when I saw a sale and it was something I knew would go well in the room, I would buy it. This process saved me a lot of time and heart ache in the end. Once the room was done, we were able to put up all the decor and buy the furniture that we couldn’t buy until we were done. In the end when our families came over and saw what a great job we did, it felt so great to hear their compliments.
And whipping up a “mood board” of your own or having YHL do one for you is always a great way to start a project. It helps me every time we start a project. That is how I get motivated to do a project in the first place. ;-)
Cindy @ The Flipping Couple says
I totally agree with your suggestion to start a blog! The community of housebloggers is SO ENCOURAGING! Everyone cheers each other on and offers suggestions and tips. It’s like having an extra extended family of people who are doing the same thing you are. The hubs and I felt like we were the only young couple spending all of our nights and weekends covered in plaster dust and up at 1am re-plumbing, but once we got into blog land we discovered there are so many others doing the same thing. It’s inspiring!
Lori says
I think your advice to “Anna in Sydney” is spot-on. Great job with ALL your DIY projects and the positive outlook to get them all done!
Elisa @ whatthevita says
It is definitely hard to work after your real job, especially after a long day of dealing with teenagers (which is usually a lot of fun, but some days are … not as fun)… But what helps us a lot is this:
We pop in a tv show on DVD, such as Friends, Ugly Betty, or The Office and then agree on how much work we have to do before we can reward ourselves with a show. Like, for example, when we painted our guest bedroom – we taped down the room (which takes forever), watched a show, painted the walls, watched a show, did the ceiling, watched a show, and so on. Of course this would be good for a weekend day but it works in smaller doses after work.
Hope this helps some of your readers! Those who love tv, that is.
Hannah says
Talk about the right post at the right time. I just want to tell you guys that you are so inspirational. My husband and I are touring homes right now, and I have to say that I recall the advice that you’ve generously shared on every tour. I remember that I can change cosmetics, and I try to look past the eyesores and try to picture the home that I can create. It has been a complete blessing to find your blog. It brings us hope that we can have the home that we dream about, and we don’t have to be millionaires! And it reminds us to not try to rush through the process, but to enjoy the ride. Thank you soooo much! :)
sonya says
Everything you say is SO true. Thank you for the inspiration! I’m going to try the “reward yourself” concept for getting things done – what a great motivator. I tend to punish myself mentally when I don’t do enough!
amelia says
great post! definitely finding motivation is the hardest part of any DIY project. I find that once you just take that leap and start “doing” it just gets the ball rolling. Most of the time projects seem to big to handle or you think they require too much energy, but everytime my husband and I finally say,okay, lets just do this, the project always ends up being fun, fast and turns out great! Plus you feel a great sense of accomplishment when you can show your friends & family what you’ve done. Thanks John and Sherry for being an inspiration and a motivator as well!
Sarah Sarniak says
Thank you so much for sharing this. My husband and I also have a major fixer upper and I get so unmotivated when I look around and EVERYTHING has something that needs to be done. I think the rewarding yourself and recording your accomplishments can help. I have a blog too where I talk about some things, but I think that I could kick it up a notch. Now it’s just about getting my husband motivated too. lol (and no he’s not a blog person like John, he’s not really an internet person at all really). Thank you for sharing!
Adriene S. says
I couldn’t agree more! My husband and I are making updates to our own home, we’ve been their for 5 months and I believe we are really making head-way! We did create a blog and our blog does get us motivated to do things. I am a planner so I still have to make lists of things to do for the month and hope it gets done. What kind of camera do you use? My pictures never seem to look great. Anyways, You guys really inspire me and I am so happy that I found your blog! Keep it up!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Adriene,
We just did a post about what camera we use (along with a few interior photography tricks that we’ve learned along the way) the other day! Here’s that link for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/email-answer-snap-to-it/
xo,
s
The Virginia House says
I agree on the tip about starting a blog. Even if only a few people read it. There’s just something that keeps you going, knowing that someone out there is waiting to see your finished project. Right now I’m working on redoing my sons room, and I can promise you I would have put it off for much longer if I didn’t have a blog.
Thanks for all the great tips!
Adriana says
You are both SUCH an inspiration. I follow your blog everyday and always look forward to new posts. Thanks for sharing all your ideas and motivation!!
Emily says
You guys really are inspiring!! I love the nursery and especially John’s idea to paint the closet the same color as the ceiling!
Random question for you (if you see this). How do you feel about black appliances & white cabinets? I’m trying to talk the hubby into painting our horrible yellowish oak cabinets white. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Emily,
We like it! We’ve seen many a white kitchen with black appliances and it makes for a dramatic and high contrast look. Just be sure to bring in more black in the accessories (a big glossy black bowl on the counter or even a black pendant light over the sink) so the appliance color seems intentional instead of random/accidental. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sarah says
Sherry, I agree with all that you said! My husband and I bought our 1948 brick major fixer upper almost 2 years ago. We love doing projects on our house but I do think that is a personality type. When we first moved in I was driven by the fact that I hated some of the rooms and that really motivated me to make them better. In fact when people would visit I would find myself trying to explain my vision although I think many people thought we were a little crazy. So it is so rewarding now to have friends compliment us on the transformation!
I find that working on house projects together with my husband has brought us closer together. So it is a bonding time for us. It comes down to being positive, trying to have fun with the project, having vision, and loving the high I get after seeing a room transformed!
Sarah
Janell Beals says
Start a blog and have readers waiting for you to get to the next step of a project and I promise you…you will be modivated!! That is my advice.
Janell
Emily says
Thank you Sherry that was exactly what I needed to hear to talk him into it!! :)
Jaimie says
My husband and I are finding it a bit of a struggle to keep up our momentum with house projects now that we have a 1.5-year-old. We both work full-time so our weekends are somewhat precious for family time. Plus, our son is so young that really only one of us can be working on a project while the other parent looks after him. We’re in the middle of a basement renovation, and in some ways it has been harder than the other big projects we tackled pre-baby (complete kitchen reno, reflooring the entire house, painting, etc.).
There’s always something more to do in a house, and occasionally I can get bogged down thinking of all that still remains. But it does help to remind myself of how very much we have accomplished in the short four years we’ve been here. And everything we’ve done has made our home more beautiful and welcoming.
Tiffany T. says
Great advice! I don’t know if it will help but I come from a family of “one day”ers and they always put things off. So when I bought my first house I decided I did not want to be the same. I would pick out something to do and make myself go ahead and do it. That way all my “one days” really come true! Anyone else know what I’m talking about?
Jenn says
I completely agree about starting a blog. It’s amazing how motivated we are to finish up rooms so we can do a final *reveal*. It’s the best feeling. We also went through and cataloged everything we want to get done in our fixer-upper. It was super overwhelming at first, but we have it organized by task and by room, and we’re just taking it one task and one room at a time. It’s especially motivating when you start checking things off and seeing rooms come together!
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
People have also wondered how we have gotten things done (between Hubby working full time, me working full time, then me working part time while staying home with a VERY demanding baby then toddler who didn’t like to sleep!) we are on our 3rd house and have renovated each of the houses entirely. Baby steps.
You don’t have to put in 12 hour days on the weekends. Maybe you just tape off the room and do ONE coat of paint and clean up. Do the next coat the next day. Rome wasn’t built in a day! We’ve even broken things into tiny chunks, like: after work, laying out the tools we’ll need for the next day. or: cleaning up debris/etc for 30 mins so the work the next day will go better. Even work in 15-30 minute increments adds up. You’d be surprised what you can do in short bursts of time.
Brien says
Do you have any advice for motivating a lazy husband? : ) To be fair, he isn’t lazy he just doesn’t want to spend nights and weekends working on the house. It makes even DIY projects seem that much harder!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Brien,
Here’s a post about trying to get your hubby more involved when it comes to sprucing up your house (John provided the inside scoop): https://www.younghouselove.com/email-answer-have-husband-will-decorate/
You could also use the “reward” method for him and dangle something that he’d love in front of him (ex: we’ll get tickets to the opening game if we finish the kitchen by then). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
D says
Although I love DIYing, painting, demolishing, redecorating, my boyfriend does not. I’ve been dragging my feet on stripping and re-finishing our dining room set because I know that I’ll be doing it solo. But, maybe if i set up a reward for myself, I’ll finally get it done!
J - Pacha Mama says
We are both procrastinators. So setting a firm date for project completion motivates us like nothing else. The best deadlines are usually made by scheduling a house party or a houseguest to come over. Something about the omigosh-people-are-coming-over-and-there-are-tools-all-over-the-living-room panic really energizes us and gets us moving doubletime!
Adrienne says
Wow. I really needed that! Thanks for the motivation to keep going. This past weekend was a bust as we knocked down one wall only to get stopped by another (literally and figuratively). Sometimes DIYing is so fun, and other times, it’s downright stressful. Thanks for the motivating tips.
And now I’m going to check out that post about your camera, because that’s top on our tax-refund-shopping-list!
Kate says
I love the “start a blog” suggestion – it really works! I started mine to help keep me motivated to do new things and so far it’s been a great force to keep me going. Everytime I think about not doing a project my next thought is “but then I won’t have anything to blog about!”. Great advice.
Elizabeth says
This is such a great post; thank you!
I always get all pumped up during the day when I read your blog, but once I get home, DEFLATION! haha
I think the ideas to play music and to start a blog are excellent. I started a photo-a-day type blog at the beginning of the year, and I think I might start incorporating some before and after pics into my daily photo rotation.
Thanks again for all your great stuff! You guys are the best :)
Ashley M. [at] (never home)maker says
Oh, I SO agree with the get your own blog suggestion. We’ve had a blog on and off for like five years now (our most recent one is combining all our passions, so we’re addicted to posting) . . . and it always helps us stay motivated and so projects (or in our case workouts, food experiments, etc.) that we otherwise might put off.
Anyway — it really works! So, do it. Even if it’s — to start — just for your family to read!
stephanie says
ENTERTAIN PEOPLE!!!! frankly, I’m surprised S & J don’t entertain more often, in their beautiful home! Maybe you do, and don’t blog about it!! I like to have at least 1, usually 2 big events at my home each year!!! Nothing like a deadline of people coming over to motivate you!!! I am hosting a Soup Swap for all my girlfriends this Fri night. In the last 2 weeks, I have painted my hallway and done some major touching up of my family room walls & baseboards. Also spruced up and interior closet I recently converted to shelving space.
I know these aren’t major projects, but having the deadline definitely motivates!!!
On the husband note, I find it is a little easier to entertain during the winter months…you can’t get outside, but it also means, no yard to prep!! so hubby is getting off easy!
ENTERTAIN PEOPLE!!!!
becky says
Hooray for this post! John and Sherry, I love reading your blog. My husband and I are taking the slow and steady approach to our diy house projects. We have had many ups and downs in this process.
Patti says
Breaking big jobs down into small steps works for us. A lil off the motivation topic, but a major help recently was John’s video post about the basement planning on graph paper. My hubs works from home and desperately needed to revamp his very small in-house office space. We didn’t know where to start. Using the graph paper model, we were able to see exactly what pieces would fit instead of doing what we usually do, blindly walking around the store and coming home with something that didn’t fit or didn’t serve our purpose. It takes a little time at first, but in the end it really makes you think about what you need. It was so worth it. From now on, we will always plan on graph paper before remodeling any room! Thanks!
Ginger says
I couldn’t agree more. I recently started my own blog and while I don’t have many readers or followers, just knowing that SOMEONE is reading, is motivating me to work and keep working. Thanks for sharing your positive attitude and creative ideas.
Sara says
What a great question! I think most of us readers were wondering how you guys do it all AND look like you’re having fun. For me, even though the idea is tempting, a blog is not ideal because I am a perfectionist and I can see myself being on the blog 24/7, so if you’re like me, I’d suggest taking before/after photos and uploading them to your photo hosting site (mine is http://www.kodakgallery.com) and sharing your folder with your friends and family. While working on a project, music is a MUST and going to Dunkin’ Donuts before we hit Home Depot/Lowe’s is a MUST. I have found it really rewarding to see my vision come to life. All the hard work is worth it. It makes me love my house SO much more, even if it is just for me and my husband to enjoy (we’re not the “entertaining” type).
Becky says
You’re so right about the before and after photos. My husband and I bought our first house back in September and it was an undertaking because we had to paint literally every room in the house while juggling work (2 jobs for me) and school (full time job, full time school for him). It was exhausting, but I kept posting before, during, and after photos on my facebook page and it really helped keep us focused on the end product being totally worth all of the work. Now I sometimes just scroll through the photos and smile.
FrankiJo Tran says
I was just wondering how you guys get everything done as I was painting my guestroom last week! I was alone with the tunes wondering how the heck anyone finds the energy to do this after work?? I found that a little Pandora radio helped a lot and the fact that I was getting company in a week was quite motivating. I’m sure my neighbors were laughing, as I was dancing around with my roller, covering up the crazy lime green paint left behind from the previous homeowners! I must ask though, do you guys have a soundtrack that you pop in to keep you motivated? I found No Doubt had me zipping right along!
Anyway, LOVE how the nursery is turning out! So precious! I’m actually doing the opposite of you right now by turning a once nursery back into a guest room as we do not have any kids. Your green is so much more beautiful than the color I just covered up! :)
YoungHouseLove says
It’s funny that you mention Pandora because we usually have that going in the background. We also have a bunch of CDs downloaded to our MacBook so we also might opt for some crazy Lady GaGa or some upbeat Black Eyed Peas to keep us going.
xo,
s
Robyn in Chicago says
So much great advice in this post.
The advice that I need to embrace is – don’t have unrealistic expectations. I usually get really angry when something goes wrong and doesn’t take an hour like I thought it would. I am going to work on that now that I know it’s causing un-needed stress!
And maybe one day soon I will start that blog I have been contemplating for almost a year…..
Awesome post!
Sarah @ Dream In Domestic says
Great post! I, too, find that blogging motivates me to do things I “never had the time for” prior emerging into the blogosphere. For example, I make a weekly meal that lasts me all week (since I am in college and only cooking for one) – not only does this save me time and money, but I share the recipe along with photos and my review every week. I never would have done this before blogging, but I’m so happy my blog keeps me in check and motivates me to do things I’ve always wanted to but never got around to doing.
I’m really looking forward to blogging when I have my first house because, like you said, it gives you motivation and also a place to share with others all your projects. I think looking back on photos of home renovations and decorating will be so fun to do in the future and to remember how far one house can come with some hard work. Whether I keep my blog for not by the time that happens, I hope to still take pictures and journal about making a house my own so I have something to look back on.
Lindsay says
Sherry –
I’ll echo the blog sentiment – I find it’s the easiest way to keep me motivated! It’s also the best way to keep people (like Moms and Dads) informed of what you’re doing. And always a good idea to throw in a few pics of fun times as well – hehe!
Love the blog still! Rabid fan!
Lindsay
Jessica Patton says
I love you guys!!! Thanks for the pep talk!
Michelle says
I’m in total agreement about the importance of starting a project with full bellies. I consider food planning a major part of the prep/supply gathering stage of any project. Having snacks that are easy to grab will keep you from getting that low blood sugar drag in the middle of a DIY endeavor, quite possibly keeping you from making silly mistakes. And when you’re exhausted at the end of a work day, that’s not a good time to start wondering what’s for dinner. Making something ahead of time (or having something to pull out of the freezer) is a sanity saver.
Jamie Lee says
Thanks Guys! This is all really great advice. The things that motivate me the most are focusing on one room at a time and periodically looking at the before photos. It’s nice how the simplest things can make such a difference. We’ll put up curtains in a room and I’ll find myself continually walking back into the room to appreciate how much homier and more comfortable it looks. Plus, focusing on one room helps keep me from feeling overwhelmed about costs. I try to balance inexpensive projects with larger purchases. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I still have pangs of anxiety and show up to work in morning feeling really drained, but in the end its a really satisfying process.
jbhat says
I’m so glad she asked that question–I too have been wondering how you manage to do it all, and to make it look so easy (when I know it’s not). Your response is so thorough, honest and helpful. To think that you, Sherry, such a fabulous writer, were not interested in doing the blog? My goodness. Thank you for coming around.
John, you are a fabulous writer too. Both of you are so talented.
jbhat
Ashley says
Great helpful advice on getting motivated! Another thing I do is commit to having a party. My husband and I love to entertain, and once I have already committed to having friends and family over, I have a lot more motivation to finish painting, etc.
JoDi says
Love all the suggestions!
I hate painting so I kept putting off painting our family room. To finally get motivated, I bought some samples to try out on the wall and painted them right above the couch in big 2’x2′ blocks. Having that odd looking patchwork of colors in such a visible spot gave me the motivation to paint the room quickly!
You mentioned that you had certain projects you dreaded. Which ones did you really dread? When you actually did them, were they as bad as you thought they would be? I really didn’t hate the painting this time around like I thought I would so I know I won’t dread it (and procrastinate as long) next time!
YoungHouseLove says
Good question! I think we always dread the bigger projects that we’ve never taken on before (for example, when we totally gutted and redid the bathroom). But to counteract that fear, we always break them down into manageable chunks and get armed with all the research that we need to feel confident so we can embark on our next adventure with excitement instead of hesitation. We also usually dread anything that takes a lot of prep (like painting the floor in the sunroom since it meant that we had to move all of the furniture out of the room for days at a time while we got it done and let it dry) but those things are never as big as they seem in our head. In other words, after they’re done we look back and say “that wasn’t so bad- what the heck were we so scared about.” Things like prepping a room and moving furniture are never as bad as they seem. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
kathy says
Life adds up one way or another. If you spend half an hour every day on the same project, a couple hours on weekends = a tremendous amount accomplished in a month. The trick is sticking to a single project, and going at it consistently.
My dad taught me to plan what I would do with my next 30 minutes, instead of getting overwhelmed with all the 30 minutes to come. It adds up.
Carole says
when we were getting the old house ready to sell, it was easy to get the motivation to get a lot of DIY projects finished in a short amount of time, because the goal was to move closer to friends/work/good schools. Even the kids were motivated to keep their rooms clean for showings because we were all moving towards the same goal. So shared rewards/goals are helpful.
It’s harder now, especially when we have different priorities. With limited time, the ‘must do’ things tend to take over (fixing or preventing problems), leaving less time for the fun things (decorating, making things ‘our own’). Makes perfect sense, but it means a few things I’d like to do have to take the backseat for a while!
Another good thing about houseblogging is that it helps you see how much you *have* done, even when it seems like the to-do list is still a mile long!
kathy from ct says
You guys are so cute. I am embarrassed at how many times a day I “stalk” you. Mind you, I am all grown up and my house has been done and re-done many times but I just so appreciate your approach to projects (life, really) and your commitment to your work ethic. Keep up the good work!
I would feel blessed if my adult children had your “get up and go” attitude. You make a wonderful team.
Thanks for the motivation.
Amanda says
I have to agree 100% about starting a blog. It is really motivating when you know that there are people out there (even if it’s just your family and friends) who are really excited to see your progress. Also, snapping a picture of a room is very telling of what needs to be done- you can walk by something a million times (like, ahem, an old rug I had rolled up in the corner of the LR just waiting for a trip to the thrift store) but when you take a picture of it, it’s like a slap in the face and you’ll fix whatever it is asap! Thanks J&S for all the motivation!