Fringe Friday: Home Project Edition

Welcome to Fringe Friday, an opportunity to share what you have been doing in your fringe hours during the week.

This week has been all about my home. With my maternity leave coming to an end in less than three weeks (I go back to work April 22) and having spent much of my leave focused on The Fringe Hours, I realized I really wanted to complete a few house projects before heading back to work.

I think this was also sparked by my friend Melissa’s new book Love the Home You Have: Simple Ways to…Embrace Your Style, Get Organized, Delight in Where You Are.

When we first moved into our house, I was a bit paralyzed. I knew what I didn’t like (for instance, the 80s wallpaper, the florescent lights in the bathrooms, and the stenciling in the kitchen), but I didn’t know where to go from there. It took a year before I really did anything major. Now that I have a few projects under my belt, I have gotten more comfortable with making changes.

I also think having little kids can make it feel challenging. The toys, the chaos, the sleepness nights can all add to the feeling of this is impossible.

But it is possible. Sometimes it just takes longer and has to be broken up into smaller pieces.

I have four projects I want complete by the time I go back to work:

• Elias’s Star Wars Room (almost done)
• Adeline & Ezra’s Under the Sea Room (almost done)
• Master bathroom walls painted (doing next week)
• Tennis racket wallpaper stripped in the craft room (and walls painted if possible) (stripping paper April 14 with friends)

Yesterday, I spent 7 hours with a handyman working in the kids’ rooms, mostly Adeline and Ezra’s room. I started the design for their room six months ago, so to finally be in the home stretch feels so good. We were just hanging, hanging, hanging and the difference is incredible. We did three gallery walls and hung up three shelves/organizers!

The handyman asked if I was some sort of designer. I laughed and said, no, I just like pretty things. 🙂

In The Fringe Hours, I talk about sometimes needing to hire help to get things done – and give you more time. This was one of those cases that it would have taken me several days and the results wouldn’t have been as good.

Here’s a sneak peak I shared on Instagram:

I’ve been working with Land of Nod for Adeline and Ezra’s shared room. It might be my favorite room in our house. It is so, so lovely. I kept squealing, I can’t believe this is our house! Check out the mood board to get a sense of the room.

Going from a room with ugly wallpaper, to one with beautiful paint, bedding and accessories is so much fun and so gratifying. I love how Melissa writes that “getting there is half the fun.” Instead of being paralyzed and dreading these projects, I am embracing them.

I will be sharing the whole room later this month (all that is left is toy organization) and Elias’s room next month.

Getting these rooms ALMOST complete also just has made a huge difference in making the house feel more like ours. The duck wallpaper (seen in this video) is replaced with Darth Vader. The ugly brown wood blinds have been replaced with white curtains. Pretty awesome.

But it isn’t always about the big projects. Today I am overhauling our mantle. It has been the same for more than a year and it is time for a change. Melissa challenges her readers that making one change to our homes can also make a huge difference. I know she is right. It’s a rainy day in Nashville and perfect for a project like this.

If you need a little home (and life) inspiration check out Melissa’s book. I bet it will inspire your fringe hours too!