PROCRASTINATION. I am now up to Year Seven in terms of not finishing painting the trim around my living room/dining room window. Really, it’s totally ridiculous, because this is not even something kind of hidden — these windows are right in the heart and center of the house. The reason for the delay? My windows are huge, vintage Andersen Windo-Walls that are really heavy and hard to take in and out. And now, the paint for the job is all disgusting and rotten in the can. Will I find the energy to tackle this gosh-darn project this spring? Don’t bet on it.
So…What’s the project in your house that’s taking you the longest to complete, and why?
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s easy, my longest put-off project is earthquake retrofitting my basement and house foundation. Not only is it expensive (for me), but it’s totally unseen so you don’t get to enjoy or share the results in any tangible way. Plus, one can always believe “oh, the big one won’t come this year”. But I’m probably just being vain and cheap, given that I live in the SF Bay Area and we’re not immune to quakes!
Oh, and there’s this spot of paint that flaked off my kitchen silverware drawer right in the middle. It would take 15 minutes to get out some paint and patch it, but I never seem to do it (meanwhile I have time to hunt down 8 foot Marlin replicas and mount them on my wall).
Anything that involves having to go up in the attic (low hip roof) generally gets put off the longest – I cut 4″ holes in my kitchen ceiling for countertop task lighting a year ago, bought the fixtures two years ago, but for sure, this spring they will get installed, for sure.
My kitchen! We have had our St. Charles cabinets since January and they are only partially in. I have them all over my kitchen, tools all over my counters, and sawdust everywhere. Just can’t get him motivated for more than 1 day a week! Ahhhhh!
my yard. sure, there’s about 50 half done projects IN the house, but that’s mostly due to lack of funding. the yard is lack of time, or when i have time, lack of motivation.
8 years ago we started stripping our front door in order to refinish – it started raining so the door had to go back up. Now we call it shabby chic.
Painting the dining room; still a spot that isn’t done. My friend’s little girl said to me “Sara, I think your painter didn’t finish painting”. They’re always honest!
We have a window that leaks at the top: LOTS of water gets in and splashes onto the sill and floor whenever it rains hard. We had a temporary fix last spring, but managed to completely ignore taking care of the permanent fix all last summer and fall. Now it’s towels on the window sill again this winter and spring.
This summer for sure, it will get done, or my name’s not Elvis (oh, wait, my name’s not Elvis…)
The kitchen. Primer, paint, new cabinet knobs, putting up the pull-down pendant light. Some delay is from procrastination, some due to health. Kitchen counters are loaded with tools and I get depressed just thinking about it.
Elvis ask Jane – When did you start a blog? You started a blog! I’m in, for sure. Check it out, everyone: http://mulchmaid.blogspot.com/
About 18 months ago we had hardwood floors put into more of our downstairs. I wanted the guy to remove the baseboards and do it like it was a new house installation, then put the baseboards back up, which he did. I like the look. However….. for 18 months those baseboards have been in the queue for us to fill the nail holes and repaint them, they look awful. In the meantime….. I haven’t been hunting down 8′ replica Marlins but I have redecorated 3 rooms in the house…. but that’s so much more fun.
Light fittings and furniture
I moved in about 7 years ago and I knew what I wanted to hang on the wall behind the living room couch, but I didn’t paint that room for another 2 years. So let’s say 5 1/2 years I’ve been planning to hang my collection of vintage school clocks and still haven’t done it. I’ve remodeled the whole house, yet that project intimidates me.
My bathroom – it has been partly torn apart for over a year. It all started with a roof leak and having to replace some of the ceiling, and then discovering that water had leaked from the tub into the wall behind it and some of the studs had to be replaced. I started refinishing the cabinets at that time, but still haven’t installed the new counter top.I haven’t picked out the new floor yet, and the list goes on…I have picked out paint colors. At least it is usable – it’s just a mess. Maybe this summer…
Welcome Patty in Dallas. I think you’ve introduced an important word: Intimidate. Yes, why is it that certain projects are so intimidating?
I have a brick fireplace that I’ve been meaning to paint every weekend for the past year and a half. I have the paint and the sealant and all the required materials, I just haven’t bothered to actually start. It’s intimidating, and I suppose there’s still a small part of me that’s not 100% okay with painting the brick. (It must be painted though, the brick is dark and ugly and BLEH!)
I swear though, it WILL get finished before the fall!
Cross your fingers, as we’re going to attempt to do some more painting today. God, for a younger body right now I would give my eye teeth!
Thanks, Pam! I have no idea why that one is so scary. It would probably take me 2 hours, if I’d just start it. I think I’m afraid I won’t like my own arrangement, but I can’t convince myself I can just change it if I don’t.
Wow Pam, good question. I am mortified to admit that my master bathroom was started 8 years ago and has had the door closed for the last five. My tastes changed … now I want to start over but I am suffering the slings and arrows of guilt brought on by the wastage of cash. Oh, and I really want a neo-angle bathtub instead of plain old tiled shower … and a pink peignoir … like one of those American Standard ads.
Rikki, the way I look at it, if you had finished it 8 years ago, it’d be time to do it again anyway!
Patty — Thanks! That puts a whole new perspective on it. Hmmmm … time to sit down and do my redesign.
OMG…where do I start! We’ve been renovating for 20 years! & you know what? Some things are now at the stage of having to be done again, thats what having kids & no money does to you! x
The yard, hanging pictures on bare walls, you name it…BUT the biggest project yet to be completed/started (whatever) is our kitchen. I tore the hideous brown and yellow striped wallpaper off the walls some time ago. (Okay, it was nine, maybe 10 years ago.) What makes that part of the project so disgusting is the fact that I never took all the glued-strips off the wall. Now they have dust on them! Our friends are good natured, however; they know my mantra, “I’ve got a new idea for the kitchen–whenever I get around to it.” It WILL be completed this summer–I’m determined! Just don’t quote me on that come fall…
It’s definately the BATHROOM! We moved into our house and started renovating it… It’s been downhill ever since. Gold Wallpaper – had to come down because of possible mold behind. Removed wallpaper & discovered hole in wall. Hole in wall turned out to be water leaking… for who knows how long. Took out the entire wall, to figure out how bad the damage was… It’s bad. Now, we’ve discovered a hole in the floor – that leads to the outside. And then the mice tried to move in… We stopped that right away! Tried to clean the sink & toilet… Will not come clean. There’s Pink tile on the floor – trying to save that, but I want to tile up the wall with something. All plumbing now needs to be replaced. However, just found out that I’m getting a FREE Aqua or Turquoise colored 1950’s Sink & Toilet from someone who is re-doing thier bathroom (and apparently they are in EXCELLENT condition). And they may be able to save the tile for me too! So, we might actually get around to this project…
RetroReDesign, your bathroom escapade sounds like it should be turned into a board game!
Oh, dear. My kitchen has been half-painted for about 5 years now. In my defense, the half that still needs painting still has wallpaper backing stuck to it, and it’s behind the gas stove that I don’t want to pull out too far, resulting in a very awkward rehab for a clumsy gal like myself.
The kitchen floor has needed fresh tile all along, but since I’ve never officially started that project, I can’t consider it unfinished.
I did finally swap out most of the cabinet hardware last summer, but I still have four more pulls to install. That’s right, four pulls. A whole 8 screws that I’ve been putting off for a year!
Oh, and I never did get around to staining the baseboard molding in the dining room…