That Bettye…such a kidder.
The topic for this month’s “Where Bloggers Live” post is “What I Do When I’m Bored.”
Ha, ha….I think Bettye’s trying to tell me something. Throwing down the gauntlet.
Tossing out a topic that says, “Keep it short, Em!”
Bettye may have suspected: I am NEVER bored.
At any given time, I have a project in some kind of progress: I’m either researching how to accomplish my latest hare-brained scheme, or I’m in the middle of a project, obsessing over the details or trying to work out the mess I’ve made, and/or–it seems lately–definitely not writing about whatever I’m working on…
I can blow an entire month figuring out what would be the least problematic way to install wainscoting in my powder room, for example. In fact, that’s exactly how I’ve spent the last month (not to mention the procrastinating).
I want to do something like this in our back hall powder room:
As Marsha in the Middle thoughtfully (and gently) noted below in the comments, I attempted this type of molding before in my front hallway stairwell. However, in quite typical D&D fashion…never updated and shared it (quality blogger that I am). I DID finish it!
Let me tell you…I would like to do it everywhere (despite the fact that I spent wayyy too much time overthinking a design quandary).
But, of course there’s always an issue… the doorway is too close to the sidewall; the window is off center; the the commode and sink aren’t centered on the wall to make the boxes evenly spaced; if I put the top rail too high, I’ll run into the electrical switches… and so on. You know what that means?
The good news is that the mulling was successful! I Youtubed, FamilyHandymanned, and Fine Homebuildinged my way to solving all my “How do I” problems.
So… my powder room looked like this a few weeks ago:
And to date I’ve primed and painted the room white, removed all the baseboard molding, and this is where I’m at today:
I flunked out of Plumbing School, so I have to wait until this Thursday for a plumber to move the sink so I can finish the remaining wall. I did look up how to do it, but visions of an unplanned first-floor fountain convinced me to consult a professional.
After that, it’s caulking and painting and THEN…the top part of the wall.
The top part of the room is the actual hare-brained part that I’ve been mulling and working on since last summer. So, the upper walls are pre-mulled and ready to go!
When has that ever happened in DustandDoghair history?! I think this could be a first! (Insider secret: it has something to do with that memory lane project I keep mentioning.)
So yeah, boredom is really never a thing for me… Procrastinating? Yep. Overthinking? Yep. Wasting time envisioning projects for three years from now? Definitely. Finishing what I’ve started…. HEY! WHO slipped THAT one in here?!!!
Let’s just say that this one is DEFINITELY getting finished!!!
SOON
(ish).
_________
While you’re waiting, please visit my boredom busting blogger buds (oooh, there’s a cringey alliteration) and see how they fill their time.
Please check out:
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Welcome to “Where Bloggers Live.” It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers!
Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes?
The second Friday of each month is when this group of seven bloggers link up to share their workspaces,
homes, towns… or whatever our fearless leader, the fabulous Bettye, proposes.
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
The bathroom progress is looking really good. Amazing what a difference wainscotting can make! I also like your next to the stairs work. I love seeing DIY but I don’t do any myself.
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
That’s pretty much how I am when it comes to you fashion and style peeps: I appreciate it very much, but don’t do any myself, ha ha.
Thank you, though, for visiting!
Ahh, the mulling. Mulling is why in my last house I only ever had paint chips and fabric scraps taped to the spackled and sanded sheetrock walls. I needed to CONSIDER all the options.
AL.L. THE. OPTIONS.
And often, by the time I came close to making a decision, some new inspiration would pop up and mulling the new and iimproved options would start all over again.
However, in your case the mulling paid off cuz your bathroom (even mid-stage) looks gorgeous and I can’t wait to see the finished product!
Here’s to a moment of boredom now and then!
xoxo Bettye
Em!! Please do keep writing and showing us your projects — all of them. Fun!!!
I did notice that your emails had stopped coming and I wondered if I had done something to get myself axed from the list. It was exciting to see (yesterday) that this was not the case! 🙂
Relatable — as I (also) am never bored. I was glad to hear someone else say that. I WISH my lack of boredom resulted in as many completed projects as yours clearly does (I have been reading this blog for a while and I know this is true!) — but I concur.
SO glad to see you again. Please do keep writing and sharing and creating and crafting and problem solving — and also including dogs in your pictures, as they always make me go, awwwwwwww!!!
Cathy in Missouri
SO VERY nice to hear from you, Cathy!!!
I haven’t sent out posting notices at all this year! (Originally, WordPress captured subscribers and they automatically send out a notice when I post, so a few people still get those.)
So much about blogging has gotten away from me, but I do try to keep up with the WBL topics on the second Fridays and only occasionally miss. Ironically, MOST people blog to create an actual audience, but I like the interactions with our little circle, so that works, too! Grateful that you’re still here…your visits always encourage me and make me want to write more.
YOU are an Uplifter!!!
You take the “always have a creative project underway” idea to its maximum! This kind of huge project has about a million different elements to keep your mentally and physically occupied!
Sally in St Paul ~ Just had to say hello to you! Because it feels like forever since I was “here” and I wanted to let you know how glad I always am to see YOU anywhere when I visit. 🙂 Always a treat!
And Jodie ~ if you should read this ~ all the same sentiments!!!
❤️
Cathy in Missouri
Ah, the beauty of having so many irons in the fire…much from which to choose (or, actually finish, haha).
Oh, my gosh…your staircase is gorgeous! You do such good work! Wanna come work in Central Indiana for a bit? I need some inspiration! The peel and stick is only going on one wall (yeah, I know accent walls are so yesterday) behind the mirror over the vanity. So we’re not talking about a lot of real estate. What I’ve read is that you overlap the seam which is something I’ve never done in all my years of wallpapering…and they number in the over 20s!
Aww, you have made my day thinking my content is quality! I think I’m channeling you at times as I try to be witty and erudite at the same time! I can’t wait to see everything put together!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
Glad you mentioned the overlapping!!! My WP overlaps about a quarter of an inch and I was thinking I should use the long straightedge and knife cut it once it’s up. So…it’s SUPPOSED to overlap! Not sure how I feel about that as yet. My paper has a lot of white space and it will bug me if the thickness pops. Hmmm…we shall see. I did an accent wall in my daughter’s apartment and, now that I think about it, it overlapped and we did NOT trim. Fingers crossed!
Also, I miss our trips to Indiana from the years our son would run there. The little side trips to New Buffalo, were also lovely. Going to have to revisit that adventure when I finally convince Mr to retire!
I am sure figuring out all of this involved math which explains why I don’t tackle home improvement projects. Your efforts have been rewarded and the bathroom is coming along beautifully. It will be a real showplace when you get it finished.
I knew you would be as little acquainted with boredom (or less so) as I am. There are always so many things I want to do every single day. When this body becomes more and more worn out, I may taste boredom but right now I delight in all of the activities and interests I have.
Hope spring has been good to your parents and that this day, Mother’s Day, you had your brood about celebrating YOU!!
I believe I refer to the math part as “winging it.” I’ve tried mathing, but my synapses don’t fire in that direction. Not sure it will be a showplace, but I’m hoping there will definitely be people of my vintage who will appreciate it. (YOU might…but I think you would’ve been too little to remember…how’s that for a teaser?!)
Thank you for asking about my folks! We celebrated MD with the whole family on Saturday. (Sunday holidays seem to end up as exhausted Mondays for our worker bees, so we flip days when we can.) Because they struggle so much with mobility my parents don’t get out often for fun, but with all the tribe helping we were able to take them along and they SO enjoyed feeling normal for once and being with everyone. It was a super day!
Wow girl. Your talents always amaze me, and that’s not even including the humor part.
I swear you could flip houses for a living. (although the procrastination part may get in the way, hahaha)
You had me at the fountain in the bathroom, LOL.
XOXO
Jodie
;’Which could then turn into a back hall moat…hmm…another project idea….
You’re right about the procrastination part, haha. Longest flips in history. Speaking of…I know someone else who is demonstrating great vision in her new house…AND actually provides follow ups as to the progress!
Oh,I love what you’re doing in the bathroom and I truly understand your ‘thinking’. I’ve had a few projects over the years that required extra help. But, I’m done now as far as house re-doing. My daughter is re-doing a house that she recently bought near me, and it’s turned into a HUGE project. It’ll look great when she’s finished – but it’s sure wearing her out in the meantime. I can relate to the “never bored” – I didn’t used to be, but age and health are taking care of that 🙁 Keep up the good work.
Iris
Thank you, Iris! How lucky is your daughter to have had two “doer” parents! I bet she learned a lot from both of you!
Keep up the good work with your therapy!! Smooches to Koda!
Oh, we did that in our dining room at the last house. It was all fun and games until we came up against an outlet. Now, I am not the perfectionist I somehow think you are so we just gave up a little here and gained a little there in order to make it work. But, we also weren’t working with a toilet. My husband will do plumbing if he has to, but the one time, mind you, the one time I made a mistake calculating the width of a room (BTW…60 inches is not 6 feet), we hired a plumber! It all worked out in the end. But, my friend…what about the kitchen and the staircase? You are my inspiration and the reason I keep putting off wallpapering my bathroom. Actually, you’re not the reason for that…not knowing how peel and stick wallpaper really works is what’s keeping me from that!
When I read the other blogs, I thought, “I’m bored all the time.” But, after reading yours, I realized I’m not bored, it’s more overthinking, mulling, procrastinating (I’m the Queen, you know).
I always, always, always love reading your posts, Em!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your comment AND visit!
Those pesky outlets! I had to plan around our switches, which caused the bugaboo around the window so I planned around that…which caused the bugaboo around the sink… always something. I did learn, from my masters degree in watching Youtube, that you can definitely fudge the panel widths a little. Although my real life advisors have conflicting suggestions about how many and where to place them on the fixture wall.
So the peel and stick: I like it and don’t like it all at the same time. My first foray was in the powder room at my MIL’s house. It was a simple pattern to match but I did reposition it a bunch and it was tricky to put in tight corners. But the lack of mess was a lovely thing.
My paper for this room has a lot of detail…so it has to match perfectly. I’ll let you know how it goes!
BTW, with your posting and IG schedule I can imagine that you have time to procrastinate! Quality postings I might add, which is quite time consuming!
Ahhh, the stairs are an easy one…and I should have updated 😩
https://dustanddoghair.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_8400-scaled.jpeg
TUESDAY is the last part of Kitchen Reno (phase 1). Cannot wait!