The Designery

View Original

O' Holiday Project Deadline

O' Holiday Project Deadline, O' Holiday Project Deadline, how terrible areeeee your limitationsssss. In case you can't tell, I'm singing. You have to read/sing the above to the tune of "O' Christmas Tree." Get it? I know, I know, I'm good - move over Taylor Swift.....

It's only 7 days into November and I can already feel the hustle and bustle of the holidays! I feel like I've seen and heard more about Christmas as of late than I usually do the entire month of December. Granted, I do realize this proclamation comes from the girl who posted about a Christmas House last week (cough, cough hypocrite.) But, so far, I've seen a lit Christmas tree in someone's front window (THE DAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN, mind you) and yesterday at lunch I drank from a crystal goblet with painted holly around the rim. Oh, and hello! Walk into countless department stores and find holiday decor for sale galore! But, in my world the most common holiday topic is:

 "If I begin my kitchen or bath remodel now, could it be completed by the holidays?"

The answer: Maybe, but at what cost?

I think there's something in the air right after Halloween that has a certain way of lighting a spark within people prompting them to hurry and complete, or in some cases start, projects before their holiday parties begin and their guests arrive. It's like all of a sudden somewhere around late October it occurs to people that their houses will be full of friends and loved ones and they want to bring out the magic wand and POOF - all projects = complete.

As on board as I am with a home being at it's best, especially during a time of such high foot traffic, I think it's important to keep in mind the holidays are stressful enough without the looming completion of giant project that has a way of taking over not only your house but your life.



If the face you see above doesn't look like something you want to be sporting this holiday season, let me recommend pumping the breaks on impending projects if they haven't started yet. As I've mentioned before, those projects that are carefully considered and thought out ALWAYS turn out the best. By beginning any project with a tight or unrealistic time frame you are literally setting yourself up for stress and half-arse results all wrapped up with a shiny red bow.

So, instead of allowing this time of year to stress you out and cause you to irrationally jump into projects ill prepared , use this time to your advantage. Think about it, you spend more time entertaining in your home and actually cooking in your kitchen during the holidays than any other time of year. And if you're not typically the host, you spend more time being entertained in the homes of others than any other time of year. So....observe, notice, critique and begin jotting down things you love, things you hate, things you would do differently if you could, etc..etc...And then after the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over you can begin the process of working on your space, on your terms.

Give yourself the greatest gift of all - choice. A kitchen or bath remodel is a fun process that deserves a lot of your attention and consideration. Don't sell yourself short.  Get what you want and take the time to figure out what that is. Then, before you know it, it will be November 7th, 2013 and you will be thrilled to showoff and utilize the space you poured so much of yourself into. And better yet, that time you spent pouring yourself into the project will not have resulted in you pulling your hair out so you will have beautiful locks and a new kitchen/bath to boot!

All photos are from google search.