Week 5 of the One Room Challenge. How can I put it simply? I felt both happy and sad, saw both dark and light. But isn't that what life is? We have both day and night and they both serve a different purpose. They say the struggles make the good more worthwhile, mean more, help us understand more. While we're going through the struggles, it seems as if we will never see the light; but it does come.
This challenge has been more of a self-reflection for me, but I think any challenge we face shows us a reflection of who we are, what we have endured and a glimpse of what we will become. Some may think it trivial, to be so consumed by transforming a room in 8 weeks. For me, it's a testament to what I'm enduring now. It came at a perfect time for me. A time when I was told to slow down in my business. Ever since I left teaching, I was working day and night to develop my design company. A dream I had for a long time. A band aid on a small cut is fine, but on a big one, it doesn't do its job. My lifelong dream was to be a mother. All the years I served other people's children by teaching them and loving them, then developing a business of my own, growing it like a baby, all led to this. When the doctor recently told me at my 20 week anatomy scan that I had a low lying placenta and to slow down strenuous activity, it became clear to me what I have been working towards.
I wasn't working towards just becoming a mother. I had already been one. I had been one to other children, to my dog, to my business, but never to myself. Never babying myself or taking care of myself the way I should have. I kept myself busy all the while to quiet my thoughts and anxieties. Keeping myself busy quieted the me getting to know me. I thought I had all the courage in the world. I've accomplished and overcome so much, but the task of growing a child seemed to be the most difficult thing I've had to do. When I finish a project, decorate a room, complete a blog, read a book, walk the dog clean a room; it all serves a purpose. Running errands, working out (even though it doesn't look like how it used to), even watching a tv show, all serves a purpose. It's accomplishing something for me. As little as each task sounds, it's a cross off of a laundry list of to-do's that make me feel and be who I am.
As I sanded down another 25% of the dresser at the beginning of this week, I made sure to take breaks. I know I shouldn't be pushing my body, so in the total opposite fashion of who I normally am, this is taking a lot longer than it ever would have. I would've had that bad boy sanded within a day, two at most. It's been a few weeks and I know I still have three weeks more to finish. I have to finish sanding, then bleach it, install the new wood spines to reinforce the clothes rod and paint and wallpaper the inside as well as buy and add the drawer pulls. The only thing I'm perplexed about, is what to do with the mirror piece. The wood is not the same stripped as the rest of the furniture. When sanded, it's like a cherry underneath. I may leave it as bare as I can, or paint it to match the wall. I haven't figured it out yet.
My favorite part of this week was that I got to have my brother come and help me hang up the decor in the closet. We have argued and fought our whole lives, but when it comes to doing projects together and decorating, it speaks a language we both understand and we work so well together. He is the excited soon to be uncle that purchased most of the boho decor for this nursery nook. Most of it was from the dollar spot in Target, Hobby Lobby and Five Below. We hung the two cane shelves by doing the painter's tape hack. If you check out the highlights on my instagram page, I have a reel on how to do it. It's a lifesaver. You line up the blue tape with the holes on either side of your shelf or whatever you're hanging and poke a hole where the holes are. Then place it on the wall where you want it. Make sure it is leveled and straight and nail or screw in those pre-made holes. Hang your shelf and done. It's that easy and saves so much time making extra holes in the wall by guessing or measuring (story of my life).
We placed some books and furry friends on one shelf and then flipped the other one around to place some Disney princesses, the boho vase with faux flowers from Marshall's and hung one of her outfits on the rod. I needed a place to put her headband bows, so my brother suggested to nail the tiny basket to the wall and put them in there. We hung the boho flower burst mirrors as well as the curtain on the window. I also made a boho beaded tie back for the curtain as well. I realllllllyyyyyyy want to go back to Home Goods and buy this beautiful rattan room divider to block our hanging clothes, but it was over $200 and I don't think I can pull the trigger. I'm not sure if it's even still there! But I'm dreaming about it.
Now, I just sit and stare at how pretty it looks in there. I put a chair from our living room in there along with the ottoman poof and rug I bought from Marshall's and it's such a cozy spot. We are going to get a new glider/rocking chair for the living room, so this will be a perfect spot to sit with her, or for one of us to escape in peace! How can such a small room bring me so much love? I can't wait for the furniture to be done and put it here. It's a spot that means so much. It's so funny how such small things bring us joy in life. Despite the dark thoughts, rainy days and frustrated feelings, there is always a bright future ahead. I promised myself that.
xoxo-Jacqueline
