Stop Talking, Start Doing

It happened innocently enough. I was folding laundry and caught 10 minutes of Nate Burkus' show during a segment called House Proud. A woman walked show cameras through her house decorated with make-do vintage-inspired furniture and decorations. Everything was so nice and pretty. And she seemed so satisfied by her design accomplishments. Suddenly, I felt ashamed of my drab home and completely inspired to tackle some spruce-up projects I've been meaning to get around to.

My house is pretty neat and tidy, but it's not decorated how I dream it could be. I envision a cozy cottage decor - rooms filled with thoughtfully placed nicknacks and cleverly repurposed thrift finds. Instead, I've let the kids and their stuff take over. I stopped shopping for my home and put all those funds toward the girls and their activities. And I gave up on home improvement projects and instead focused my energy on my business and family. All noble - but somewhere I lost the love of my home.

Though it might sound snobbish, I thought, "I'm better than this. I'm better than the procrastinating. I'm better than what I settle have settled for in my home decor." That set the tone of the holiday weekend, and we knocked out a few projects. And, you know, it didn't take that long!

In under one hour, my husband and I recovered the bench seat and made two fresh pillow covers. The "before" was pretty horrible - mismatched and dark. While this is simple, it feels so much cleaner and cheerful.

I like my view at the bottom of the stairs much better these days. No longer do I see a project I haven't gotten to. Now I see a reminder that it really doesn't take that long to make one thing nicer in my home.

We finished some other things this weekend too: Canned strawberries that were fresh picked from the field, re-organized our home office, and cleaned out a closet. Check, check, check! I hope to keep up this momentum and tackle the living room next - fresh pillow covers, some new decorations, and possibly new hardwood floors!

What's on your summer home-improvement list?