Why I'm Not Doing Anymore Home Projects
I’ve lived — as an official rent-paying “adult” — in three different apartments…four if you count a short period of time when I thought I was grown and moved in with a roommate.
In NY, I had my studio apartment in Hell’s Kitchen for 5 years.
In WA, we had a 1 bedroom + den apartment for 6 months.
And then nearly 3 years ago, we moved into our current 2 bedroom condo.
While I did tackle quite a bit in our studio apartment, a lot of it was surface level. This condo was truly the first time I really dug in to tackle renter-friendly projects that went beyond getting organized and putting up new paint.
Over the past 3 years, I have…
Added self-adhesive wood panels to our master bedroom, in addition to plug-in wall sconces
Resurfaced the bathroom counter with marble contact paper, in addition to changing some of the hardware and painting
Painted and wallpapered our daughter’s bedroom
Added peel & stick backsplash to the kitchen, only to ultimately wallpaper it as well
And none of that is taking into account minor updates we’ve made from switching all the light bulbs to buying a buttload of decorative accents to really make this home feel like home.
But here’s the thing — this is still only a 2 bedroom apartment, meaning the whole place has a total of six “rooms” (eight if you count the laundry closet and balcony) to play with. I knew that this meant I was not going to have a limitless amount of projects to tackle;
I knew that at some point I would be project’d out…and that point is now.
Now I want to go on record and say that there is always something I can do here (i.e. change the cabinet hardware in the kitchen and paint the remaining walls in our bedroom) but holistically, our apartment is as done as it’s going to get.
A lot of factors went into deciding that my recent kitchen wallpaper installation would be the last major project I tackle in this apartment:
My husband’s recent deployment was a very cruel reminder that our time in this apartment (and in WA) isn’t forever.
In budgeting for our future (somewhat more important plans) working on the apartment is no longer a priority
I am tired…and not just physically. I want to actually enjoy all the fruits of our labor versus being on the hamster wheel of upgrades.
This was not an easy decision for me to make, and I say “me” because as far as my husband is concerned, we could’ve stopped 3 rooms ago. Now, does this mean I’ll never do anything else while we’re living here? No.
But I want to put more energy into enjoying and maintaining the home that we’ve created over the past 3-ish years.
We moved to WA with nothing, furnishing and decorating from scratch; and while there’s a lot I would’ve admittedly done differently, we have come a long damn way from being three transplants in an empty apartment. I don’t want to take that for granted, constantly looking for things that need upgrading.
We’re good… just as we are.
With a new job, new lifestyle, and just overall new lease on life, I don’t want to commit myself to unnecessary projects. And to be clear, it’s one thing to tackle necessary upgrades, i.e. when you buy a fixer-upper…but that just isn’t the case here. I will always find ways to keep busy in the house — keeping things pretty and organized is a whole part-time job, especially with a family — but I am more than ready to simply live in and enjoy our home.
As I don’t do anything else, I’ll be sure to (try and) keep y’all updated on how things hold up and if the upgrades have truly stood the test of time.