Pinterest Made This Look Easier
The Slow Build: What I’m Learning While Decorating in Real Time
Let’s start here: I love our home (most of the time), but I’ve been genuinely shocked by how long it takes to make it look even close to what I imagined on my mood board. According to Pinterest, we should be fully renovated by now with walls painted, floors sparkling, furniture styled just right, and me gliding around in linen with some kind of rosemary-infused drink in hand.
Spoiler: that is not what’s happening.
We’ve been renovating for about six months, and while I’d love to say we’re “almost there,” the reality is we still have carpet I pretend not to see, cabinet hardware in a box somewhere, and roughly 4,000 open browser tabs worth of decisions left to make. It’s giving “work in progress,” but make it full-time.
One day, sure, there will be that satisfying before-and-after reel with the right lighting, a carefully placed coffee table book, and maybe even a candle burning. But right now, we’re smack in the middle. The slow, sometimes chaotic, often anti-climactic middle. The part where you’re still figuring out if the paint color looks green or beige depending on the time of day.
This version of home doesn’t get shared as much. But it’s where real life is (at least for us). Routines, grocery bags on the counter, packages you forgot you ordered, and that one corner that looks really good until it gets buried under laundry again.
What I’ve Learned (So Far)
I’m not an expert, but I am someone living through it and a few things have stood out:
Progress feels different when you’re inside it. You might not notice the tiny shifts, but they add up. I’m so thankful when family or friends stop by our house and point out changes I felt like didn’t make that much of a difference in the moment.
Your house doesn’t have to be “done” to feel good. This is more of a mental game for me. In order to feel settled and good, I sometimes feel like everything has to be in place and well curated, but the reality is I need to be able to experience joy even if there is disorganization around me.
You learn what matters by living in it. What you thought was essential might be less urgent than you think. I focused way too much on what throw pillows would look cute than sourcing blackout curtains for our bedroom.
My hope is to keep sharing the in-between: the product wins, the design mistakes, the DIY solutions, and whatever else feels helpful or interesting. Expect a mix of home updates, things I’m learning in real time, and the occasional tangent into life, fashion, baking, or products that just make things easier.