I am slogging through a half of house renovation and my decorating ADD means jumping from room to room, project to project, and never quite finishing one space. One thing I have found to be invaluable is listening to audiobooks downloaded from the library for free onto my i-pod. They keep me engrossed in the story and time flies. I am finishing one book now and can't wait to listen to Jon Stewart's recent one. Bill Maher, Dave Barry & Lewis Black cracked me up the most and I also have listened to several fiction audiobooks. The only bad thing is our project is so extensive that I am running out of titles I want to hear the most fairly soon. Each one is between 3 (non-fiction, mostly) and 10 (fiction) hours. If I add up all my books, it will tell me most of how long I have been working on the house. I do sometimes unplug and use the speakerphone or chat with contractors who are nearby, but I mostly stayed plugged in and plug away.
That is also a great tip for car rides. We listen to a lot of Fudge, Super Fudge, etc... on family road trips. The time passes faster than with music.

Seems to me like you are well on your way and taking sewing classes where you can sew the items for your daughter's room is brilliant!
It's going to be darling.

Dianalo - I can completely relate to the jumping from room-to-room remodeling ADD. We've been remodeling our fixer-upper for 11 years now! DH is a perfectionist DIY'er and I get bored before he gets done, so things tend to stay unfinished longer than they should :-D

Great idea about the music and audiobooks. Listening to music got me through the many, many hours I just spent redoing the hutch in my foyer.

I just played DJ all day for my DH, who's working on finishing laying slate for the fireplace hearth. He started out with some hard rock and finished with some music that was much easier on the ears!

As much as we want it done quickly (ala HGTV) it does take time. You have a great vision...it will get done. :)

Motivation is hard at times. Looks like the room is coming together, and it is going to be lovely. I find for myself the just getting a plan and start working on the project is half the battle. Our son is gratuating from High school this spring (time goes by fast) and we have all of these things we want to do before that day. You know, all the relitives are coming over and you want the house looking at its best.

I am finding that having a deadline has been helpful. I know now what needs to get done and am putting together a plan of what I can get done before then. Seems like every weekend is now planned for the next three months. All I can say is keep going, it will be worth it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Decor

Thanks, loribee and chelsea. I feel like I do have a good vision of what I want. The problem is I've had the vision for a few years (it does keep changing though) :-D

Making a schedule and setting a deadline might work for me. I'm also a list maker - both to remind me and because I like the satisfaction of crossing things off - so maybe I'll make one of those to get a grip on what needs to be done.

I sent a few emails last night on a CL dresser I can rehab and a bookshelf that's perfect as is (she doesn't need another bookshelf but this one seems perfect and I do hate to paint over the original red milk paint).

Make it a small list! Maybe make the 'total' list and another list w/ only one or two of the things on the total list? Tuck the total list away and just look at the smaller list then throw it away when it's done.

I hear ya! I've been working on DD's big girl room for about a year now. I'm getting there surely but slowly and I'm finally okay w/ that.

Your plans sound wonderful!

I'm all for lists. Although, I have just a few small projects to do and the guest room will be finished, and I've already moved on to other projects. *sigh* I have a bit of decorating ADD as well. I finally told myself the other day that I can't start anything else until that gets finished.

Thanks ttodd and franksmom - it helps to know that I am not alone! I'm making my small and big list tonight and start checking things off as I go.

For now, I am over the moon excited about an unexpected CL find that I picked up today. I was searching for an antique pine dresser and came across an absolutely gorgeous painted antique English pine bookcase/cabinet. I wasn't in the market for a new bookcase - was just going to paint over the red one, but I fell in love instantly.

Guess what color it is? Pretty dang close to . . . Baby Turtle!!! It's almost the same color as my foyer hutch, except this looks like it's the original paint that's already distressed by time.

Of course, this has totally changed my vision for the duvet cover. The powder blue floral is pretty but just won't do this piece justice. The grayish blue linen I bought for curtains and pillows should look great though, so now I'm going for a very subdued pink/mossy green/muted palette - is "spa-like shabby chic" a decorating style?

What a good mommy you are! The new bedroom sounds dreamy enough for any little princess. How to stay motivated? It helps me to have some excitement about the final outcome. Do you have any inspiration pics to put up on the fridge to keep your spirits up and your motor running? There are a number of them in the Gallery in the post on kids rooms. There are also some in the bedrooms post, and even more in the Cottage Decor post. Close this thread and you'll find a link to the Gallery at the bottom of the page that lists all the threads. Also another link at the top right just above the list of posts.

I second Dian's brilliant suggestion about audio books. I get audio book CDs from the library and listen to them in the kitchen, or wherever I have mindless work to do. I love them.

I'll bet if you snoop the web you can order a ready-made slipcover for that chair for not too much money. You might start with eBay and amazon.com.

On the sewing, all you're talking about is sewing straight lines. That isn't difficult. Seems to me you must have a gf who would be happy to come over and supervise you until your "rust" is off. That would be a lot less daunting than a class, to me at least.

Your mom or mom-in-law might like to help. When our kids are grown and gone, we suddenly feel unwanted, useless. We are thrilled if we're asked to help. We feel valued, and if we're retired we have the time. Well, most of us, anyway. If yours don't live close they could at least sew a pillow or something. Just a thought that could improve family relations and lighten your load.

Make a family party out of it. You supply the steaks, hot dogs, the barbee, and the paint, and invite them all. They can bring salad, dessert, etc, and extra paint brushes or whatever.

I'm looking forward to helping with my granddaughter's bedroom makeover somewhere in the next few months. I'm really excited about it and I'm collecting ideas. One idea I ran across is these giant tissue paper flowers. They would be so darling hung from a little girl's ceiling.

Do you like those? This URL shows you how to make them -- very easily and cheaply. It would be a good project to do with kids, depending on the age of the child.

Here is a link that might be useful: How Make Tissue Paper Pom-Poms (scroll down)

Kids are very excited to have their rooms redone; but don't understand why it takes so long. I think the hardest part you've already done, to establish a vision for the room. I know when I redid my 8-year-old DD's room, she was very excited at first, but wondered why it took Mommy a whole week to paint a dresser. But, I think I set her a good example, that if you want something to turn out well and look good, it takes time! I now see her take the extra time and care with her own artwork--working on one picture for 1-2 hours and working step-by-step from her drawing book. Sharing this creativity with your daughter and including in her in the process, will take longer, but both of you will be so much happier with the end result than if you bought everything off the shelf. And, of my three kids, she is also the one that takes the most care with her room, not only cleaning it, but arranging her possessions just so to reflect her own sense of "decor". That said, a year later, I have yet to make some extra pillows for her daybed, though I bought the fabric a year ago. I went on to DD2's room, where I have yet to resize and print some photos for her walls; now I'm on DS's room. So, I guess I am also with the group that has the decorating ADD...it's so hard to go back and complete those last finishing touches. But..... we'll get there!!!

I have several projects indoor and outdoor going right now. A couple of them are extraordinarily time consuming to complete. It can be discouraging to see it drag on and on looking less than stellar.
I use 3 things to keep me going.

1. LOTS of pictures around that inspired me in the first place. I'll even put the best picture in a place I can see it every day.

2.I keep a picture journal of how far I've come so it reminds me I've made more progress than I think.

3. I set aside 15,20, or 30 minutes a day towards long term projects. I use a timer. When I'm done I reward myself with chocolate for being a good girl.

The plans you have for your daughter's room sound adorable. I especially love the chair you are going to have slipcovered. And White Dogwood is one of my favorite pinks, so very pale and pretty.

I think it was last summer that I bought my little niece a 1930's writing desk with the cutest chairs ever. My brother has yet to paint them. I wanted him to keep them natural, oh well.

Lately, I have had no motivation to decorate. In a perfect world it would be great to just hire someone and tell them what you want. And they better do it right. (lol!)

You'll get it done!

Juddgirl2, I did two small projects in the guest room today! Did you get anything done? Can we see a pic of the new furniture?

oceanna - What a coincidence! I actually just saw hanging pom poms the other night while surfing some blogs for inspiration and I was wondering how to make them. My family's out of state but mom might be excited to sew some pillows. Love the idea to actually print all of these inspiration photos that are saved in my computer!

valinsv - how wonderful that your daughter is learning your decorating skills and takes pride in her own work. It's a good idea to have DD be involved in the process. We did take her "chair" shopping and she approved of the CL chair and slipcover idea. She's looking forward to helping sew and paint. I think I'm more excited in the process and she'll be more excited once she sees the transformation.

pjtexgirl - I do like the idea of posting inspiration photos where I can see them. I know I won't be consistent in keeping a photo journal but I do try to take before and after photos now. It helps remind me of what I've already accomplished, even if I have far to go. Unfortunately, a chocolate reward won't help inspire me - I cheat and have some every day even if I don't deserve it!

newdawn - that's funny, maybe your brother won't get around to painting them and decide to leave them natural! In my perfect world, I'd have all the time in the world to do these fun projects but be able to hire someone to do all the other things like cleaning, cooking, (working at my too stressful job), etc!

franksmom - good for you! I didn't get anything done today because I worked but I'm going to try to clean and wax the new hutch tomorrow night so we can set it up in her room this weekend.

I did pick up a dresser that I'm less than enthused about. Kinda wondering now why I bought it because it's almost ugly, but it was cheap, I drove a distance to look at it, and it's solid wood w/dovetailed drawers. Hoping I can transform it with some paint, glaze and some pretty knobs, but if not then I can resell it.

I think the colors sound lovely! I always loved pale grey blues and robins egg blue w/ my Baby Turtle walls when I had them. Such a pretty combo.

The chair will look marvelous!

Makes me think that I should hed up to DD's room today and do something.

Count me in on the Audio Books! Our 2 boys (4 & 7) LOVE going to sleep at night listening to audio books!