When I woke up this morning, I had visions of how today would go. I would head over to Kris' house. We would whistle and sing while we put together the closet real quick. There would obviously be roses and rainbows and sunshine and unicorns because the hard part was already over, right? It could only take an hour or two tops, right? I mean how difficult is it to put together a pre-designed closet organizer?
Ahhh!
Ok, sorry I'll get a grip. I'm done throwing my tantrum. But in all seriousness this closet make-over hasn't gone anything like I expected it to. I thought the ceiling was the hard part. Boy was I wrong! So what are we supposed to do when our projects start going awry? Here are a few of the strategies that got me through the day.
1. Have a partner in crime
That whole idea that "misery loves company" is so true! It really helped having Kris to lean on, brainstorm with and of course blame things on. This picture pretty much captures our feelings about the closet. So after a lot of small bumps in the road while assembling the two cubby towers, we finally got them into the closet at which point we realized the metal rods we're supposed to hang our clothes on don't fit! There are five of these little suckers! And none of them fit into our closet how they're supposed to. This is when I mentally threw a tantrum, gave up and decided the only option was to return the organizer. But then what? Live with an empty closet? Once I came to realization that we had to make this closet work we started bouncing ideas back and forth. (PS: I totally HATE the lighting. Isn't it terrible? I assure you Kris is not yellow, orange and red. He is indeed a natural skin color. We're working on ideas for that right now)
2. Brainstorm
Not only did the closet rods not fit, but we also realized that our cubbies are so tall that there would be no room for any storage above them. Wom wom wommm. Thankfully, Kris suggested we install the shelves that will connect the two cubbies lower than the top of the cubbies. Phewww! One crisis averted. Then major crisis #2 came about. What are we supposed to do with a closet that we can't actually hang clothes in? We both decided we didn't want to figure out how to cut the metal rods. It just seemed too much for our limited abilities. The first idea we came up with meant we would have to drill holes in the sides of the cubbies. I wasn't sold, but it was better than nothing. Then I thought, duh, we don't have to use the metal rods it came with. Why don't we buy wood ones and make Home Depot cut them to size? Brilliant! (please tell me you remember the commercial I'm referencing?) Yay for brainstorming!
3. Don't sweat the small stuff
Let's play a little game called "One of these things is not like the others." Ready...go!
If you noticed that little triangle completely out of place then you win!! Yay!
At first I was all flustered that we (Kris) nailed that little guy into the completely wrong spot, but then I just put my big girl pants on and let it go. It's not worth stressing over the little things that go wrong. It gives it a little character.
If you noticed that little triangle completely out of place then you win!! Yay!
At first I was all flustered that we (Kris) nailed that little guy into the completely wrong spot, but then I just put my big girl pants on and let it go. It's not worth stressing over the little things that go wrong. It gives it a little character.
4. Take a break
We both planned on completely finishing the closet today, but after our problems we were forced to put it off til tomorrow. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Sometimes what you need to do when you're frustrated is walk away and do something else for a while. Whether that be a few minutes, hours or a day.
5. Have really, really helpful pets
6. Remember to smile
How great is this little guy? This is what we were supposed to use with the metal rods. I think he needs a name. Any ideas?
Next time a project has you going insane, just remember these tips.
Do you have any other strategies you use to get you through a frustrating project?
Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for the next post. I'll be showing you the finished closet soon. Yippee!
Next time a project has you going insane, just remember these tips.
Do you have any other strategies you use to get you through a frustrating project?
Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for the next post. I'll be showing you the finished closet soon. Yippee!