you want diy reality?

07 December 2011

I was clearing some pictures off my computer and found these random pics from the past year. I was going to erase them, but I figured you probably need to see what life is normally like amidst diy projects. Enjoy….or cringe??
table kitchen before


september 2010 004
march 2011 055
september 2010 002
july 2010 001 (2)
march 2011 013
september 2010 011
september 2010 005 (2)september 2010 039 (2)
and even when it is “finished” it doesn’t stay pretty. Here’s what I came home to last night after my turn on carpool:
december 2011 028
december 2011 027
Normal life is not pretty-sun coming through the windows perfectly-use a tripod-everybody smile-stage it just right-then photoshop it.
I say thank goodness…
Happy Wednesday~I posted deals here today!
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54 comments

  1. Thank you for the reality check!!!!

    Just yesterday I had a mini melt-down because I felt so inadequate after reading so many blogs that only show perfection. Most of the time blogs are inspiring but once in a while they make me think I can never be good enough. Your pictures make me feel better!

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  2. Oh good, you are normal!

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  3. So happy to see these pics.  I completely quit reading blogs about 6 months ago because they were depressing and overwhelming me with everyone else's perfection. It is nice to see one of those perfect bloggers with a more realistic house that I can actually relate to! I love seeing your after pics too but it's nice to show the day to day also!

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  4. bigstick28581/8/14, 1:30 PM

    So true......I need to remind myself of that more!  I put too much stress on keeping things perfect and that shouldn't be how it is.  Life is messy.  :)  PS:  Love the zig zag lights in the last pic!  Merry CHRISTmas Ya'll from Houston,tx

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  5. Your recent post has made me SMILE...REALITY & TRUTH speaks volumes!  You inspire so many readers, myself included!  :)

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  6. meg duerksen1/8/14, 1:30 PM

    i feel right at home.  :)

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  7. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with a messy house during projects!  At times, I think we'll never get ours totally clean because we finish one project and go right to the next. 

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  8. i will restate what everyone else has said... your home is definitely beautiful when everything is in it's place, but it says a lot about you as a person that you're comfortable sharing "real life" with us too! i just started a blog based on that very idea. it's called letting go of perfect.  and it's totally freeing!  

    thanks for welcoming us into your reality!

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  9. I. love. you. !! ;) Awesome post. Love, from the girl sitting next to 2 giant baskets of unfolded laundry. ;)

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  10. I love how we give our kids train tables and they build the trains on the floor!

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  11. Thanks for posting a bit of reality!  Made me smile.

    Blessings,
    Marilyn  

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  12. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It's amazing to me how many blogs that I follow or happen upon that use perfectly posed pictures (or pictures they pull off the internet somewhere) when they're talking about being real or honest or living life to the fullest (as in putting your family above cleaning). So thank you for being honest with us in your pictures as well as your words.

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  13. Katherine Goodwins1/8/14, 1:31 PM

    thank god - i thought it was just my house that looked like this! x

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  14. Love this! I can so relate. Making pretty is not always pretty. :)

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  15. melissa*320 sycamore1/8/14, 5:54 PM

    Aww man, that would have been a much better title: the out-takes after the projects!

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  16. melissa*320 sycamore1/8/14, 5:54 PM

    Quit it~she is not playing with the carpet!! She is doing her homework on the floor because she had no where else to go!

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  17. Thank you for  this!  We've recently started a home project (yes, something I vowed NEVER to do in the already crazy busy and hectic month of December) and my house is in a bit of (organized) chaos.  It is nice to know this is the very normal part of such DIY projects.

    Your home is always lovely and I love that it is 'lived in' and not for show. A REAL home!

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  18. You mean you and your children are not perfect?! :)  Thank goodness!  It's nice to see a normal, happy home!

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  19. Thank you for posting this! It's easy to get caught up in the mindset that our houses HAVE to look like magazines when we see the 'prettiness' of everyone's blog pictures ;) Congrats on your beautiful kitchen!

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  20. Alisha Siddoway1/8/14, 6:01 PM

    Are your cabinets oak? Please tell me they are. I really want to paint mine, but every one says not to do it. sigh.

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  21. Saracatherine61/8/14, 6:01 PM

    Thank you!!!  I thought it was just me.  :-)

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  22. Mssmartiepants1/8/14, 6:01 PM

    LOL! that is exactly why I decided to wait until after the holidays.

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  23. ♥♥♥THIS IS MY REALITY WITH A LITTLE LESS PRETTY BACKDROP!  I LOVE THIS ABOUT YOU HOW YOU ARE ALWAYS KEEPIN IT REAL! I MISS YOU AND YOUR STINKIN' CUTE KIDS TOO!  oops i'm shouting. My favorite pic is of Landon and his one croc sitting on top of the table watching TV.  That is a classic!  Oh and it looks like is Lauren playing with the carpet again in her living room shot!;) I love that girl! ♥♥♥

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  24. melissa*320 sycamore1/8/14, 6:10 PM

    your name is Ms. Smartie Pants for a reason!

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  25. Your home is lovely even when it's being living in!  Lovely and full of love, I am sure.

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  26. Yes, they are just the builders grade oak. Of course you can paint them.. your brother and grandpa and dad and mailman and pastor will tell you not to, but if your husband is on board...go for it! Tutorial coming up on how we did it...

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  27. I love that folks have been showing real life pictures lately to go along with their pretty projects.  I love the real life pictures even more than the posed perfect ones because they show the real "Life" of a home.

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  28. I smiled the whole time reading this post. Thanks for being so real!! So many blogs

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  29. Oh my gosh that is funny. Thanks so much for sharing. I am glad to know that I am not alone with my real lived in home. : )

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  30. Thankyou for making all blog readers feel better about their kitchens today! Mine looked just like that just getting up the holiday decorations, I can't imagine a kitchen red0! That was the best post ever.

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  31.  Thanks for the reality check, your reality is mine too! Sometimes I look at the mess and think...."what am I doing" my house is a mess and all I want to do is paint and  diy! High 5 for keeping it real!  

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  32. It looks like a home where people aren't afraid to use what they love! Thank you for showing us your "real" home!

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  33. I've liked your blog for a long time.. but now I LOVE it. Thanks for the reality check! It made my day.

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  34. Living in your house can get pretty messy! No matter how clean it is, it takes one day to turn to that. ONE day! I feel ya.

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  35. Glad to know I'm not alone in the in-progress status!  Thanks for the honesty of sharing the evidence of a real-life happy family.

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  36. I love it love it LOVE IT!   I makes me feel so much better.  Your usual pictures make it seem like you always have everything together.  Seeing these pictures makes me realize that you don't always have it together either.  Life is messy, families are messy.   Perfectly ordered houses exist for the camera shot and for the five mintues before the guests arrive ;).

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  37. WOW!! This makes me feel SO much better!! Ha Ha!! Thanks and know you are not alon! :)

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  38. This is my favorite post of yours!!! Thanks for being real for us! I am cracking up at your "behind the scenes" pics!!

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  39. MOST of the time I don't have it all together.
    "Life is messy, families are messy. Perfectly ordered houses exist for the camera shot and for the five minutes before the guests arrive..."
    that is so true.

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  40. I'm sitting here with a pretty big cheesy grin!  Like I caught you with your hand in the cookie jar, I absolutely loved every photo of real life, the pretty ones are nice too, but man were these like watching the outtakes after the movie :)

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  41. melissa*320 sycamore1/16/14, 10:40 PM

    I LOVE white kitchens with hardwood floors. We are hoping to do hardwoods one day. You can see the grain if you come right up to the cabinet and look at it from the side. Now, there is a way to fill in the grain and sand it down and then paint, but it's ALOT more work. Our grain was not heavy and it doesn't bother me.

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  42. Robin @ Keephomesimple1/16/14, 10:40 PM

    Oh man, that all looks very familiar.  :)  I love it when amazing people like you show "keeping it real" pictures.  Thanks for sharing.

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  43. Yes, thank goodness.  I'll take real life over perfectly-staged any day.

    Although I will admit that real life around here has been a little TOO messy lately.  Sigh.  But your house?  It looks great even in its "nitty gritty" state! :)

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  44. Alisha Siddoway1/16/14, 10:40 PM

    I can't wait to see that tutorial! You may have just changed my entire life (well at least my kitchen!). We are doing our kitchen floor this month and I am torn between hardwood and tile, I want hardwood but think it'll look funny because of the oak cabinets. So one more quick question before the tutorial is posted... can you see the grain of the wood after you paint it? 

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  45. Neonbluedragonfly1/16/14, 10:41 PM

    Hahahaha! I love it! I soooo feel like this is what my house looks like day to day and I am so glad you shared this because I always feel like such a messy ness when people come to visit...and with the holidays, that can be more often than I'm used to. I found your blog because I am trying to redecorate my home, but I kind of stink at it. I found a site I really like the furniture from http://www.beyondfurniture.com.au/, but they are in Australia. But even if I found something like this, I don't know how to incorporate  the look into my 1920's home. So, I plan to stalk your blog for some really great ideas (really liked the white trash bedroom!) since I can't figure out how to mix modern and 1920's :)

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  46. Thank you for the reality! We all know it exists in everyone's home..but it never hurts to feel the company. =) Precious keepsakes. Love the Chuggington one! =)

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  47. Thanks for being honest!  My house looks like this 85% (maybe 90%) of the time and it's relieving to know that I'm not alone. :)

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  48. Thanks Melissa I needed that!!! 

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  49. Laura @ Our Prairie Home1/16/14, 11:05 PM

    LMBO!  Oh thank goodness my house isn't the only one that looks like that when I'm in the midst of a project or when I come home from being gone.  That is awesome!  You don't know how many of us are going, "Whew!  My life IS actually normal."  Love the one of your son on the counter.  Soooooo looks like something that would happen in my house.  And you're right!  Thank goodness for photoshop!  :D

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  50. Ooooooh, thanks for a good laugh.  My fave has to be the one of your son squatting atop the counter, watching TV.  Patty S.

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  51. Thank you!I have been feeling pretty low about my giant lack of decorating going on here and having a boring, dusty, floor-needs mopping home this week.  I'm not a decorator at all, but now I don't feel so bad about how my house looks some days! Merry Christmas! PS: I love your home and your blog!

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  52. Andrea Schuneman1/18/14, 9:32 AM

    Yes, Thank you!  Thanks for sharing your life with us and that it's ok to show the imperfection too :)   

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  53. I loved this post! I always admire your beautiful home and think...."why can't mine look like that?"   I want to thank you for your blog, and for sharing your ceative genius with those of us who need a little hlep in the inspiration department. And lastly...thanks for posting a little of the "real" life moments in a house where life happens.  

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