A few weekends ago, I was getting the house ready for a little party I was having. As I was rushing around trying to put away the kids’ toys and my power tools (isn’t that what you have to clean up before a party?), my husband pointed to one of our walls and said, “Should we deal with that?”
Um, yeah. We had screwed some large eye bolts into the wall of our living room so that we could put up a makeshift safety gate when Emma began to be mobile. We’ve since removed the gate and bolts and filled the holes. Our wall paint had been in the hot garage for a few years and was no longer good, so I needed to go to a paint store across town to pick up an exact match. I had been lazy and jut not gotten around to it, and then I became blind to the fact that I even needed to touch up the paint.
Luckily, my party was the next day, so I had time to run to the paint store and grab some paint. Once I was back home, the problem wall was back under control in three minutes.
There are many things in my own home that I’ve turned I blind eye to, simply because I couldn’t immediately deal with them and then just got used to them being that way. In our kitchen, there is an odd wattage light bulb that’s burned out, and I can’t decide if I should order that bulb from somewhere online or just replace them all with easier to find bulbs. We replaced the light fixture on our front porch, and now we need to put new Hardy Board over the too big hole since our new fixture had a smaller footprint than the old one. I need to spray a rust-proof sealer on my husband’s night stand (the old, metal typing cart), but I need to buy the spray sealer and keep forgetting to do so.
So, I’m making a list. I need to go around room by room and look at things with a fresh perspective. I don’t have to get all of these little things finished today, but I do need to have them written down so I don’t forget again. Plus, I like crossing things off of lists, so when I do get around to fixing an issue, I’ll feel all accomplished and brilliant.
Have you turned a blind eye to little things in your house that need to be repaired or dealt with? What are they? Take a look around your house, and let us know what things should be on your list. You are among “family” here, so don’t be shy!
This is SO true! Yesterday I realized that two bottles of water had been sitting on my counter for about a month. They just needed to be put in the fridge, but since they were water, I thought “eh, that can wait”. I find stuff like that all of the time and I feel so much better after I finally just take care of them. I think I’m going to go room to room also and look for the “little” projects!
Love your blog. I couldn’t help but notice the rug under your table and was wondering where you got it.
I have so many baseboards to paint and touchups from scuffs (dogs/ kids) to finish…..ugh. Endless. Maybe I should throw a party, seems to be motivational 🙂
Uh, yeah. My entire house.
After trying for years to keep up with what color was used where, I started asking the paint store(whoever that may be 🙂 ) to print me an extra label with the color information on it. One goes on the can and the other in a folder where I try and keep all flooring and paint information for each room.
Love this idea!
I don’t have window treatments on my kitchen windows. The view is so beautiful, I don’t even notice the lack of cafe curtain until I see a photo and decide that something definitely seems to be missing. But then I forget until a clever blogger points it out again. Drat.
And I thought you went blind! Good job catching my eye but that title is about as real as someone titling their post “dealing with death” and talking about their backyard plants. Shame on you! haha We’re all glad you didn’t really go blind though…
Last year I did prepare a list of things to do since I could never remember what needed to be done! Seemed like I was always in a Home Depot but never bought what was needed. Frustrating. Finally crossed off replacing 4 basement ceiling tiles after 7 years of open gaping holes!
Love your site!
I am always turning a blind eye…but I shall try to be pro active & get er’ done!
Thanks for inspiring!
I’m glad it’s not just me. There are several things that need finishing at my house as well. Sometimes it’s because I’m trying to decide between a couple of options … or sometimes it’s because something more costly has to be done first. It always seems the smaller the item to do … the more likely I am to put it off. I find … as you did… it’s often good to have a party or visitors to actually push me into doing those dozens of little things that just need 10 minutes of attention.
I need to make a list too…I know I’m blind to a lot of things around here. (Some of that is self-protection though- for the things I can’t change, but would drive me insane if I paid any attention to them!)
UGh, ditto Sylvia – my whole house! We just bought our first house in August and were living in it by the first week of October. We still haven’t put up any curtain rods! There is just so much LITTLE stuff to do everywhere, and now there are scuffs from moving in, chips my husband has kicked out of doors when “nudging” them open while carrying things…and the mold we just found behind our shower enclosure has become top priority. If I don’t turn a catarac-covered eye to it, I’m going to go crazy.
I think I’ve gone completely blind. My new house that I moved in last year is still not decorated. Some rooms still don’t have curtains, only white blinds. Blah!! I think I’m just so overwhelmed I don’t start anything. I keep it clean and then I’m exhausted. LOL, getting old has its’ drawbacks.
I try to go through my house and make a list, one of quick fixes and one of big projects to do. I think my little list got eaten by my big one last year so it’s probably time to make a new one.
Isn’t it funny how we do that? Another blog that I read started a 12 in 12 – tackling 1 project or activity a month for the next 12 months. I loved that idea so much that I started doing it myself. It gives me an entire month to get a project done, so if it’s a multi-step process I have some time to work on it. 🙂
just came to this realization myself yesterday when someone came to look at something they needed to fix (water company and whatnot- nothing that was going to cost us money) as the guy looked around I became aware of so many messes around the house- small ones on their own- but theings that kept getting put off because of a new baby….and WOW! was I embarassed! needless to say we’re spending the weekend to open our eyes to things around here that need to be done!! 🙂
I updated our kids bathroom over six months ago. Well, most of it. They can’t use the faucets because one leaks and I never got around to installing the other one. I just need to putty the leaky one. Would take less than five minutes, yet there it sits.
Definitely! Right now I know we definitely have to fix the trim around our back door…some of the paint had been chipping off, and when I spoke to my husband and pointed to a different section of the door, my finger went right into the wood…so there is definitely some rot…but it’s winter, that’s a valid excuse, right?!
I can’t decide if my blind eye list (love this name) or my crafting to-do list or my home project list is longer.
baseboard,cut but not installed for over two years, phone jack hanging out of the kitchen wall for about 4 years, ceiling that needs to be painted, …..the list is getting too long!
Mine is pretty bad. My daughter (2 years at the time) dropped a bottle of professional, hot pink nail polish onto my cream tile. It exploded everywhere! I tried traditional nail polish remover but it didn’t work and I knew it would take professional remover to get it out. My floor was hot pink for several months. Whenever people would come over, they would be super surprised and ask WHAT HAPPENED!? Then I would remember that I still needed to go to the beauty supply and get some polish remover 🙂
The professional stuff did eventually take the stain out everywhere except the grout but it is barely noticeable.
Oh, no! That’s the worst! My daughter did the exact same thing a few months ago. Luckily, it was light pink and I was able to get it up fairly easily.