In Which the ORC Helped Me::The “Reveal”

So close…yet so far away.

I’m sitting here debating how to put into words this challenge we’ve come upon together. Hence the longest title ever.

This One Room Challenge simultaneously with this Radical challenge.

Both are so hard. In different ways obviously. On one hand, I’m fighting myself because I love to make things pretty. To give things purpose. To give things a moment to shine. But they are just things.

This One Room Challenge taught me more than that I love pretty things. It opened my eyes.

You see, I so often become obsessed. I read 7 and did the Bible study and thought right then and there we should sell everything we own and who cares if there’s only a can of chicken left, by gosh, we better eat for nothing goes to waste.

Then, I read Radical and was again, convinced we still live in excess and should sell our house and move across town because I already found a great deal on a tiny broken down house because that’s all we need, right?

Sticking with something for six weeks was hard because I tend to enjoy the process a little too much and jump the gun because I get a thought in my head and I run with it but by the weekend something else has popped up!

PLEASE say this happens to you so I don’t feel crazy. Sarah Ellen (www.ctmoments.blogspot.com) made me a feel a little better that she, too, was ready to move all children from Uganda to her house after reading Kisses from Katie.

But, y’all. The joy in seeing a project come to near completion.

Notice, I say, near. This project isn’t finished and I don’t really want it to be.

But before I get into that aspect of this weird post, let’s go back to where we started which actually wasn’t even the deck!

We had originally planned on revamping the craft room but when Cray’s party took precedence, I changed my mind.

We built a pallet sofa and loved it.

Then, we painted the deck and rails (which you saw on Instagram)!

There are so many things we want to do but what I have learned is that we can do this. We just didn’t make it all under the deadline. We can stick with something and make it happen and make it work for us in our budget (see below).

There’s not a lot extra each month as we settle into the house. We just bought four new tires so cushions for a pallet sofa/sectional? Not a priority (They run anywhere from $50-100 each! No way would that work right now!). We found an unbelievable deal at Target on outdoor pillows so that made me a feel a little better, too.

But what we’ve learned is that we are okay with imperfection. #idhtbptbb The Nester is just the best and says it so well.

We love this area. I mean, we really love it. So to us, this six week challenge was a huge plus. But we did it for a fraction of the cost of a normal outdoor budget.

My parents and Russ’ parents helped us keep the kids so we could finish. We were outside until around ten every night again but I think we are actually finished for a while.

“It just doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” – The Nester And we are okay with that.

Our Tiny Budget:

Pallets: Free from my father-in-law

Brackets from Lowe’s for pallets: around $30

Foam for cushion: already had

Drop cloth: $20

Paint for deck: already had from porch, Home Depot, Behr Deck Over

Paint for rails: bought months ago in hopes to paint the rails but never got around to

Target pillows: Buy three get a $5 Gift Card and Cartwheel coupon for $5 off bringing the total to $26 for three pillows!

Total: $76!!! I need to throw in another $15 for a sewing machine I picked up at a yard sale that I’m determined to make into a cooler!