Can I Finally Finish my Pandemic Project?
Can I Finally Finish my Pandemic Project?
Maybe, with a little help from my DDS friends ... and you?
Over in Divergent Design Studios (DDS), the Interior & Garden Design Lab is hosting one of our fairly frequent work days this coming Sunday, 2 July. A work day consists of multiple half-hour Zoom check-ins throughout the day for goal-setting, support, kvetching, and celebration. There is also an Interior & Garden Design Lab (forum/feed) in DDS where we can share our goals, our progress, and before and after photos.
I have several newsletters in the works that should be done soon—including one on A(u)DHD and Houseplants (why do I think this time will be different??) in which I invoke my favorite autistic mystics and embrace being a hermit; and another about becoming a cyborg, and how it is helping me overcome the shame of being dependent; and yet another that has just started brewing on the “grammar of disability,” in which I diagram the social model and apply principles of justice to gerunds….
In the meantime, though, I thought I would share what I posted in DDS this morning in preparation for Sunday’s work day. If you would like to join us, we1 offer a 14 day free trial, with a sliding scale option if you decide to continue—so you have literally nothing to lose!
Here’s my post about my weekend/July home reno plans:
I have so many unfinished projects in my house right now—actual decorating projects that are *almost* there, as well as messes I’ve just stopped seeing. In Interior and Garden Design Peer Support this past Wednesday2 we made lists of these types of projects and then zeroed in on something manageable for the weekend.
My larger list includes:
~Sort kitchen pantry (a terrible mess that won’t take too long once I actually get started);
~Clean surfaces in my art studio and mise en place3 some art projects (also not too difficult except for the “just” doing it part….);
~Finally put all the finishing touches on what we call “the Blue Room,” which I started designing just as the pandemic began, when it was still our bedroom, but which has since become Joel’s study and a sitting/dressing room/sometimes-TV-room. (In truth, this project involves painting a thrifted desk for Joel that will be more ergonomic, as well as learning to upholster (!), which I guess actually makes it slightly larger than just “finishing touches.”)
I always think, “Oh, I should take care of all the little things to ‘clear the decks,’ and *then* tackle the bigger, more creative projects” … but what often happens is I never get to those bigger projects. The little things are seemingly never-ending; as soon as one gets done, another one pops up.
I think it’s time to leave the messes in the kitchen and the art studio, and finish this Blue Room once and for all!4
It’s not all going to get done this weekend, even with the support of a work day on Sunday, but another reason to focus on the Blue Room is THE TOUR DE FRANCE STARTS TOMORROW!! 🚴 🚴🏻♂️ We will be moving the TV into that room so Joel can watch while he works. As some of you may know, we are Tour de France fanatics and spend every July glued to the screen … but the reality is there’s a lot of down time during each stage in which nothing much happens, and I could totally be painting a desk or hanging pictures.
So, my realistic goal is to have the Blue Room done by the end of July. Here’s the list of what that involves:
~Prime and paint Joel’s new desk:
~Move desk up (need help).
~Design and paint decorations on the desk.
~ Hang art:
~Clean up the corners by Joel’s desk and under the window that have become the graveyard for old computer cords, keyboards, paint supplies, pet food, and other junk:
~Install AC:
~Move all the storage bags of bedding and out-of-season clothes from the closet (because they block the sliding doors) to under our bed:
~Move the wingback chair downstairs to the living room (need help):
~Wash the red chairs (or are they orange, Joel and I disagree about this! In any case, eventually they will be reupholstered … when I learn how….):
~Reupholster the ottoman (this is going to be my project for teaching myself upholstery, as it seems fairly straightforward):
~Wash the windows:
On the theory that I should prioritize the bigger, creative projects (because they keep falling off the list as smaller stuff ends up sapping all my energy), I am going to start with Joel’s desk. I think I can get that primed and painted on Saturday, and then if I can lure my son over to help me move it upstairs I could really get things situated on Sunday and start working my way down the rest of the list as we watch the Grand Départ of the Tour!
If you have house or garden projects on your list for this weekend, we’d love to see you in DDS on Sunday!
If you’d like, I can use Notes here in Substack to update you on my progress (or if you join DDS, I’ll be posting updates there too in the I&G Lab!)
DDS is an online community for neurodivergent creatives, and we are in the process of becoming a member-owned and operated cooperative; membership fees go to paying members for their work as Peer Support hosts and in other administrative roles.
The Interior and Garden Design Lab in DDS hosts a twice-monthly Peer Support Group, as well as frequent work days on the weekends.
Mise en place is a concept we at DDS have borrowed from the culinary world, and it means, in a nutshell, the process of getting everything all set up for a future project; it’s a concept that helps many of us with the inertia we often feel that makes “getting started” so difficul. It has become part of the culture and vocabulary of DDS, where we often use it as a verb.
ikik interior design is never really done but ykwim