How do moms do it?

Baby has been a bit sick lately, making home the place to be for the last week. The weather has been on the chilly side; again, making inside the place to be. G and I have fared pretty well, reading stories, listening to music and building towers. But all this homebody-ness drives me crazy when I look at all the undone things around the house! How do these blogger/fix-it/DIY moms do it?

The second I get into a project I either get distracted or feel guilty for not paying attention to baby. How can I find balance? Friends have suggested tackling small projects, focusing on them one at a time. Well, this may sound like a plan-- but the projects would still have to be small, indoor projects that don't involve getting things dirty or using chemicals or a sander, etc., and can get done in 20 minutes or less. That is very limiting! 

Meanwhile I still have an unfinished nasty basement, an unfenced yard out back that lacks grass and a falling down retaining wall out front. We just don't have the money to hire someone right now, and the weather is good enough to where I could do so much if I could just strap the kid to my back and do it! But... alas. Maybe these projects will have to wait a few years. I suppose reading to the kid and playing stack-em-up, knock-em-down is more important than a clean basement and shiny new backyard!
Does not like projects.
Anyway, here's a project that should have taken a couple hours that actually took about 3 days. The wall over the fireplace has been this dark, sad place since we moved in here. There are no windows nearby, just a west-facing slider. I just can't figure out what should go there. One huge picture? DIY art? A photo wall? It has been many incarnations. This year I was inspired--For Christmas, my parents gave me an awesome gift: A cow painting of my choice. I got to sit and deliberate about it on the website before I made my choice. And I did-- for about two weeks! As a kid, I was obsessed with cows. Then this summer my mom and I were shopping in Sonoma and came across these cow paintings. I wanted one, but restrained myself. She remembered! Anyway, I finally chose this one because of the bright colors and the horns. I love it! This is now the starting point to my fireplace wall... 

The wall in question, with the new cow.
 Yes, I still need to paint the baby gate! 

Somehow I decided that it would be like a gallery wall, offset with some of my favorite photos. I rearranged them on the floor (while baby was asleep...believe me, I did try this while she was awake and of course she could not resist crawling all over them, so I gave up until the next nap time.) It is much easier to lay them out on the floor, especially this one which is a grid pattern. I knew my space was 3x6 approximately, so they all had to fit within this.    
Laying out on the kitchen floor first...

Next, I attached them to the wall. Some are crooked-- yeah yeah I'll get to that later. At least they are up off the floor. Hubby doesn't like the arrangement-- says the cow should go in the middle. But I like it, I like the balance of color and asymmetry. So there. It still looks somehow unfinished to me. I am not a designer. I don't have that gene and I don't know how they do it. So, I will still be working on it. One day it will look right. For now, everything up there has meaning. The doily in a frame my grandmother made me. The mask came from the Dominican Republic when Brandon was stationed there. The pictures are from Burning Man and our wedding and the road trip we met on. One is of my parents when they were younger than us! 
Still not quite right.... 

Next, I want to add some vintage things or antiques like the photo below. It's all quite new right now. I like this photo in Country Living ... these guys have all their book and antiques stacked up and I think it looks very collected. My stack of books looks nothing like this, but it's a work in progress! I like how it's lived-in. My search for an antique mantle clock begins now. 
Country Living Feb 2014

So, onward with my fireplace wall! It is one of the last places in the house that really has felt undone and overwhelming. I think it's finally coming together! Easy project #1, complete. Phew.






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