Q: Since you decorate, upgrade, and renovate your house for a living, do you ever feel like you’re always working on your home and never just living in it and enjoying it? For example, after spending all day cooking in the kitchen, by dinnertime you aren’t hungry and often don’t want to eat. If something — like your house — is never completely finished and the to-do list feels longer than the mortgage documents, is it hard to sit peacefully without thinking about the next project and feeling a low-level anxiety? Or am I the anxious one for even asking? – Rach
Answer: That’s a great question, and we hear it often. Our love of home projects began as a hobby—after long days of work we spent nights and weekends improving our home, and we started this blog to keep friends and family updated. Because it began as something we genuinely enjoyed without any financial motive, the physical act of renovating still feels like fun. Even though we now make this our full-time work, we try to keep the hands-on projects for evenings and weekends so the work never loses its joyful, hobby-like quality. During daytime hours we handle blog tasks—replying to comments, writing posts, managing sponsors, arranging giveaways, and yes, watching the baby—then at night, when Clara is asleep, we get to use our tools.
Of course, running the business side of a blog can be stressful. The technical work, coding, administrative details like quarterly taxes and paying for health insurance—all of that can feel like real work rather than play. But the DIY stuff—the planning, painting, building, and instant visual progress—is consistently the part we love most. It’s the reason we started, and it still feels rewarding and personal.
Even tasks like photographing and editing projects sometimes feel like busywork, but the actual hands-on parts—where you see changes as you go—are the highlights. Not everyone would feel this way; some people prefer numbers, teaching, or other passions. For us, rethinking and improving spaces is a creative challenge that keeps every day different. Some people cap their DIY time at a few hours a week, and that’s totally fine. We enjoy doing it day in and day out. Over the years we’ve even taken on big projects during holidays, and while it sounds crazy, we wouldn’t change it.
That said, it hasn’t always been balanced. In our first house we piled unrealistic expectations on ourselves to complete everything quickly. We stressed about visitors and tried to finish ten things before anyone arrived, which led to burnout and disappointment when projects didn’t wrap up in time. The freeing lesson was learning that home projects take time—often years. Our den, for instance, didn’t come together overnight; it evolved over many months and years, and that’s okay. Taking time usually means better decisions and less regret, since thoughtful changes tend to be more satisfying than rushed ones.
We try to live by a simple mantra now: relax, it’s only decorating. Guests frequently arrive to find a cabinet door missing or a room mid-renovation, and it’s fine—people still enjoy the visit and our company. Realizing that others won’t judge us for an unfinished room was almost liberating. We don’t have to scramble to complete every detail before someone drops by.
Now we feel less pressured by time. Even with a long to-do list and an audience of readers, we remind ourselves that renovating is not a sprint but a journey. We enjoy the variety—one day we paint trim, another day we design a new layout—and those changing challenges keep the work fresh. Living in the middle of progress is part of the process: every completed element around the house reminds us how satisfying it is to transform something worn into something beautiful and functional.
We also pause to appreciate milestones. After finishing a long kitchen renovation, having family and friends gather in that space fills us with gratitude. Even quiet weeknights—one of us cooking while the other reads to Clara by the fireplace and then eating together at the peninsula—feel rewarding because those moments happen in a space we shaped. Sometimes we take Clara outside to play on the patio and enjoy the area we created, remembering what it used to look like before.
Bottom line: enjoy the journey. Don’t rush toward an imaginary finish line. Take small steps, celebrate progress, and let the process fuel your creativity. When you stop putting pressure on yourself to be “done,” each completed project becomes a source of pride and inspiration for the next one. So slow down, savor the improvements, and have fun along the way—your home will feel more lived-in and loved for it.
How do you keep your DIY momentum? Do you celebrate small victories as you go, or have you felt the all-or-nothing pressure we once did? It’s liberating to say: it’ll be done when it’s done, and we’ll enjoy getting there.