The Good, The Bad, and The Budget
It’s Week 4 and I always have a bit of a moment with the halfway point of the One Room Challenge, when I feel like I’ve made a huge mess for myself and things do NOT look halfway done. This time around I’m only feeling that way about the basement, which is getting the complete reorganization treatment of seemingly thousands of objects that I’m sorting one by one. The yard at least shows visible improvement, and I have to admit I’m really excited about where it’s going.
The Good. The weather is cooperating and the yard is progressing. I received some great advice on my biodiverse non-grass “lawn” from a local garden center. I bought lovely plants and I even bought new yard furniture (who even am I?). I have a new idea for how to zone my yard that I’m really excited about, and I’m close to being able to get my hedge planted! My new rhododendrons have started to bloom already, which is about a month earlier than the others will bloom. I wasn’t sure I was happy about it at first, but now I’m enjoying it as a nice, colorful bonus to keep me energized as I work.
It’s A Vibe
In the basement, I’ve developed a MUCH better organizational system for my vintage finds. It’s so much better that I feel absurd for not having done it this way sooner. Where I was once storing objects by type (stemware, candleholders, vases, etc.) I’m now storing them by vibe. I know, a super helpful industry term there. But it’s letting me put my Art Deco items with my Deco revival items with my random vintage Avon lidded crystal dish that throws major Deco vibes. And where I had been having a bit of a block with photographing and listing all of these items to spread the vintage love, I now have groupings that will make wonderful collections to style and list together. I am actually excited about this, though to be honest the actual reorganization of everything is taking FOREVER and it’s making the space look more cluttered than ever as I sort and re-box.
The Bad. I haven’t gotten my second box spring yet, which has delayed my planter build. As a result, I’m going to have to temporarily repot my camellias to get my hedge planted. It’s not ideal, but I’m trying to keep forging forward anyhow. It’s still been a bit too cold at night here for me to plant my bulbs, so that’s been an exercise in patience. In the meantime, I took a peek at one of the bulb packs. If you had any questions about my gardening expertise, just know that I Googled, “What happens if you plant bulbs upside down?” For my fellow aspiring gardeners who can’t tell the upside of a bulb from the bottom, don’t worry. It’s totally fine and they know which way is up. At least the bulbs know more than I do.
My New Rhododendrons Are Blooming Early To Say, “You’ve Got This!”
Then there’s the basement. This basement will be the death of me. I’m having flashbacks of last year’s decluttering saga, and am trying to remind myself that I’ve already prepped my walls and after this reorganization effort I can tackle the fun stuff. I know that this is a worthwhile exercise, though that’s only so comforting when I’ve taken out everything that I own and it looks so cluttered that I genuinely don’t understand how I’ve already removed so much stuff from down here. It’s reminding me that decluttering and editing what I bring into my home will be a lifelong exercise.
The Budget: I’ve been chatting on Instagram about all things budget with my outdoor space. Considering that the outdoor space was a bonus add-on, I was trying to complete this space with an $850 budget. I considered this to be a relatively small budget for a whole yard, noting that soil and mulch and plants can add up pretty quickly. I did well with 50 qt bags of soil for $8 each, and I stretched the budget by buying bags of bulbs despite the fact that they won’t be fully developed by reveal time. I had hoped to find some second-hand outdoor furniture to keep seating costs low, but I’ve got to say it’s slim pickins in that department. What I’ve seen has either been bad quality from the start, is way too worn, or is oddly expensive. I did buy two new outdoor chairs, two gorgeous (and giant!) terracotta planters, and one new punchy lemon stool. They didn’t put me over budget, but I am left with little wiggle room for mulch and building materials for my box spring planter.
I had an idea about an area of pea gravel, which I knew might not make it into the project with the $850 figure. As I’ve been spending more time working in the space, I’ve been rethinking a major area of our yard. There is a space that I was including in my alternative lawn concept that in practice would be quite difficult to stay off of as seeds and plants take root there. And when I thought about how we actually use that patch of space I found that it needed some attention. It’s where we tend to set up our portable firepit. We have a smoker that we use, and set up tables of food there when we have outdoor gatherings. We like to set up a TV outside for outdoor sports viewing and the seats end up in this zone. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of having pea gravel in this area, rather than further subdividing our current gravel zone. To achieve a lounging, eating, fire-enjoying space here, I cannot think of the pea gravel as a bonus add-on. I’ll need to incorporate it into the design and into the budget formally.
So where does that leave me on the budget? I’m not sure. If I’m honest, budgets for me are like the Pirate’s Code. They’re more like guidelines anyway. The reason it’s this way for me is partly because of how my household functions. I have an automatic savings plan that goes into a Home Improvements fund twice a month. If an appliance breaks or the roof needs repair, we always have a little something saved away to help stay on top of those costs. We also use this fund to supplement household projects as they happen, which is a big help when things don’t go to plan. I also like to do what I call “better than budgeting,” where I’ll fund the overages on a project by either taking a break from usual expenditures or by selling items that the renovation makes redundant. There aren’t many saleable redundancies in this project, so I’ll be pausing on some monthly discretionary spending. I believe with these combined efforts (plus a portion of our tax refund), I will be able to add $450 to the budget for a grand total of $1300.
Having spent a little more on some ground cover plants, seeds, and ferns from a local small business nursery this week, my running total for the project is $930. While a $450 budget increase sounded like a lot, that leaves me with $370 for pea gravel, edging strips, a few more outdoor furniture items, mulch, and planter materials. It doesn’t feel generous, but it feels doable with a bit of creativity and elbow grease.
Making Room In The Budget For Pea Gravel In This High Traffic Area
It can feel vulnerable and downright uncomfortable to be candid about money. So why am I talking so much about my budget? Well, oftentimes on the internet we see these incredible transformations and have no idea what it would actually cost to achieve results like that. And when there are gifted items, contractors, and designer goods involved it can be a bit headscratching. The design world has a way of feeling unattainable at times, and it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a lot that you can do on any budget. It feels important to share my budgets and my true cost so that you all have something to gauge against your own goals and your own budgets. Maybe your budget would be bigger than mine, maybe it would be smaller. But hopefully seeing what it’s costing me to make these changes can help you see what you can accomplish with what is realistic for you.
Be sure to check out all the amazing progress happening by ORC participants this week at www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog <3
