My DIY Cottage: summer update

Installing the shiplap

Have you ever started a project only to find yourself dragging your feet? In my mind, I had the shiplap installed in a week. Boy, was I wrong! I moved at a snail’s pace until the time came when I had three weeks to myself with no distractions. However, therein lay my challenge; with no distractions, would I still manage to (dare I say it) get distracted? Hmm…

Even though I wanted to install the shiplap by myself, I was secretly wishing someone would see me and say, “Let me help you with that!” In the words of my husband after I shared my thoughts, “But didn’t you say you wanted to do it yourself?” I then reminded him that it was so I could have his help with something I couldn’t do myself; the beadboard ceiling. (He walked right into that one! ha ha ha!) Looking back, I couldn’t help but wish that this project had moved as quickly as a one-hour HGTV show!

A little spray gun mishap…

Truth be told, there was more than one spray gun mishap while priming the walls of my DIY cottage, but I’ll just stick to showing you my most “impressive” bozo move! My belated idea was to get our spray gun working in order to speed up the process of priming the shiplap, especially in the grooves. What I didn’t account for was my lack of skill/focus. Case in point: I was joyfully spraying the walls in long sweeping motions, totally unaware of the fact that I was also spraying the window that was kitty corner. I have no words for what an idiot I felt like when I realized I sprayed the window- not once, but multiple times judging by the amount of paint on it! So I packed the sprayer away, acknowledging that it was probably faster and less destructive if I used a roller and a brush!

Installing the beadboard ceiling

I saved my latest “help me card” for installing the bead board ceiling. Bright and early on a Saturday morning, my son and husband helped me put it up. I thought perhaps they would stick around to help me put the 2×4 “beams” up that would cover the seams, but they said they had other things to do- like not helping me finish (my words, not theirs!) So I declared I didn’t need help; I could do it myself! And guess what? I actually pulled it off, which surprised me because I really doubted I could!

Next up: painting the interior and installing the tongue and groove flooring in my DIY Cottage

This is the point in my journey that I can actually start to visualize a finished space! It’s been a year since the cottage was first built. I’ve done a lot of work to the outside, along with some landscaping. In a few weeks, the electrical will get done, so my goal is to have the painting and flooring done. Okay, realistically, I’ll for sure get the painting done and hopefully the floor. Stay tuned for the next update to see it I kept the momentum up!

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