Turning My Waiting Room into a Classroom
Someone much wiser about life once said to me, “Turn your waiting room into a classroom.” Okay, so this person was Jess from the YouTube channel Roots and Refuge, and she was telling this to millions of people, but I felt like she was talking to me and only me.
I sit here this morning on the last morning of my eldest daughter’s first-grade year, ruminating over those words to ease my trepidation for summer vacation. My biggest fear? All my projects, however slow they’re going now, will come to a screeching halt. You see, I have big DIY home improvement, organization, gardening, and project dreams. Like BIG dreams. I want to remodel our kitchen, build my cabinets, learn how to do dovetail joints, replace windows, build a custom pantry, finish the greenhouse, grow so many backyard green beans that our children get sick of them, and make the girls’ playground and playhouse dreams come true.
Maybe more importantly, I dream of finishing my decluttering project and having just enough stuff. Everything has a home, organized to perfection, and I can find that screwdriver when I need it. There are also big dreams for this blog – of publishing more content, increasing my financial support of my family, and having a blog and home worthy of a Country Living Magazine feature. Country Living, can you hear me?
The reality is that I am a dreamer, project planner, creator, and kicker-offer of projects. Those things are easy for me to do in the margins of motherhood. But what I struggle with is making those big dreams a reality. Time for projects is my limited resource, as I’m parenting small children. All my fellow parents of littles, especially you stay-at-home moms out there, know exactly what I’m talking about.
The Waiting Room Era
Let me paint a picture: It’s been a month of trying to paint a closet in our living room and organize it into an arts and crafts supply closet for the kids’ bursting creativity. I do the project in fits and spurts at 10 to 20-minute increments whenever I can. It’s how I got the plant shelf done. But as soon as I gather supplies to work on a project, there are snacks to get, diapers to change, boo-boos to kiss, and sometimes kids need snuggles and reading time with Mom. And who took that bin of beads I just put away and dumped it all over the floor? Before I know it, it’s playdate or school pickup time, and the laundry still needs to be done.
Gone are the days of getting home from work and diving into that kitchen remodel project for three uninterrupted, glorious hours. It’s so hard to get anything done, but I do embrace and love the season I am in. I know these days are fleeting; the girls won’t always want Mom around. But I also crave time for projects and to move things forward. I try so hard in this season to focus on what I can do instead of what I can’t do.
That’s why I’ve spent so much time decluttering our home this year. It’s been an easy and worthwhile project to tackle while running after a rambunctious, always-seeking-mischief two-year-old. (Who, as I wrote this post, decided to paint the TV. No idea how she retrieved the paint from its double super-secret hiding location.)
While I try to just “keep swimming,” thank you Dory, with the projects, I also fight with myself to resist the urge to throw in the DIY towel temporarily. Sometimes it feels too hard, and I should just wait for a season when there’s more time and focus to tackle a project. That season is coming in just a few short months.
The Classroom Era Ahead
This fall, both children will be attending school. My eldest will be in second grade, and my youngest will be in preschool. I’m in my waiting room era with house projects. In this season, I don’t have much time; most projects are small, and the big projects barely creep along. But come September, I’ll have more freedom to make things happen. The big projects are coming, along with the ability to focus.
Can you imagine focusing on closet painting without watching out for the toddler about to dip her hand into the paint bucket? I am so fortunate and privileged that my husband fully supports my dreams of turning this blog into a thriving business instead of getting a “real” job once the kids are both in school. It’s already making enough to cover some of our bills, and I can only imagine what I can do with the gift of focused time.
Why not just wait it out? Start when it’s easier or when I have time and resources to tackle projects? I mean, there are only 75 days until school starts. Then I remember Jess’s words to turn my waiting room into a classroom. Right now, I can’t renovate my kitchen or grow the giant gardens I dream of, but I can take this time to prepare and learn so that when the time comes, I’ll be ready.
Turning My Waiting Room into a Classroom
Learning and exploring ideas is something I can easily do in the margins of motherhood. So, what am I doing right now to turn my waiting room into a classroom? Confession time: For the entirety of our DIY relationship, Colby does most of the heavy construction work, and I’m more of a finish-work person. He demos the bathroom, and I tile it. He frames and installs the new door, and I stain and poly it. I’m gearing up for that to change in this next era, and I couldn’t be more excited.
I’ve always known I could cut and install trim, build a furniture piece, or even frame a greenhouse. We just both love DIY and creating things. So, when the kids are in school, I want to do more of the work he traditionally does and acquire new skills. A new favorite habit for those in-between moments when the kids are in bed, and I’m just waiting for them to drift off completely? I watch DIY home improvement videos. My favorite topics are how to build cabinets professionally, refinishing furniture, and installing crown molding – all projects on the shortlist that I haven’t done before, and I’m trying to learn.
I’ve also been learning more about gardening, mostly on YouTube. I will never stop watching Jess at Roots and Refuge and dreaming about the homesteading life, knowing full well that I would never do it. Luke at MI Gardener has been a long-time constant favorite as well. His depth of vegetable gardening knowledge is unbelievable. One skill I’m working more on this year is garden pest identification and removal. YouTube has been helpful as I search for things like “tiny red bug that looks like a tick” or “how to deal with slugs.” The video content has been so helpful.
It’s the perfect time to be in this waiting room season because I’m also at a pivotal point in our home renovation. The upstairs is nearly finished, and we’re about to dive headfirst into our main living spaces. We live in a circa 1781 home, and I want the style of our main floor to reflect that, but in a modern way, with a cohesive feel. Before I do ONE SINGLE THING downstairs, I want a basic design plan.
I’ve been collecting design books while thrifting and even purchased a few new ones, like Heidi Caillier’s book Memories of Home, which came out in September 2023. It’s dreamy and so inspiring. Another book I forever turn to for inspiration is Nate Berkus’s The Things That Matter. It’s a constant reminder to decorate our homes with purpose, heirlooms, and pieces that have meaning to us.
Preparing for the Classroom Era
I have LONG-loved home and garden magazines. When I was in college, I started ripping out pages for inspiration – sometimes recipes or beautiful gardens, but mostly decorating and home improvement inspiration photos. The collection began as just a file folder, grew to a small file box, and now fills 7 binders of clippings. I’ve been looking through the binders for renovation inspiration while the kids get ready for bed. However, it’s been distracting for Rowan as she comes in and peruses the pictures with me. She also requests watching Dream Home Makeover with me. I adore her; seven is such a fun age.
Also, does anyone else remember this copper collection of Martha’s from her magazine? Swoon. It’s high on my dream kitchen wishlist. I can afford copper pots and pans on a minor blogger’s salary, right? Hmmm.
While I don’t normally love to spend a ton of time on social media, I have been making the “it’s research for home design plan inspiration” excuse for myself. Specifically, I’ve been looking for inspiration for fellow houses from the late 1700s, similar to ours, and how they renovated the interior while keeping the old-world feel. I started an “Old House Style” Pinterest board to collect images that feel like how I want our home to feel. My Pinterest algorithm is getting trained that I’m looking for these images and has been feeding them to me lately.
While I’m normally a voracious reader of fiction books, I’ve gravitated towards more nonfiction lately, specifically books on creativity, design, and home improvement. One book I’m perpetually reading is Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood by Ashlee Gadd. A longtime reader recommended this book to me, and it was such a perfect recommendation. It motivates me to keep trying to create through this waiting room era because creating is so inherently human.
I’ve also leaned into a curiosity about small solar power projects. I picked up the book The Off-Grid Solar Power Bible and have been learning so much about how solar works. While I don’t intend to go off-grid with our home, I would love to do some small solar projects, like powering the heat lamps for the chicken coop or heating our greenhouse a bit in the winter.
Embracing the Waiting Room
So, I encourage you, if you find yourself in a waiting room, to find a way to turn it into your classroom. The mindset shift is helping me immensely as we dive into summer vacation, and I hope it helps you too. Whether you’re currently an apartment dweller saving up to buy your first fixer-upper home or you’re living in a city but plan to move to the country to garden, do what you can to learn about the life you want or your next era and use this season to prepare for it.
And yes, the old “do what you can now” mindset holds, but there is more learning and exploring that you can do in this season of waiting. Waiting for whatever the thing is you’re waiting for. So, until I get to September when kids are in school, and I can tackle those big DIY and gardening dreams, you’ll find me now in this season, turning a waiting room into a classroom. Learning more about how to do those projects, exploring design plans, and, let’s be honest, making some lists.
Reading General Contractor is here to support you through your home renovation and decluttering journey. Whether you’re in a waiting room or a classroom era, we have the expertise and resources to help make your dreams a reality.
