Unless you’re dead nothing is final. We often become stricken with thoughts of finality and judgment when our choices are on display. Take choosing exterior paint colors for instance.
Be The First
Is there a correct color to paint your house? Unless the HOA police are out to enforce the five colors you can choose from in the grey and beige family then in reality, no. There is on the one hand our desire to choose what makes us happy. On the other, social acceptance.
As Mark Twain once said,
“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”
Create Your Options
When we got to the point of picking out floors for Daybook Cottage we hit all the usual big box places like Floor & Decor, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. Nothing seemed right. We couldn’t make a choice, not because of the same reasons I mentioned for the paint selection. It was because of a lack of choices.
When you find yourself in this dilemma the only option you have is to create options. We drove over an hour north of Marietta, GA (our hometown) to Dalton, GA. Dalton is where many flooring manufacturers are based. It’s what Hickory, NC is to furniture.
This proved to be a smart solution. Not only did we find more options, but we also got more help. More knowledgeable help that is. Some of the people we spoke to had been in the flooring business their entire careers.
We also avoided state sales tax since we were shipping the flooring from Georgia to Florida. Boom! Saved about $250! That essentially covered the shipping costs. Door to door without us dealing with transporting a pallet stacked with 36 boxes of flooring was a lifesaver.
Throw Darts
Choosing doors was gut-wrenching. What says more about your home’s personality than the front door? Maybe only paint color challenges the significance of the door style selection. Such an important decision and again so few options to look at in reality. No doors in stores to feel, close, open, look through, imagine a wreath hanging from…
We spent hours online and in Photoshop mocking up virtual views trying to make a decision on doors. Ultimately, it was nothing more than throwing darts in a best-calculated direction with little information, and hoping we received something we liked. Side note, it took 11 weeks to receive the doors. God bless, we liked them.
Errors, Trials, and Character.
Again quoting Twain,
“My education consists mainly of what I have unlearned.”
Daybook Cottage has been a schooling for us. It’s not the Instagram-perfect snap of fingers going from being on the brink of requiring a wrecking ball to the top ten VRBOs you must rent list. It has been humbling.
I have often commented to people that she (Daybook Cottage) has fought us all the way.
What we thought we knew from reading books, watching videos and following influencers tells little of the story ahead. It’s an overgrown path of choices with no clear options. It’s trial and error no doubt. At least it is for us on our first renovation.
All in all, it’s like the bumper on my truck. Things are going to get smashed up, just accept that as fact. Like I said unless you’re dead, nothing is final. Go for it, there’s glory just on the other side.
-John
