Home decorator Lara Winter is one of Ideal Home's Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on revamping a 200 year old cottage to make it right for modern family life. See the rest of her articles here.
I have a confession to make. If you've ever looked at photos of our cottage and imagined I'm one of those people who carefully finishes one room before starting the next, I'm afraid you've been fooled. I'd say I complete about 85% of every DIY project before getting distracted by something much more exciting.
I absolutely love decorating our home. Coming up with ideas, choosing colours, building something from scratch or watching a room completely transform - that's the bit I enjoy.
The final jobs, though? Painting skirting boards, filling tiny gaps, touching up the last bit of paint... I lose all motivation. By then, my brain has already wandered off to the next project.
Our home library is probably the best example. It stayed unfinished for years because of a few ugly metal shelf brackets that I'd always planned to hide.
Eventually I had a rare burst of determination, built a little arch to disguise one side and added coving across the top so it looked much more like a built-in piece of furniture. It made such a difference and I was so pleased with it.
Did I finish it? Of course not. There's still one lonely bracket on the other side that I've never got around to covering. Every time I walk past it, I think “I really should do that.” And then I carry on walking.
The same thing happened with my home office door to the garden. I'd wanted to paint the white UPVC door for ages and finally settled on the most gorgeous terracotta red (Red Earth by Farrow and Ball).
I got halfway through the second coat, realised I'd run out of paint and told myself I'd pick up another tin the following week. That was months ago.
The door still needs another coat and, if I'm honest, I barely notice anymore. My attention has already moved elsewhere.
Then there are the floorboards on our upstairs landing. One afternoon I decided I'd had enough of the old carpet, so I ripped the whole thing up without much of a plan.
Underneath were beautiful original boards and I could already picture how lovely they'd look once they'd been sanded and sealed.
That was over a year ago. The floorboards are still very much waiting.
I used to think this was one of my worst habits, but I've started to realise it's probably just the way I'm wired. I love the excitement of creating something new.
Once I can see the finished result, the creative part feels done. What's left is the DIY equivalent of paperwork. Maybe that’s why my list of future projects is always much longer than my list of finished ones.
Thankfully, my husband is much better at seeing projects through to the end. He'll quietly remind me that something still needs another coat of paint while I'm enthusiastically explaining my latest idea. Between us, we usually get there eventually, although perhaps not in the order either of us expected.
I also think there's something quite comforting about a home that's never completely finished. It means we're still living in it, changing it and finding new ideas. If I'd insisted on completing every tiny detail before moving on, we probably wouldn't have half the projects we love today.
So yes, if you ever visit our cottage, there's a fair chance you'll spot an exposed bracket, a door that could do with one more coat or floorboards that are still waiting for their big moment. But you'll probably also find me halfway through another project, wondering why I ever thought this one would be different.
