On Decision Making

The trouble with having so many things to do is that it gets hard to see the whole picture and prioritize.  Yes, we want to be able to use the kitchen space more effectively and stop digging through boxes to find the pan/dish/etc. that we need in order to prepare a meal.  But, we also want to finish painting the rooms so that we can feel like when we put things away they can stay there.  We started categorizing every idea we have as High Priority Projects (HPP) and Low Priority Projects (LPP), but even still, the sheer length of the to do list sometimes gets a little paralyzing.  Yes, we actually use that lingo in normal conversation.

I admit I have a tendency to defer most decision making to MJ when it doesn't matter to me, probably because I don't want the blame if whatever I decided ends up being horrible.  This applies to anything from where to go for lunch, what to make for dinner, what color should we do the trim, do we get the chrome or brushed nickel faucet?  I know that isn't fair.  This is our home that we live in together and so we have to make our decisions together.  (I'm hoping someday he forgives me for choosing eggshell finish instead of flat for our bedroom.)

Anyway, this weekend, we decided on the fly to head to Ikea and just DO IT.  Knock one thing off the list.  We are sick of not being able to fit half of our things in the bathroom vanity, and in general just having the world's ugliest bathroom.  We flipped through the catalog and planned in our heads a few key purchases.  What we came home with was a brand new sink, cabinet and faucet, two mirrored medicine cabinets, and a collection of other random little 'necessities', because who doesn't need a new set of stainless steel spatulas and coconut scented candles?

Part of the problem with on the fly decisions is that it's easy to get in way over your head.  We thought we were just buying new things to replace the old things but once we took a look at the actual project, we realized there was a lot more to it than that.  We still wanted to paint and put in a new floor, and do we do it halfway, and wait to do the rest?  Or do we just dive right in and do all of it at once at a higher initial cost, and bigger chaos?  

We opted for just going for it (before and after coming next soon!).  Yes, it's more work, but I think the resulting serenity of having one room that we completely love is a much bigger payoff than stopping halfway and having that future project looming in the future.