Have you ever been in the middle of a craft project and discovered you couldn’t finish because you forgot one of your supplies? Have you ever started a home-improvement project you thought wouldn’t cost you much money, but by the end realized you were really wrong? Ever started a project that took months for you to complete, when it should have only taken a few days? Today we’re going to tackle those projects head on with a useful free project planner printable, because you know I love sharing my freebies with you guys. It is Freebie Friday, after all!
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, I bet you can still feel the disappointment in your gut. I can almost hear you telling me about your experiences….
“I thought I was almost done making my my new front door wreath, then…nuts! I can’t believe I forgot to buy hot glue sticks!”
“I didn’t think it wouldn’t cost much to upgrade the flooring in my spare bathroom, but ten trips to Lowe’s later I found myself staring at a pile of receipts in unbelief. We shouldn’t have done it!”
“I thought we’d get the foyer tile replaced in one weekend, but it turned into two months. I can’t believe it took so long!”
OK, I’ll admit…the voice I hear is my own. Yep, I’ve been guilty of poor project planning a few times in my life. Alright, I’ve been guilty A LOT. But the truth shall set you free, so I’m taking the bull by the horns today. I’ve created a printable for me…and you…to plan our household projects so we’re not in a lurch searching for supplies, time or money. Sound good? I thought so!
I was so excited when we finally set a date to renew the grout that was chipping away in our foyer and master bath. We had put it off for way too long, and since the hubby researched how it needed to be done we thought we were good to go. We picked a date on the calendar and looked anxiously forward to the project. Truthfully, we dreaded it, only we didn’t know why until later. Here’s what happened in the tile project saga:
- The date came, and we realized a grout removal attachment for a tool my hubby owned would make the job easier. We decided to wait a week and ordered it from Amazon.
- The part came and it didn’t fit. Ugh! Made a trip to Walmart and got what we needed.
- Umm…never use a power tool to remove grout from tile while the AC is running! We spent the entire afternoon and night dusting and vacuuming up the layer of grout dust that had settled on practically everything in our living room, bedroom and bathroom.
- We discovered the grout chipping away was due to some cracked tiles that needed to be replaced. A trip to Lowe’s revealed they did not carry the tile we needed to match our current flooring. Eek!
- We realized the week before Thanksgiving was NOT a good time to start this project, because all the flooring stores were closed for Black Friday and Saturday after the holiday.
- A week later, we discovered all the flooring stores in our area are closed every Saturday, and due to my husband’s work hours and my previous commitments, it would take 2 weeks before I could make it to the store myself. But he called, and one store said they carried the brand we were looking for, so we were hopeful.
- Geez…I can’t believe the flooring stores didn’t have tile to match my 7 year old tile!! Crazy, huh?
- Christmas and New Years came and we were too busy to work on the project. I was beginning to think we would never get this done.
- We decided to move some of the tile from the foyer to the bathroom so it will match and then buy all new tile for the foyer to solve our problem. We finally had a solution! We made a trip to Lowe’s to buy tile and have them cut some of it to fit into our space.
- Great….the new 12 x 12 tile didn’t fit because our old tile was actually 11 7/8 x 11 7/8. Seriously???? What next???
- Hmmm….once it was finally time to put down the grout, we realized we needed a mixer attachment to properly mix it. One more trip to Lowe’s!!
[Tweet “Plan for all that you can, so you’ll be more prepared for the things you can’t plan for.”]
The good news is, it’s finally finished! Yay! Two months from the date we had planned to start and complete it, it is finally done. Now, I understand there are some things you can’t plan for. We couldn’t see the cracks in the tile until we started the project, and there’s no way we could even try to match it without pulling up a piece to scan the barcode on the side. We had no idea we would need to visit a flooring store and had no clue that even though most tile says it is 12 x 12 it actually isn’t, except for the one box of tile we first purchased at Lowe’s. Some things you just have to experience and learn. BUT, what could we have planned better for? We should have made sure we had all the tools we needed prior to starting, we should have chosen a better date to start the project, and we should have estimated and planned a budget for it.
DOWNLOAD FREE PROJECT PLANNER PRINTABLE
I didn’t tell you this long story to bore you or make you feel sorry for me. Well, maybe I want you to feel sorry for me a little bit….I spent the holidays with a Christmas tree in one corner of my living room, and a bucket of tile/grout supplies in another for goodness sake! But the real reason I told my story was for you to learn from my mistake. Plan, plan, plan for all that you can, so you’ll be better prepared for the things that you can’t plan for. Download the project planner today and you’ll be one step closer to getting organized for the next project on your list. Trust me, I’m definitely planning on using it!!
Have you snagged the other Freebie Friday goodies?
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