Just Do It.

Last month I wrote about the sad state of my family room walls. After living in this house for nearly fourteen years and using the family room more than any other room during our waking hours, I never made the time to finish hanging things on them.

Happy update: I finally did it. I received the photo canvas that I ordered online and hung it on the wall over the TV—i.e. the wall I stare at the most—and completed the wall behind my couch, which I adore so much now that it is the home of some of my favorite pictures.

Getting the walls finished motivated me enough to tackle another project that was completely minor in scope but huge in impact: a kitchen cabinet switch.

When we moved into this house we thought that the best cabinet for our spices and other miscellaneous baking supplies was the one in the corner, above the appliance garage. The corner cabinet is shaped a lot like a wide letter “V”, with the door at the base. That’s top view. Wait, am I being confusing? Just nod while you act like you know what I’m saying, and keep reading.

Anyway, that was an extremely silly and thoughtless decision, because have you seen the size of spice containers and most other baking supplies? They’re small, or as my dad would say, “Ess-Emm-All”. Putting all of those tiny things into a huge cabinet that has only one door and very little visibility from that one opening meant that we would spend (and have spent) nearly fourteen years nervously reaching into the Great Abyss, trying to locate the ground nutmeg or the food coloring and finding the taco seasoning or the garlic salt instead.

On the other hand, when we moved in and I unpacked my Grandma’s Desert Rose china collection, which I adore yet only use once every eighteen months at best, I stored it in two large cabinets that have equally large doors. I can access the heck out of that china I never have to access.

It suddenly occurred to me last year—which isn’t so sudden when you think about it but humor me—that I should put the china in the corner cabinet and the baking supplies in the two large cabinets. Delayed stroke of genius, I know.

I took the afternoon to make the switch two weeks ago and felt a little bit of relief with every move from cabinet to cabinet.

Sidenote: I don’t think Roxie was impressed at my triple-chair solution to the problem of having to jump down and climb back up every ten seconds. I, on the other hand, was totally impressed with myself. It was like I was carrying spices and measuring cups across a babbling brook on hefty stones. Or something like that.

When I was finished, I started screaming at myself with joy, “THIS WAS A FANTASTIC IDEA! WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THIS EARLIER??”

Kitchen life was immediately simplified. It is a joy to reach into the spice cabinet for ground nutmeg and pull out the ground nutmeg on the first try. I mean, can life get any better than that?

My point is, whether you’ve been “waiting” to do something around your house for nearly fourteen years or just one year (or just a week) and for some reason you’re procrastinating the job even though you are one hundred percent sure that getting it done will make your life easier or happier (or better yet, both!), just do it.

Now.

Why are you still here?

Go. Do it.

And then report back to me. I want to know what you did.

GO! OMG!