I realized the other day that I have upgraded eleven (11!) chairs since we started the blog. I was in such a hurry to get each of these projects done that I took zero before pics. And by hurry I don’t mean “oh I can’t wait to do this project this weekend” I mean “let’s start ripping off fabric in the car on the way home because I can’t stand it.”

My impatience means we get stuff done. Lots of stuff. That is the blessing. Things are constantly changing places or colors around here. I sprayed these blue yesterday even though we are in a deep freeze and expecting an ice storm. My urges wait for no weather. I am like the post office- I just cannot be deterred.

The curse is that we have to rush through everything to get it done. No stopping for pictures, no mulling it over and no time to research the best option. I am not a perfectionist, so this method really works for me. I just want it done and it doesn’t need to be just right as long as I can cross it off my to-do list. Roundups work a lot better for me than tutorials, so without further ado (and without any before pictures) here are the “afters” of all of these chairs:

Six dining chairs for the beach house

Four free chairs I found for free at the swap shop

These ten were pretty quick changes since they are all vintages chairs from a time when chairs were designed for easy updates. The fact that old chairs were made to be recovered easily gives me endless joy.

The 11th chair Adam calls my “Frankenstein unicorn.” I had a chair that I liked, but I needed it roll for it to work. I bought an office chair to replace it only to discover that it was one inch too wide for my desk, so we took the bottom rolling part of the wide chair and paired it with the top pretty part of my old chair and now it is perfect.

Part of my issue is I don’t like following directions, so it is hard for me to write them out in a tutorial. I have to force myself to take notes when I knit since I usually don’t use a pattern, but I also can’t be bothered to remember anything. Currently I am knitting a baby blanket that I have knit 6 times before, but I have never written down how many stitches to cast on, so I have to reinvent the wheel each time. Arg. What is wrong with me?

Perhaps my only New Year’s Resolution (learn how to cook with capers) needs to be expanded a little to something that will make my life easier. I need to set a goal to set myself up a little better by slowing down a little.

I do love it when I surprise myself by making something easier. For instance, at Christmas I hang about 100 tiny vintage ornaments in our front window. In the past, this task usually takes hours. I was delighted to unwrap the ornaments this year and discover that last year I had packed them up with the strings attached so all I had to do was hook them on the nails (that were still up from last year) instead of restringing every single one. I thanked my former self for that little gift. I think I need more of that in my life.

I know my future self will thank my past self if I can just get it together in the present. I hereby declare this the year of focusing on the “befores.” Hopefully I will have something to show for it sometime soon on the blog.