If you’ve read my project planning and home office reno posts, then congrats, you’ve made it to the final phase of my home office series – putting it all into action! If you missed these other posts, I outline how I go about ideating, planning and implementing projects. And the specific project is my home office renovation. So now let’s get into the final phase of home projects: function! And happily ever after haha.
Routine
Getting Started
First things first, you’ve gotta have your drinks! I always start with a scoop of collagen in my coffee and a big bottle of electrolyte water. I have used this collagen for about a year and I really like it! My skin feels more elastic and I like the research behind it. But I digress. I set everything down on my estate sale cork coasters. I never knew of cork coasters before this amazing estate sale we went to a few months ago, but I love them because they absorb the liquid and they don’t stick to the bottom of your cup like so many coasters do! Then of course I turn everything on. Besides my monitor and laptop, I turn on my lamps and my monitor light bar.
Get Moving
Now that everything is on and I’ve got my drinks, I’m ready to get started for the day! I push my chair back and raise my standing desk to the highest setting. I’ve linked this desk in my past posts, but I love it so much! It’s really pretty and works well, but I love that it’s deeper than a regular desk, so I can fit all of my drinks with room for a lamp and flowers and a notebook. Once my desk is up, I unfold mywalking padand set it up under my desk. This is actually the fourth walking pad I’ve owned! The other variations I’ve tried have been clunky, hard to use, really loud, etc. I had my eye on the foldable treadmill for a while, but couldn’t convince myself to spend the money. So once it was on sale, I sold my old treadmill and bought the foldable walking pad – I LOVE IT. I will never go back, especially as someone who hates visual clutter, I love that I can stow it away and bring it out so easily. I typically walk for 1-2 hours in the morning on a low setting like 1.5 mph so I can easily type and work on my computer without any issue.
After walking for a couple hours, I crave a sit down in my comfy desk chair or I’m really hungry for an early lunch haha. Whenever my dogs hear the treadmill stop and the desk lower, they come running into the office for kisses, it’s so funny to me. But it’s also a really nice transition from go-mode during my peak productivity hours. Then like I mentioned, I love rolling my chair forward and sitting down to crank out another couple hours of work. I really wanted a Pipersong Meditation Chair, but I just cannot get behind the price tag. Plus, as much as I love to sit with my legs all over the place, I really love to get snuggled up to work sometimes. So I couldn’t fully foresee myself love the chair and for that price tag, I had to be sold. So, I looked for a comfier alternative and found this chair – my most favorite desk chair of all time! It’s cushioned and comfy, it has arms which I love, it can lean back as far as you need, but I really love that it has a foldout footrest! It’s perfect for when I want to sit criss-cross or stretch out my legs or even prop my feet up and snuggle in.
After working hard during the morning hours, I usually take a lunch around 11:30 or 12. Then I shift back in to work mode and prep for my calls, which are usually in the afternoon. I like to turn on and use my monitor light barto wake up my office space. I like this light bar because 1. it plugs into my monitor for ever-lasting power and I can hide the cord in my monitor arm, 2. it flips up and down for when I want my screen illuminated vs. my face during calls and 3. it has different brightness settings and can switch between warm and white light. So I’ll turn it on a high setting and face it down on my work space and then when my calls start, I’ll turn the brightness down and flip it up to sharpen the image of my face on client calls.
Typically throughout the whole day, I like to listen to a podcast or a book. If you’re looking for recs or if you’re also into audio books and podcasts, leave a comment below because I love to chat about it! My favorite podcast is probably Morbid (think true crime, but the hosts are besties and make you feel like you are too) and I love to use Libby for my audio books, it’s a free app to borrow books and audiobooks from your local library (hello huge savings)! I love a fictional thriller/suspense so naturally I love Julie McFadden. When the dogs are running around playing or I can hear my husband’s music from the kitchen, I love to use these budget-friendly noise cancelling headphones. They hold a charge for a really long time and the noise cancelling is great!
Then of course, I take my afternoon calls, which are a majority of my calls since I am on the east coast. After my calls and all of my work is done, I like to follow a wrap up routine. This usually starts around 5:15, but I really try to aim for 5:00, I swear! haha. First things first, gotta wrap up online. This usually starts once I’ve found a natural stopping point in whatever task I was finishing up last. Then I’ll review my inbox, by replying to any last minute emails, moving my non-to-do emails to a folder and putting any to-do emails on my list for the next day. I check off items on my to-do list (personal and professional) and review any remaining tasks for today in the task manager (we use Wrike, but I use Notion for my personal to-dos) and push them to tomorrow. I review my work messages (we use Slack and I have my own hex codes for a calm, green aesthetic, let me know if you’d like to see a post on it!) and make sure I have nothing outstanding and no one needs anything from me. And then I record my hours and where I spent my time for the day. Once this is all done, I like to play an energizing song and tell myself I’ll be away from my desk by the time the song is done. At this point, if no one has sent me an additional last minute message in the time I’ve been wrapping up, I should be good to mark myself “away” and put my work station to sleep. I love digital organization and have a ton of tricks, let me know if you’d like to see some of them!
Once I’ve shut down digitally, I like to close out my workspace. I’ll step away from my desk, turn all of the lights off (two lamps and the light bar), push my chair in, and clean up my workspace and put everything back to where it was in the morning. Then I leave my office and I don’t consider coming back into it anytime soon haha. I truly the love space I work in and I’ve found a routine that works really well for me, as someone who works from home full time and loves to spend her free time at home too haha. Let me know if this resonated with you or if you’d like to chat routine, set up, or books/podcasts!
If you read my last blog post, I walked through how to plan and organize for an entire home project. The examples I used in the post were all geared towards a home office renovation because it’s my most recent and most favorite DIY home reno I’ve done to date!
Ever since the pandemic, the work force has completely pivoted. Remote jobs used to be a pipe dream and few and far between. But now, a large portion of the American workforce works from home. For me, it’s an incredible opportunity and an environment I thrive in. Between calls I can run a load of laundry, I can take calls with my dog discreetly on my lap, I can make my lunch right in my own kitchen when I’m hungry. Beyond that, I love that I don’t have to commute. I’m such a homebody and introvert, that being able to get an extra hour or so to be at home without working is such a game changer. However, working from home can get tough when you work from your bedroom (like I did for 4 years), you have kids or dogs running around in the background of calls, or if you struggle to separate work from life when your work is so physically close to your life. For these reasons, I have found what a game changer a dedicated office space can be.
We have moved 5 times over the past 5 years (we’re done, I swear haha) and lived in apartments as small as 600 sq ft. Even if it’s just a simple curtain to separate your bed from your desk, or moving a dog crate into the closet to make space in the living room, anyway you can create a dedicated and separated space is so key to setting a work-life balance foundation. All of this to say, if you’re fortunate enough to have a sectioned off area for your desk or even a whole room, you can totally revamp the space to meet your needs!
Now, if you’re just perusing this post and you’re not here because you really want some ideas for your own renovation, you may be asking “why? Why do I need to change my space?” The short answer is really that you don’t need to! I think there’s a lot of power in being content with yourself and your space just as they are. However, I also think that your environment has a huge impact on your mood! It’s why I have very specifically curated thrifted art hung in our home, it’s why I’m constantly looking for things to purge from my home and make it easier to take care of and to look at. So, when I was working in my own office, the walls were beige with a jungle themed accent wall from the previous owner. The style really wasn’t me, so we painted everything white and replaced the carpet with hardwood floors (another DIY we learned how to do, let me know if this is something you’d like to see a blog post about!). Now that the space was calmer and a much cleaner and palatable vibe, I felt an itch to make the space feel more like me! I was using an old hand-me-down monitor that shocked me every time I plugged it in (I love to save a buck haha). My desk was so small that I couldn’t fit my water bottle on it and my walking pad was the center of the room! I tried out a patterned rug and velvet curtains and I hated it, it was so chaotic and harsh. So I knew my space was bumming me out, a space that I spend 8 hours in everyday, and the space my clients see in the background of calls. And I knew I wanted to do something about it, so I got really serious about planning out the office of my dreams!
I scoured social media for hours and hours trying to find somebody’s office that was shaped just like mine (it’s really small with a slanted wall) with two desks (my husband also works from home full time). I couldn’t find a single thing so I came up with my own formula for project and reno planning. You can review the blog post where I deep dive into my process here, so I’m going to skip it in this post for now!
So once I knew what I wanted to do, what my timeline looked like and what I wanted to spend on it, I got right to work! I’m going to break the rest of this post down into what I did and how I did it: Paint, Trim, Furniture, Details.
Paint
I fell in love with several photos of home offices painted sage green. So I scoured hundreds of review photos to settle on Green Onyx by Sherwin Williams. I bought 3 gallons for my small office and used about two and a half. Pro tip – Sherwin Williams is always running sales! So if you don’t see a sale live while you’re shopping, try to hold on for a couple weeks before purchasing to save yourself some cash! I also purchased an 18 inch paint roller cover and large plastic tarp from Home Depot because we already own an 18 inch roller and tray. Pro-tip, the 18 inch roller is nice because it covers more space, but the accessories are more expensive and harder to come by, so do your research and make the best decision for your needs! I also already own several paintbrushes and painter’s tape – these are my favorite brushes from Amazon, they’re so soft and clean up nicely.
While I waited for the paint and supplies to come in, I taped off the floor along the quarter round and around the door and window frames. I also removed all of the outlet and switch plate covers. Once the paint came in, I spent two days “cutting.” Which is a term some painters use to distinguish the prep technique of hand painting the areas where precision is needed and/or where the roller won’t fit. This would look like within corners, along the baseboards, around windows and doors, etc. Those areas needed to be painted twice to get an even coat. Noting that because I chose a color drench theme, I painted the quarter round and baseboards along the bottom of the walls, but I also had to cut along the seam between the wall and ceiling and around the fan and vents.
Once I was done prepping the space, I covered the desks and rug and got to rolling the walls and ceiling! This is more physically intensive and less strategically difficult. At this point, I was seeing my vision come together and I was so so excited! Although I must admit I am a recovering “all the walls must be white” addict, so the green color drench was terrifying for me! But I trusted all of the other professionals whose photos I drew inspiration from!
Trim
As I discuss in my planning blog post, I chose a specific trim layout and trim design. So once the trim came in the mail (thank God for Home Depot’s free delivery), I got right to cutting! We had to buy a floor cutter when we installed our hardwood floors, so that’s what we used to cut the trim for this project. However, there are really simple tools you can use for these that do not require any power tools re: multi-angle miter sheers. Once all of the pieces were cut, we lined up the first piece on the wall, made sure it was level and nailed it into the wall. Couple notes here, I recommend getting a large level and/or a laser level for this. Also, we have an air compressor powered nail gun because it’s cheaper than the battery operated ones. However, the battery operated ones are totally worth the splurge in my opinion! Having to get the air compressor out for every nail gun related project is such a pain!
Once all of the trim was up, we caulked the seams and filled the nail holes and the corners in with spackling. This is a game changer and makes the project look so professional! After the caulk dried, we hand painted the boxes the same color as the walls. Some people like to leave their trim white, but the color drench style feels so much more elevated in my opinion. Again, this took two coats. I usually like to do one coat per day to make sure I’m not painting over wet paint and creating more work, but the trim dried very quickly so I slapped a second coat on just a few hours later and they look great. After this, the bulk of the work was mostly done – and wasn’t that so easy!?
Furniture
Something else I discuss in the planning blog post I linked is how to budget for projects. Trim is relatively cheap (a little over $1 per foot) and I got the paint on a great discount ($100 total). However, like I mentioned earlier, my desk was too small, my chair was hard and rigid and my monitor would shock me haha. So in order to upgrade these pieces to create the office of my dreams, I needed to get serious and budget. Once I had my vision, I found the cheapest alternatives that looked great and had great reviews on Amazon. I picked out a beautiful and wide standing desk, the most cost effective ultra-wide monitor I could find (turns out, I love it!), a chair with a footrest because I’m a criss-cross applesauce girl and different accessories. I prioritized what I purchased based on the need (I use Notion for this, let me know if you’d like a walkthrough or if you’d like a desk tour!).
So naturally, I bought the desk first and sold my old desk on Facebook Marketplace (let me know if you’d like to see a post with tips on navigating and selling on FBM!). Once I had the desk, I really wanted that new monitor and so that’s where I went next (a few weeks later). And then from there, I got my chair and was able to narrow down my list of desk decor “needs.” I thought there were so many things I “needed” based on the cute desk setups I had seen on Pinterest. But as I slowly settled into my new setup, I realized I didn’t need that desk riser or mood lights, it was only going to create clutter for something I didn’t need and ultimately waste money. I am a huge proponent of creating an impulse list and slowly buying as you have the funds if the desire still exists (let me know if you’d like a walkthrough on how I manage my impulse list!). And where some small desires came up, I waited till I found it on a thrift trip or on an estate sale tour. As a result, my desk is adorned with a vintage brass frame, the cutest little lamp with a shade that was hand-welded by the previous owner (gorgeous mother of pearly panels with gold welding), and a beautiful brass floral vase with my fake flowers because plants die with me haha.
Something else I want to note is that I had a big plan for a new rug, new fake plants, new art, etc. But I realized that if I stood in my office as it was at this point and envisioned it was a post on Pinterest, I would be in love! So I decided to tactfully layout the art, put the plants in new thrifted pots and keep my rug – it’s all about balance, baby!
Details
As I mention in my planning blog post, there will often be new ideas that come out of any project. Always expect your simple idea to snowball into surrounding areas – but that’s part of the fun! So as the office has come together at this point, I noticed the outlet covers really stuck out. I could keep them as is, it’s really not a big deal, but it would be an easy thing to change. So I decided to paint the outlet covers the small color as the walls. I also sealed them with a matte sealant to protect from scratches when plugging things in. And I replaced the switch plate with a brass version I found at Home Depot and I love the style!
Finally, I also decided I could make the office closet look awesome and upgrade it from the dinged up, one shelf, catch all that it had become. I basically restarted the process by finding inspiration, buying materials and implementing! I put up shelf supports (my first time, but actually so so easy) and then cut shelves down to fit in the closet. I used the floor saw for this and ordered shelf wood from Home Depot (who knew this existed!). Then based on the inspiration photo, I painted the side walls the same Green Onyx from SW and covered the back wall with a gorgeous marble contact paper. I hung a curtain rod below the hip-level shelf and installed cafe curtains to hide everything I was storing underneath (re: D&D books, important paperwork and our printer). Then I went to town decorating using all thrifted items! Let me know if you’d like to a step-by-step guide on how I did all of this!
And now I have been living in my new setup and loving my new office for a couple months! Although I love to implement a new project quickly and get that dopamine hit faster, there really is something to be said about taking things methodically and slowly and learning to be content with what you currently have to shift your mindset much faster and much cheaper!
Planning is the first step in bringing any idea to life, it can be the most and least fun step at the same time too. I like to break planning down into three steps: Direction, Details, & Specifics. Plus a few bonus steps I’ll cover later in this post. So, let’s jump into direction!
Direction
To help explain each step of the planning process, I’m going to use a project example. Let’s say you go to sit down at your laptop, you look around at your desk and your room and you’re feeling “meh,” you’re feeling uninspired. So you think, “Let’s do something fun in here!” But where do you start? Before you begin thinking about finances, supplies, timelines, or anything else, you need direction! And I like to break direction down into three sub-steps; Theme, Ideas, Cooperation.
So let’s talk theme – this is, in my opinion, one of the most fun steps! Your homework is essentially to spend time scrolling Pinterest, Instagram, flipping through magazines, watching interior design shows, really anything you can do to spark joy and inspiration. As you go through this process, you’ll start notice that you’re gravitating towards certain themes. The inspiration photos you’ve loved may all look completely different, but look for the underlying themes that connect the photos. It could be a color palette, a statement piece of furniture, accent walls, color drenching, traditional design, box trim on the walls, certain patterns, built-ins, functionality, hardwood floors, light fixtures, it could be anything! Pro-tip: let this process take as long as it needs to, you may find over a week or two that something you liked in one photo is not nearly as timeless to you as an alternative you found in other photos.
Back to our office example – you’ve identified this room as your next project that you’re really excited about! You’ve taken a few weeks to put together some inspiration photos and you’re finding some commonalities in themes across the photos – let’s say most of the photos have box trim on the walls, they’re color drenched and all have dark, traditional art hung on the walls. You’ve given the themes and photos some time to simmer and you’re feeling set that this is the direction you want to head in – awesome! Now it’s time to compile some real ideas. The idea phase is a little easier, and in my opinion, also super fun! You know the themes and elements you want to incorporate into the room, but’s time to pick the actual design, colors and pieces you’ll use. You can look for more ideas on Pinterest if you’re not satisfied with the images you currently have, but the photos you’ve saved should have everything you need at this point. Find the exact style and design of box trim, the exact wall color, the exact rug, the art, etc. You’re essentially going to make final decisions on the elements of the room and leave a little wiggle room on anything you’re planning to thrift (like art, decor or furniture) which can change based on your thrift store.
Now that you know the exact ideas you’ll be using, it’s time to find cooperation between them to create a seamless design. For example, you may have three photos you’re using – one has the wall color you like, another has the box trim design you want to use and another has the desk you like. But it’s hard to imagine these ideas all coming together to form one design without actually being able to see it, right? Enter design tools. There are lots of options out there to create your one of a kind inspiration photo like Procreate, Canva, Photoshop and more. However, I love the simple and free tool of Goodnotes! The reason I prefer to use Goodnotes (apart from it being free), is the ability to freehand crop images! This would allow you to crop just the desk, box trim, wallpaper, light fixture, rug, art, etc. that you want to incorporate into your design. Here’s an example of an inspiration photo I created in Goodnotes by combining all of my ideas for our office reno:
Would you like me to put together a tutorial on how I do this? Let me know!
Congrats, step one of finding your direction is now complete! It’s a great feeling because at different points of the theme and idea stages can be so agonizing when you love everything (like I do!). Now you get to focus on stage two – Details! The detail phase is a little easier, but involves more research.
Details
Continuing down the detail phase, it’s time to get really specific about what exactly you’ll be doing and buying. In our example, we decided on traditional art, color drenching, a desk and box trim. As you start your research, it may shock you to find out just how many paint colors and slight variations of greens or blues exist! Box trim seems simple enough, right? But there are hundreds of styles! In this phase, you should be perusing blog posts and company websites. Let’s start with Googling your ideas – “color drenching,” “traditional art,” “wall box trim,” “standing desk” and so on. A blog post with a cover photo of a color drenched room you think looks nice may inform you that the creator used matte paint on the walls and shine paint on the baseboards and box trim! Or you may read a blog post with a photo of a box trim wall that you love and you find the exact trim they used to create the look. You’ll also find out what tools you need to complete this project by researching each element. This is how you create a list of everything you need – don’t worry about exact amounts or prices right now, just focus on what you love and what speaks to you! Everything else comes in the final step of specifics.
Specifics
Okay, let’s get started on the final step of planning your project! The specifics phase consists of a budget, timeline, measurements, and purchases. So let’s start with budget! For me, I like to set an upfront limit (could be $100 if your project is small or up to $1,000 if your project is a large undertaking) and then incremental limits. So in the example of the office renovation we’ve been discussing, I would set an upfront limit of $300-$500. This allows you to purchase the paint, the trim and the tools you need to complete the bulk of the project. After this, I would allow myself another $50 per week to buy things like the desk, curtains, a new chair, and any decor, more slowly over time. I have found by limiting my purchases and/or setting a weekly budget that I can still move fairly quickly on projects, but my impulse purchases are nearly cut in half. For example, you may purchase a new desk for your office and you have a whole cart of desk additions waiting for purchase. But after using the desk, you find you don’t need that desk lamp or pencil drawer after all. And of course, as always, make sure to consult your budget and finances and discuss your proposed budget with anyone you share money or the space with. I have a personal finance workbook I’ve perfected over the past four years that keeps me on track, I plan to write a post about it, but let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see! Congrats, you now have a budget everyone is comfortable with! Now it’s time to figure out a timeline.
As expected, your budget and timeline go hand in hand. In the office example, you may have uncovered that color drenching takes longer than regular painting. You know the space will need to be hand painted along the floor, in corners and around windows and the whole thing will likely need two coats. So it may take you two days (depending on the room size) to complete one coat, leaving you about four days to paint the whole room – don’t forget to factor in work and outside activities! You may have a base knowledge of cutting trim, so that process may take you a day, but if you’re learning how to cut trim for the first time, it could take you a few days. So we’re looking at 1 week total for the walls, but add a buffer of about another week. So all in all, the room changes will take you two weeks. I also recommend you plan out your purchases based on your budget and what you’re comfortable spending weekly and monthly. So if you want to buy art, a desk and a chair, this may take you a month, depending on the prices. So the total timeline is looking to be ~1.5 months. This fits within your schedule and budget – great job! Now that you know what you want to spend and how long you want to work to complete the project, it’s time to get some measurements!
Measurements
This one isn’t too hard, it’s not as creative as the other aspects of project planning. This looks like calculating the total square footage of your walls for paint or wallpaper (remember to subtract the doors and windows!), the amount and size of art you want, the size of desk that would work best for you, laying out the box trim pattern on your walls and measuring the total length of all the pieces, measuring your floor for a rug, measure your window for curtains, etc. You should now have a list or a cart(s) with exactly what you need (apart from what you want to salvage secondhand). Keep an eye out for sales going on as well – Sherwin Williams is always running BOGO and % off sales on paint, I’ve never paid full price for paint!
This is a good time to reassess your specifics, timeline and/or budget as needed. If the box trim you chose turns out to be really expensive, look for an alternative within your budget, wait for Black Friday to buy that desk you really want, scour through Facebook Marketplace for cheaper alternatives to the lamps you found at West Elm, you could even extend your timeline to space out payments, etc. I always prefer to find alternatives, slow down or shift my plan to avoid over-spending. Now you’re onto your final step of planning – purchasing!
Purchases
This is another fun step, but can be a little stressful too! But because you set a really solid budget and timeline with which you’re comfortable, the stress should be minimal! Always start with the highest priority, foundational, biggest impact things first. This is anything to do with the walls or floors. So for our office example, this would mean you buy the paint, box trim and all necessary tools first. And as a pro tip, I like to purchase things with a 5% buffer. I have found that 10% is too high, but spot on is often just barely not enough. A 5% buffer ensures you’re not filling your garage with a bunch of half used lumber, but you’re also not making multiple trips to the hardware store. Then as these items come in and you work on implementing this phase of the project, your budget has a little time to recover and you can hit the ground running with your next purchase when you’re done. Pro tip: use the incremental purchases as a small celebration/reward for completing a phase – the dopamine is awesome, especially since you know it fits within your budget!
Another pro tip for the purchasing phase: save anything you can find at the thrift store, garage sale, yard sale, estate sale or Facebook Marketplace for last. That way, you’re more likely to find the item through a cheaper (and more environmentally conscious) means before you buy it firsthand! For this reason, I always like to save decor for last and anything I’d be comfortable using after a wash. For example, I always like to thrift decor, lamps, art, frames, baskets, light fixtures, etc. versus bedding, some types of rugs, certain pillow fabrics, etc. that I’d prefer to buy new. Mini pro tip: I love estate sales for the pure fact that you can see first hand how everything was taken care of! If the home has a musty smell, I might be less likely to buy a blanket than I would be from a home where I can see the blankets were kept in a clean linen closet. Okay enough from me on that, I plan to dive into thrifting tips in another post – let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see!
Congrats, project planning is done!! Now it’s time to implement everything you meticulously planned, you’ve got this! Below is how my office renovation turned out!
But you know I don’t gatekeep so I figured I could share two more points to project planning that come up after the project is in full swing: Continuation and Celebration. As you’re working on your project, you may find that there are some ideas that pop into your head as you go! For example, you realize your ceiling fan doesn’t fit in with how you renovated a room, or now that you’ve painted, your outdated switch plates stick out like sore thumbs, or maybe you realize the closet in the room isn’t nearly as functional as you need. This stuff happens, and I honestly think it’s a great sign – you’re honing in on your skills, your design taste is developing and you’re finding areas of opportunity all around! In the continuation phase, I recommend you run through the whole process all over again, but on a smaller scale. Find some photos of the opportunity you found, take measurements, put together a shopping list and timeline and put it into action (or add to your overall timeline if you’re still working on the original project). Below you can see an example of when I thought I was done with my own office renovation, but decided to turn our closet into a tea bar with lower storage.
Once you’re completely settled and love your space, it’s time to celebrate! I recommend taking photos and videos along the way to remind yourself of where you started and watch all of the incredible work you’ve done. You could post these photos and videos, compile them into a video for yourself, scrapbook them or share with friends and family! It’s always fun to reminisce on all you’ve accomplished. Once you’re done celebrating, TAKE A BREAK! I’m the first one to hate on boredom, but it can be such a nice contrast to the hustling you just did to complete your project. Let the boredom bring you inspiration through unexpected channels – dinner at an architecturally interesting restaurant, a neat idea for organization you saw at an estate sale, or a beautiful paint/wallpaper combo you saw on HGTV. While you’re taking a break (for yourself and your budget!), shift to small crafts and projects for a palette cleansing short term dopamine hit. For me, this looks like thrifting ornaments and slowly hand painting them while I watch TV, knitting while I listen to a true crime podcast, working on tricks with my dogs, planning and designing a small party at our home, etc.
