Week 3 has come and gone and here I am still working on the ceilings, as predicted.
If popcorn ceiling removal is something you plan to do at some point, I hate to be the one to tell you this....
It is probably one of the least fun DIYs you will ever do.
The larger the space = the less amount of fun it will be.
I have spent HOURS on a ladder. My forearm is legitimately sore from using a spray bottle to spray the ceiling. (should I be embarrassed by this? Good thing I'm creating a gym, huh?)
And then of course holding your arm above your head for hours at a time as you scrape away the popcorn inch by inch.
It is physically exhausting.
And mentally mind-numbing.
In fact, it's so mind numbing that I desperately needed a break from it since I've been working on it every single day for over a week.
A few days ago, while the kiddos were napping I decided to take on a spur-of-the-moment project while my kiddos were napping.
One that had absolutely nothing to do with the ceiling or the One Room Challenge, for that matter, and painted a fun little clementine mural on my wall.
My brain, body, and soul so desperately needed to do something creative and it turned out so cute!
When I did my bathroom's popcorn ceiling removal in the spring it was a lot easier because I could do as much as I wanted and then just leave everything out and shut the door until I was ready to work on it again.
What makes this so much harder is that my basement is also my kiddos playroom - therefore, I cant just leave it out for "next time."
Nope.
That would be a disaster with my three little boys.
Instead, each time I want to work on it, I have to pull out the plastic sheets, get out all my supplies, work as long as I can and then clean everything up.
Even with plastic everywhere (which helps immensely with cleanup), cleanup still takes at least a solid 30 minutes each time.
That being said, this afternoon after spending another solid 3.5 hours working on it, I finally finished scraping the ceiling.
Sorta.
I decided to leave the popcorn on the ceiling in the little "reading nook" area as that is a total separate are from the gym space and the rest of the playroom.
I will definitely do it eventually, but as I'm working within the short time frame of the One Room Challenge, I want to make sure I have enough time to get the rest of my plans finished.
So what's next?
Tonight I've been working on filling any small gashes I made in the ceiling while scraping it, and also sanding any rough patch to make it as smooth as possible. If you can believe it, this is an even messier job then the popcorn ceiling removal.
I have a few hours left of that and then I can FINALLY have some fun and get to the "good part" - painting the ceiling!
I am SO EXCITED about this and have some really fun plans. This week has definitely been a physical and mental challenge.
It can be discouraging to see others seemingly so far ahead of me in their projects while I'm still chugging along at the ceiling.
It's easy to feel like I'm not making progress because I've been doing the same task for so many days in a row - but I keep reminding myself that each day I show up, is progress!
It's not about how "fast" you can do something.
It's about DOING something.
Stay tuned because things are about to get SO GOOD!
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As always, thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement.
None of it goes unnoticed!