I've come to realize so many situations in my life have a variety of ways to be looked at. this particular one, the closet project, was a little test to see how I would perceive it and then how I would choose to respond.
it started when I brought the idea up to bob of planning ahead for our closet situation...that we would need to buy the pieces before actually moving into the space. bob was not on board. he did not think future closets were the priority we should be focusing on when we hadn't even listed our house for sale. he also didn't want to move the one thousand ikea pieces from Ohio to Michigan when there was a store an hour from our new home.
he wasn't way off. having differing priorities is a common theme of our relationship. and I've been known to get ahead of myself with projects...once or twice in my life 😏 he had solid ground to stand on.
test: is this bob challenging my idea and a need for arguing my case or a time to quietly trust my gut? I heard what he was saying and went ahead and started placing the orders anyway. It was me and my gut on one side, bob and logical thinking on the other.
when we were figuring the inside organization we became aware of how many things ikea had out of stock with no idea of suggested time line. bob reminded me we risked some pieces never coming in. that would mean buying, picking up, moving to Michigan and then returning the pieces to the store.
test: head to the risk and logic or calmly trust my gut? I made a plan on how I would track the pieces I was ordering and picking up since it seemed like it would take a while. house divided again.
there I was, ordering limited stock and high demand pieces sporadically as I'd get a text notification that two or three pieces trickled in several times I went to pick up an order and it was bought out from under me for whatever reason. perfect. I'd also get stock that was damaged and return home empty handed, waiting for undamaged goods to arrive. great.
test: is this a sign that I needed to let go of the ikea plan and find something that wasn't playing with my heart or to wait patiently for the thing I really wanted...the full built ins. I kept my name on the waitlists and fingers crossed.
as I started collecting the pieces on my list they seemed to pile up significantly in our garage. they were sucking up valuable real estate we needed as we prepped for moving into 25% of the space that we were used to. I'd be lying if I said this didn't cause some heated discussions.
and all of this struggle turned out to be worth it. because this past weekend [early may 2023] we finished assembling the closets!! phase one of the closet-workout room is done!
I would have never thought the process of planning and ordering ikea closets would come with so many opportunities for me to choose my gut decision over and over again. now that most of the struggle with the closets is passed I can say I'm grateful for those opportunities. and as a result the next project I get us into will come with even more confidence and me going with my gut.
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