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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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January 6, 2015

It’s OK To Start Small

 

Sometimes you just have to start small.

Sometimes on the day your kids start back to school after Christmas break you might start out in the morning with a million ideas swirling in your head and wondering about which home improvement project you are going to tackle first.

You may even get so hopped up on caffeine that your brain tricks you into thinking that you will break out the miter saw and nail gun and jump right into that kitchen island makeover.

kitchen desk organization from atthepicketfence.com

But then, after making breakfasts and packing lunches and getting everyone out the door and dropped off at school and then driving across town to WalMart and working your way through your ridiculously long grocery list and driving back across town towards home and unloading the groceries and putting everything away and cleaning out the fridge of all of the holiday junk and starting a load of laundry and changing into your sweats (come to mama!) and standing in the kitchen and marveling at how quiet the house is…well…then you might find that not only do you not have the energy to start on a major project…you don’t even really want to.

Sometimes you only have enough energy to start with something small.

Sometimes all you are able to do is organize the desk in your kitchen.

wood tool caddy as storage and organizer for desk atthepicketfence.com

 

Sometimes all you can do is sort through the ‘junk’ basket that has been sitting out on the desk and getting piled high with receipts and school papers and…well…junk.

Sometimes it feels so amazing when you finally do something that frankly only takes about 10 minutes to accomplish but you’ve been putting it off for months and months.

And sometimes its ok to just make simple changes like replacing the ‘junk’ basket with a wood caddy and still feel a deep sense of accomplishment.

tool caddy with mason jars for holding pens atthepicketfence.com

Sometimes just finding a spot to tuck your phone away while it’s charging can make your heart go pitter patter.

wood caddy organizer and phone charging station

And sometimes, this seemingly small and insignificant task isn’t really as small and insignificant as you might think.

kitchen desk organization from atthepicketfence.com

Because, well, we all know that

starting small

is better than

not starting at all.

Vanessa signature

 

 

19 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Good Ideas

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Comments

  1. Nancy says

    January 6, 2015 at 5:23 AM

    Amen to starting small. Why make January stressful when we just got over Christmas stress? Clearing the small area around what is probably central in your life seems to me to be the best place to start. In Irish tradition my Christmas decorations should be down today. NOT! And I’m not letting it bother me. I’m cleaning closets as I go. Starting small! BTW, I love your desk caddy.

    Reply
  2. June says

    January 6, 2015 at 5:49 AM

    Thanks for reminding us its ok to start small! I’m working really hard at taking life day by day as I have always taken on multiple projects at one time and found trying to be supermom and superwoman got me nothing but stress!

    I’m finding letting go of some of the things in our home is a great way to start small. Yesterday I was delighted that my sister was interested in one of my sets of china…yup I’m a baby boomer. It has been taking up semi prime space in my kitchen as my china hutch now houses my wonderful white Pottery Barn dishes that I LOVE. My boys don’t want the china so I decided to find a family member that would cherish them and I did. A bit easier letting go as they were given to me as a set because an older sis found them on a great buy when she managed a china department many years before I was married.

    Our homes were built one brick or piece of wood at a time…we learned to walk one small step at a time…I think living life through one small project at a time sounds perfect.

    Reply
  3. Jane @ Cottage at the Crossroads says

    January 6, 2015 at 5:51 AM

    I’m thinking I need a caddy in the kitchen to hold all those miscellaneous things that get dropped on the counter. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  4. Susie says

    January 6, 2015 at 6:13 AM

    Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” Zach 4:10
    Thank you for reminding me how very important and how very honorable God sees the small things. After years of gathering projects, pictures, and narratives, I finally started a blog. Yes. Finally. It’s one week old, has four posts, and nine followers.
    It’s definately a small beginning.
    But in this moment, I rejoice in this very small thing and today…… take at least one more small step.

    http:thechelseaprojectblog.wordpress.com

    Reply
  5. Kim @ Cozinest says

    January 6, 2015 at 6:52 AM

    I am the queen of procrastination. This is helpful. My new motto…start small.

    Reply
  6. Barbara Ann says

    January 6, 2015 at 7:39 AM

    Starting small is where all great project’s come from. Putting the idea on paper, gathering tools needed or just imagining something different could happen, once my coffee kicks in! For me it was adding an extension to a plug. Something so little was holding me back from changing up the decor on my table. Also plain procrastination & the lazies. But last trip to Walmart the plug thing jumped in my basket. When I got home and could now use the lamp AND my laptop at the same, well I was inspired. I could do more. So I polished up the table and set out to make this space new for 2015. Small steps gets us on the road. Now for cleaning the kitchen cabinets. More coffee needed for that!
    Barbara Ann
    etsy.com/shop/barbaraannscreations

    Reply
  7. Clearissa says

    January 6, 2015 at 7:40 AM

    Sometimes a small adjustment can make your heart sing. Loved the post. 🙂

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 6, 2015 at 4:09 PM

      Thank you Clearissa!

      Reply
  8. Thistle says

    January 6, 2015 at 7:51 AM

    You are so right!

    Starting small is the best. 🙂

    Happy New Year friend!

    k

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 6, 2015 at 4:09 PM

      Thanks sweet friend!

      Reply
  9. Pam @ diy Design Fanatic says

    January 6, 2015 at 8:28 AM

    So true! Doing anything is better than nothing applies to everyone in all of lifes situations. I’ve definitely been living by that mantra lately. Sometimes I feel like I get nothing done all day, so I write down what I do. Doing that makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. Thanks for the reminder and the inspiration!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 6, 2015 at 4:09 PM

      That’s a great idea Pam! I have those days too where I feel like I accomplished nothing but then I look back and realize how much I really did get done! So glad you came by today friend. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Kerry Purcell says

    January 6, 2015 at 3:29 PM

    Beautiful reminder. Just beautiful. I sometimes get so overwhelmed with things to do that I stifle myself and end up being non-productive. This reminder about just taking the first step is one to remember. Thanks, Vanessa!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 6, 2015 at 4:08 PM

      Thank you Kerry! 🙂 I do the same thing where instead of just starting on one thing I end up being so overwhelmed that I do nothing. Glad to know I’m not alone!

      Reply
  11. jane@Jane@Bluebird1959 says

    January 6, 2015 at 3:33 PM

    Words to live by!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 6, 2015 at 4:07 PM

      Thank you Jane!

      Reply
  12. Linda @ It All Started With Paint says

    January 7, 2015 at 8:37 AM

    Truer words have never been spoken! And that sense of accomplishment of organizing an area that has been bugging you for months is truly amazing. I have one (or more) of those areas in my house right now!

    I, too, started that Monday with some many ideas racing around. And yet found myself chasing my tail all day! Thanks for the reminder to start small …

    Happy New Year!

    🙂 Linda

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 7, 2015 at 7:45 PM

      Thanks Linda! Happy New year to you friend! 🙂

      Reply
  13. Donna Marie says

    January 7, 2015 at 8:49 AM

    I find that just starting is all I need!!!

    Reply

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Yesterday on the way home from school I had the ra Yesterday on the way home from school I had the radio tuned to my daughter's favorite station and a song that was playing had a line in it that really stood out to me. It made reference to a 'season of the sticks' which I think its safe to say must mean winter. I thought that was such an accurate, albeiet kind of depressing, picture of this time of the year.

While we definitely have more than our fair share of evergreen trees here in Oregon, we also have plenty of trees and bushes that are reduced to sticks during the cold months. But, this morning as I looked out my kitchen window, greedily sipping from my mug of coffee, I marveled at the beauty of the winter sunrise. The sky was all pinks and oranges with frost on the rooftops and a little bit of fog. And, I realized that part of why it was so amazing is because I could see it more clearly through the sticks. The bare branches allowed me a view that I wouldn't be able to see if those same branches were covered in leaves. Being stripped down to almost nothing revealed something magnificent.

We have seasons of the sticks in our lives too, don't we? Times when we feel as though we've been stripped bare and left exposed. It's easy to think that this is a place where all is ugly and dark. And yet, just like the winter sunrise was more visible because of the bare branches, the vulnerability we feel in the winter season of our souls allows us to get a glimpse of beauty that we wouldn't see otherwise. In the lush, warm seasons it's so easy to become comfortable. But in the bare, cold seasons we recognize just how much we need to rely on the One who placed the stars in the heavens and is sovereign over all.

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