It’s Honey-Do List Blog Swap Day here! A handful of freakin’ fantastic DIY bloggers are spillin’ the beans on the number one thing they’ve learned about doing DIY projects as a partnership.
If you missed the kick-off yesterday, head over to Erin’s blog and check out Day 1, then saunter your pretty lil bottom right back here and check out this wisdom!
(I posted my top tips on Monday, so click here if you missed it!)
Okay, let’s get this party started.
Erin at His and Hers Blog
The biggest lesson in our one year of owning a house: communication. I need to communicate to Rick what I want to do in terms that he can understand, because
A) he rarely can see what I can see,
B) “chevron” and “greige” are not part of his native language, and
C) he often thinks I am insane.
So, the communication of my ideas to him generally involves a picture, sugar cookies, and groveling while holding sugar cookies. On his end, he’s learned to get better about being specific in his communication during projects, say, for example, when he’s balancing a giant board on his head while balancing precariously on a ladder and simultaneously trying to drill…and wants me to help.
I used to get a lot of “Hold this there” and “Move it that way.” Life obviously contains fewer emergency room visits when vague pronouns are eliminated from your DIY vocabulary. DIY life is also better when I pay total attention to what Rick is doing with said board/ladder/drill as opposed to getting distracted by things like chocolate and and shiny things and cats.
Michelle at Decor and the Dog
Nate and I built two homes together. You definitely learn a thing or two about each other when you spend almost two years building homes from the ground up. Nate is very meticulous. He likes to think through every stinking last detail before beginning a project. And then he thinks through every thing that he just thought through. Follow that?
I on the other hand like to jump in and figure things out as I go. You win some and lose some with each of our approaches. We have learned to work with each others approach.
Nate and I start a project together. We line up the materials we need. I then leave Nate to think through the project. During this time I walk the dog, clean the kitchen, wash 6 loads of laundry, and scrub the toilets. I then rejoin Nate and we start the project. Our developed-over-time approach allows Nate to have plenty of time to think through a project and it gives me time to finish up other things without getting annoyed that he is taking so long.
Carrie at Hazardous Design
The #1 thing I’ve learned while working with my husband is that he’s a perfectionist. He’ll agonize over details that I’d never notice. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I do find it interesting that a man who gets annoyed when he can see the seam in a long run of crown molding, or the nail hole that didn’t get covered with caulk, is the same man who continually walks by the pair of shoes he’s left out in the middle of our bedroom floor.
Now let’s hear from you!
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you stopped by! This tiny corner of the web is where I chronicle our attempts to fix up our beaten-down home on a teensy little budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
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Being DIYers on almost everything plus we built our home together I can relate to each one on these, but Carrie’s cracks me up because my husband is the same EXACT way and it drives me bonkers. When he has gone on home tours with me he critiques how all the trim was done and if there are uneven joints and nail holes not filled correctly while I am looking at the decor of course.
That sounds like my dad! He is a home inspector so every time we go to a new house together, he’s whispering all the code violations in my ear.
It’s still kind of amazing to me that there are people who can visit a house without noticing the decor!
I cannot contribute an interesting anecdote or something witty – my husband takes years to even hang a picture and I have now taken over that role with the handy command strips.
These thought bubble pictures still crack me up. At least we think we’re funny, right?
I love this series. After working with the hubs (this is similar to Michelle’s), I think I’ve learned that I need to give him time to research a project. That boy loves researching and learning. It’s good because I don’t always take the time to learn every. single. step. At least he trusts me (even if I sound crazy).
Me too! I hate the research step and just want to jump in and start demoing everything. Sometimes it’s good to have a more patient “better half.”
Great series! I think communication is for sure the #1 thing we’ve learned to do better through our DIY projects. I’ve learned that a picture+written details is worth 1000 spoken words. For some reason when I speak(and think I’ve explained what I want really well,) my husband hears something else entirely. With a picture he is always on board right away.
Love the pictures & the thought bubbles – too funny! Thanks for sharing.
So true! This happens to me all the time when I bring home a rug or curtains and my husband is like, “WHAT is THAT?!” But I’m like “I told you I was picking up a turkish kilim rug. Didn’t you know what I meant?”
I’m completely with Carrie on this one! Also, I have learned that if I need to casually mention something as a project and act like it’s “down the road,” which stresses him out less. Then most of the time, he’ll end up putting it next on the to-do list without me mentioning it again
You guys crack me up! But you’ve hit the nail on the head. I recognize my husband and I in every scenario. heheheee!!
this is SO fun! yes- communication in clear terms that they understand… when i tell my husband i want to do a faux bois design, he has no idea what i mean.
and like michelle i run into things and figure out as i go. and neither of us are perfectionists so that works for us! we just want it to look good… no one is going to notice the teeny imperfections! well maybe us and we don’t care. 
Haha, if I said “faux bois” to my husband, he would tell me to speak english because that’s not a real word.
Okay, who is willing to lend out their husband for some jobs around my house? My husband promises to make coffee or bring beer:)
I don’t know what’s better…the series or the pictures. You guys crack me up.
I am SO enjoying reading this–and the captions are the icing on the cake. Thanks for sharing, everyone!
I love these posts. They’re so cute!
Once again, these had me cracking up! I could relate to Carrie as my fiancé also has ‘Selective Perfectionist’ syndrome! It’s both amusing and frustrating!
Love this! Ironically I just posted this morning about my hubby hanging window treatments over the weekend. While he was doing all of the hard work, I was watching (micro-managing) and eating popcorn. I thought it was hilarious and snapped a pic! I tend to make my husband do the dirty work when it is our first time trying a new tool or something we are not sure about…that way, if it goes wrong it wasn’t my fault
Thanks for sharing!
Those curtains are GORGEOUS! Loving them! Way to supervise from the sidelines, too. Someone has to supervise, right?
Great series, ladies! Love the commentary and the laughs. There is a reason you are all among my favs.
I have learned to be patient but he loves to explain everything that he is doing while he is doing. Normally this is fine but sometimes I am at the point of I don’t really care just do it. I also research as a I go, if we hit a problem I go look it up but other than that I just kind of wing it.
Hehehe. You guys are funny
First time visitor to your blog! But I LOVE this blog series!
I’ve definitely learned to not jump into projects (at least not big ones) without thinking things through first. And my hubby is always there to guide and support AFTER I get started. He’s a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it kinda guy” and I’m the perfectionist. It can be frustrating but we’re learning how to work together. We just bought our first house yesterday, so we’ll be doing a lot of learning in the immediate future!
bahaha I am beginning to think that all husbands are exactly the same. Rick goes nutso if a measurement is off even by a little. He’s getting better, though, because he’s learned that projects will never, ever end if he tries to make them perfect.
Too cool, what a great post! Oh and yup, my husband is the same as Carries: measure, cut, measure again, then cut again. Ha ha!
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