#FOMO. The fear of missing out. It’s a real thing, y’all.

The One Room Challenge started yesterday, and I stayed up until midnight catching up on all of the fabulous plans that these talented designers have laid out. If you’re not familiar, the ORC is an event hosted by Linda at Calling It Home where 20 designers makeover a space from start to finish in just 6 short weeks. You can catch those designers each Wednesday, and anyone else can link up on Thursdays.

When I heard the Challenge was coming up again, I got super excited and started thinking about all of the different spaces I could make over. I thought, I’d love to makeover our dining room with new wallpaper, custom drapes, new dining chairs, a fancy rug…or maybe I’ll tackle the garage, and pour a new floor, install shelving and work stations, and finally get electricity out there…or maybe I’ll work on our master bedroom, which always seems to get neglected.

That all sounds great, right?! But wait, there’s those two little things that I need to accomplish all of that. What are they called? Oh yeah, time and money!! Although I’ve had some fabulous sponsors in the past, I still end up spending so much because I’m of the philosophy, if you’re going to do it, do it right. No half assing over here.

Not to mention, I’m self employed full time and taking on new clients left and right, I’m teaching several business seminars, I have a new niece, and about a bajillion other things that take up so much time.

So, I decided to hold off. I’d rather wholeheartedly jump on board with the Challenge in the fall than to spend more time and money that I don’t have just to not miss out.

I know it probably sounds silly, but it was a tough decision. The ORC, while stressful at times, is always incredibly fun, and it’s brought tons of traffic to my site. I’ve even had some features on big sites like House Beautiful and Country Living.

There’s so much beauty and inspiration on the internet these days, especially on blogs and social media, that it’s easy to get caught up. I have to remind myself that 90% of what I see has been meticulously edited and doesn’t necessarily reflect real life. Picture perfect is a hard thing to keep up.

Don’t worry, I’m still here and I still have plenty of house updates for you. We’ve been tackling our back yard and have made some real progress, and we’ve got a few small projects we’re working on inside as well. But in the meantime, here’s a look back at the two One Room Challenges I’ve done…

Spring 2015 – This was my first (and favorite) ORC. Before the Challenge, we had taken our two-story back porch from literally falling off the house to stable and, let’s face it, boring. So I spent 6 weeks painting railings, potting plants, buying (or DIYing) furniture and accessories, and decorating the space.

Before:

After:

Fall 2015 – Since I had just quit my job, I decided to turn a guest room into my home office. I wanted something light and airy that had a few pops of color and would encourage creativity and enthusiasm.

Before:

After:

I encourage you to check out what the top designers have going on, and to also check in with everyone else who’s linking up today. There are some amazing makeovers getting started!

Thanks for hanging with me. I can’t wait to tackle a new space in the fall!

Do you have a case of FOMO? Do you struggle with picture perfect? How do you deal?