The Story Of Addicted 2 Decorating (And How Remodeling & Decorating My Own Home Came To Be My Full-Time Job)

Some comments on last Friday’s post made me realize that there may be quite a few people who follow my blog who may not understand why I do what I do. Specifically, why do I continue to DIY and decorate my way through my own house, and sometimes redo rooms and projects that are already done (and possibly have already been done two or three times)? So I thought I would explain the back story, and why I do what I do.

I’ll be really honest with you. A few of the comments on last Friday’s post really upset and frustrated me. Granted, I was already in a terrible mood because ever since Matt was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been trying to resolve an issue that happened in the emergency room. At some point between the time when the EMS brought him to the hospital and when they finally let me back to the room to be with him, Matt’s Hoyer lift sling was lost. It just vanished. It hasn’t been seen since.

After spending two weeks trying to track down an extra-large bright green Hoyer lift sling that’s pretty hard to miss, Friday was my last effort to get the hospital to rectify this situation. But after being given the runaround for two weeks, the woman told me that there’s nothing they can do about the lost $350 sling because one of the forms I signed when Matt was admitted stated that they’re not liable for lost property.

I was furious. I can understand them not being liable for property that Matt or I lose or leave in the hospital. But while Matt was pretty much unconscious, and I was still having to wait in the lobby before they let me back to the room, THEY lost his Hoyer lift sling. They should absolutely be liable for that!

So I was already fit to be tied when I began reading comments like, “Continually redoing??? I know you are doing the work but why are you never satisfied.” I should know better than to get online at all when I’m already angry, but I did. And I just got angrier. But I gave it more thought over the weekend (and finally cooled down from my anger over the hospital’s response to losing Matt’s Hoyer lift sling), and realized that some readers may be newer around here. Some just may not know our situation, or how I came to be a full-time blogger who blogs about my own projects around my own house, and why I’ll probably be doing and redoing this house until the day I die (or until the day Matt dies, if he happens to go first). So here’s the story…

I have always loved DIYing and decorating, all the way back to high school (when I asked my parents for a scroll saw as a graduation present) and college (after which my grandfather gave me several of his woodworking tools, like a table saw and lathe). I wish I had pictures of my college dorm room, my bedroom in my parents house after college, and my first apartment to show you. I was always the type who, no matter where I lived, I was going to be DIYing and decorating.

In my first apartment (which really wasn’t an apartment building, but more like a 4-plex), I tore down the hideous wallpaper with the 1960s harvest gold and avocado flowers and put up new wallpaper. I paid for and installed new flooring in place of the outdated and hideous linoleum. I even had brand new carpet installed in place of the old, stained, decades-old carpet that was there. And I did it all on my own dime just because I wanted to live in a pretty place, I enjoyed the process, and I was willing to pay for it. So no matter where I lived, I DIYed and decorated. It’s just who I am. It’s in my blood.

Fast forward a few years to 2001. That’s when Matt and I met. We got married in September of 2002, and three months later, we began building our own house. It was just a builder-grade house. There was absolutely nothing custom about it. I don’t remember being given any options for customization. So when we moved into our brand new builder-grade house, I began redoing. And Matt learned very quickly what he had gotten himself into with me. 😀

Those were the days of Trading Spaces — the “no white walls” days — so I went a little crazy with the color. I’m sure if I looked back at my efforts then, I’d cringe a bit. But I loved every minute of decorating that house and dipping my toe into the DIY end of the pool when I installed new flooring in two of the rooms, built a huge desk, made curtains for some rooms, and so much more. And because it was all mine, and I didn’t have to get permission from a landlord to do any improvements (and Matt made it clear from the day we were handed the keys that it was mine to do with as I wanted), it was like having my own playground. It was addictive. We were very constrained by our tiny budget back then, but that just made the challenge more fun at times.

For our first couple of years, we were living on Matt’s income and my savings. But after being in our house for a while, I decided that I needed to get a job so that I could get out of the house more. So I got a job at JoAnn Fabrics in Albany, Oregon. I loved that job, but it just fed my addiction. Continually being around fabric and craft supplies and creative people talking about their creative projects just fed my constant desire to create.

After being in that house for three years, Matt and I decided to move to Texas to be near my family. One day while at work, I got into a conversation with a customer about how I would love to be an interior decorator so that I could spend my days decorating without having to spend my own money. I could spend other people’s money and decorate their homes for them.

Well, she convinced me that the better money-making route would be to open a drapery workroom once we got to Texas, and concentrate on making draperies and other soft home furnishings for people. She told me that there was a shocking lack of drapery workrooms doing quality work, and that if I would learn to make all the things, I could pretty much name my price, and I’d have an unending stream of business that would keep me busy for a lifetime.

So I enrolled in a “certified drapery workroom professional” course to learn how to make all the things, from lined pinch pleated drapery panels to upholstered headboards and everything in between. To be clear, drapery workrooms are an unregulated industry, and there’s no such thing (at least to my knowledge) as a “certified” workroom professional. But at the time, there were a couple of organizations trying to make that a thing in order to bring more consistency and quality to the industry. I don’t think it ever became a thing, but I will say that their training was very good, and I learned a great deal from them.

But what I also learned was that I didn’t want to spend my days sewing. Or upholstering. Or working to make another interior decorator’s vision become reality. I wanted to be the decorator coming up with the overall vision for the room. So a few months after Matt and I moved to Texas, I started Kristi Linauer Interiors — my own interior decorating business. And I ran my very first ad in a local magazine, and immediately got my very first client. I was in heaven. I had finally reached my dream of spending other people’s money while spending my days decorating and doing what I loved. 😀

That high of being able to do what I thought was my dream didn’t last very long, though. At the time, there was a style called “Texas Tuscan” that had taken over the design and decorating world here in central Texas. Just imagine a lot of faux finishes, and what people thought were “old world” finishes, and lots of earth tones.

In addition to the dominating “Texas Tuscan” style, there was the Pottery Barn obsession. Those years with the “Texas Tuscan” and “Pottery Barn” style were kind of like these last few years have been with “farmhouse” style and “shiplap” everything. It was everywhere, and it seemed to be the only thing people in this area wanted. And I got bored of it really quickly.

Now let me back up just a bit in this story because I need to mention that two years after Matt and I got married, while we were still living in Oregon, we started to notice that he was having some nerve issues, balance issues, etc. After some doctor visits and testing, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. We were devastated, and had no real understanding of just how that would affect our lives. But we pressed on as though everything was normal.

When we got to Texas, Matt enrolled in the technical college here, and he got a degree in computer networking. After graduating, he got a good job, and things seemed normal for a while. But his physical problems progressed. He started having more balance issues. Then that progressed to neuropathy in his legs and feet that prevented him from driving, so I’d have to drive him to and from work. Then his balance issues became worse to the point that he couldn’t walk unassisted, so he needed a cane. Then he needed a walker. And finally, he required the use of a wheelchair.

This happened over the course of a few years while we were living in our tiny little condo here in Waco. So at the same time, I was becoming bored and disillusioned with my work as an interior decorator and feeling like I was having to do the same boring style in every house I was hired to decorate, and Matt’s health was declining to the point that he could no longer work while requiring more and more assistance from me.

It just so happened that shortly after I started my interior decorating business, I also started this blog (in 2007). My initial vision behind the blog was to share all of my decorating wisdom with people. Well, that took about two posts 😀 , and then I was at a loss about what to blog about. For a while, I kept pushing forward, coming up with random things to write about.

And then, somewhere along the way, something magical happened. In order to have a break from the monotony of the never-ending “Texas Tuscan” and “Pottery Barn” cycle that I was stuck in with my professional work, I began working on some DIY projects around our outdated little condo. And as I did those projects, I began sharing them on my blog. And as I shared those projects on my blog, my audience began to grow, and people became really invested in what I was doing. I was shocked that people were actually interested, but I also found that I was thriving on doing my own projects — projects that didn’t include even a hint of “Texas Tuscan” or “Pottery Barn”.

The work I was doing for clients began to feel like drudgery that I had to get through in order to make money so that I could get home and do the things I actually loved doing. I was tearing out, and building, and sewing, and painting, and tiling, and doing a little bit of everything. I was loving every minute of it, and people online seemed to enjoy reading about my progress. And the awesome thing about it was that I had learned how to monetize my blog, so I was actually making money doing the things I loved to do.

That became really important because as Matt’s health declined, it was becoming harder and harder for me to keep appointments with clients. Because we never knew from day to day if I would be able to leave the condo, my business was being affected. I would have to call clients and cancel appointments at the last minute. On a couple of occasions, I’d be mid-meeting with a client and get a frantic phone call from Matt, and I’d have to leave immediately and go home to help him.

That’s not a way to run a business, so I knew my days of working with clients was going to have to come to and end. And miraculously, at the same time I was needing to cut back on client work so that I could stay closer to home and help Matt, my income on the blog began to increase and actually surpass my income that I was bringing in as an interior decorator working with clients.

So I began to put more and more time and effort into my own projects around the condo while cutting back on the client work. And eventually, blogging about my own projects became my full-time work.

Around 2013, Matt and I began to think about moving out of our little condo and buying a house. It just so happened that my very last interior decorating client had a house that she was needing to sell. And just as if it were meant to be, Matt and I ended up buying that house from her. We’ve been here for the last ten years, and we have no intention of ever selling or leaving this house.

It all worked out so perfectly that it almost felt choreographed. I mean, it was. I feel very strongly that God knew what we needed and when we needed it. And for the last ten years, I’ve DIYed and decorated my way through this house, and while I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, I have loved the overall process. I could not have crafted a better job for myself. It has been an absolute dream to be able to do what I love, use my creativity, and make a living doing so, while also being able to stay home and care for Matt.

So why do I redo rooms that have already been done? Because this isn’t just our home. It’s also my creative laboratory where I get to try out new ideas. I seriously doubt that our home will ever be “finished” because I thrive on DIYing and decorating. It feeds me in a way that I need in order to feel fulfilled. So this house will always be my creative laboratory where I’ll try out new ideas and share them with those of you want to follow along.

Just because our house is close to being “finished”, that doesn’t mean that my drive to DIY and decorate goes away. That drive in me is insatiable, and I will continually find ways to meet that need in myself while being able to stay home and care for Matt. And if that means that a hallway bathroom gets five makeovers in the span of ten years, so be it. Or if that means that I remodel our kitchen once every ten years, then that’s what will happen.