I hope everyone is having an excellent summer!

The weather has been pretty good; I am sporting a flip flop tan line and have consumed many smokies in the past few weeks. I have also been neglecting my house in favour of more time at the lake and more hours by the firepit and I am completely okay with it.

When it comes right down to it, we have several environments that we live in and all of them need TLC every once in awhile.

Whether it is our home, our camper or vacation property, our vehicle or our workspace there are several different places we ‘live’ in and they all vie for our attention.

There are times that one space will get the lion’s share of our attention and love which can leave the others neglected. I can usually gauge my state of stress by the condition of my vehicle, it is a very accurate accounting of how much time I am spending running around and eating on the run.

I have dealt with clients over the years who approach these areas of their lives in different ways. Some will ignore the issue – those who know there is a horrifying 70’s inspired basement bathroom in their home and just shut the door and put caution tape over the entry.

You know who you are; I have seen your sheepish grin as you open the door to this musty dark time machine and apologize because this room has not been a priority.

Other clients will perform the start and stall; they get a burst of creative energy and start demolishing a space that needs work. I blame home decorating shows for this where they make it look SO easy to just rip walls down and magically transform a space inside one hour.

Next thing you know you are in a bind with your hands and hair full of dust and debris and you have no idea what to do next! Spaces can sometimes sit like this for months or years, naked and neglected by a distracted homeowner. These projects are started with wonderful intentions but often create a bigger problem than the homeowner anticipated.

Another coping mechanism is rouge and lipstick.

Cover it up, walk away. This is my strategy at work, if at the end of the day I still have a pile of paperwork staring at me I stack it into a neat pile, write a list and leave it on top. Stacking it up neatly does absolutely nothing to get the work done but for some reason I feel better about leaving it that way. It can be a simple area rug to cover up a hideous hardwood or stained carpet to painting out an unpleasant feature in your home.

One of my homes had a lovely diagonal wall board feature in the stairwell (hello 1977) and one day just before company came over I whipped down and painted it. Ugly boards were still there but it now had a little cosmetic help and I felt marginally better.

Our time is precious and divided and we need all the strategy we can muster to keep all of our spaces in check. Feel no shame in your coping devices and enjoy when you can finally get these projects completed to your satisfaction.

Kim Meckler is an interior designer in Red Deer with Carpet Colour Centre.