Week 4 is often the stage in the One Room Challenge where things become a little more… challenging.

The initial excitement has worn off. Perhaps you’ve encountered a few hiccups. Maybe your plans have changed or you’re not progressing as quickly as you thought.

For some extra motivation–or an extra challenge–for week 4, I decided to host a Good Friday dinner with my family.

In our dining room.

Which is in the middle of a makeover.

This means the room is filled with cans of paint and assorted tools. There is a skim of dust on pretty much every surface. All of the furniture is pulled away from the walls so that I can paint behind it. There’s not room to extend the table so that everyone has a place to sit.

My Mom kept saying, “We’re your family. You don’t have to fuss for us.”

Make no mistake, Matt and I tend not to fuss for very much, and we’ve entertained a lot in the middle of numerous renovations. However, I draw a line at having a place to sit for the people that we’ve invited.

So I put on a bit of a push to get the painting done.

I found I could paint half the room–cut and roll–in 2 hours. Also measured as one baby nap. So I figured I’d be done in 4 days. Instead, I did 2 baby naps and 2 night shifts after she’d gone to bed.

And all the painting was done in 2 days, well before people arrived for dinner. In fact, I had time to vacuum and mop the floors, reinstall the cover plates, push the piano and china cabinet out of the way and add the leaves to the table. Woo-hoo.

On Friday night, everyone had a place to sit, and we had a great time with family.

Also nice, my sister arrived with her router, router table and a case of bits. I’m hoping this router is easier to use than my Dad’s and will help me make the doors for the china cabinet.

So the ORC continues. I’m feeling okay about week 4. Two weeks to go. I might be heading into the homestretch.

To see the other participants’ progress (some of whom are definitely not in the homestretch–I’m getting nervous for some people!), visit One Room Challenge. The designer participants share their updates on Wednesday and the guest participants post on Thursday.

How do you motivate yourself as projects progress? Do you have any stories of entertaining while renovating? How did you celebrate Easter?