Hi there! Welcome to Flawed yet Functional! I’m Emily, and I believe you should pursue hobbies that bring joy and fulfillment to your life. It’s good for your mental well-being to stretch those creative muscles every now and then. For me, my hobbies of choice are any form of DIY home decor. I like to sew, paint, and create beautiful, functional things for my home. Today, I’d like to challenge you to view your home in a new light: finished is better than perfect. Let’s take a look!

This blog has been good accountability for me to finish my home decor projects and keep creating a home that is beautiful yet functional for my family. So I’ve decided to devote the first week of each month to home decor projects, tutorials, and reveals. If DIY is your jam, make sure to tune in at the beginning of the month!
Better yet, sign up for weekly emails from Flawed yet Functional, and you won’t miss a post or freebie! If you sign up today, you’ll receive the “Love Is…” print I used in this post!
[thrive_leads id=’7881′]Take Your Time Decorating
I’ve been slowly working to refresh our master bedroom since November 2018. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m almost done with this room! Taking my time decorating my home is the best way for me to decorate for several reasons.
- It’s hard to make or find everything I want to put into a room all at once.
- Financially, it’s easier to spread projects over several months.
- Slowing down allows ideas to ruminate and morph into a new, even better idea.
So for me, slow decorating is best.
Today’s post is about slow decorating but not “no movement” decorating. Move forward in your project, even if the pieces aren’t perfect. A rug gives no joy rolled up in a closet and picture frames in the garage serve only to give spiders a home. So even if you don’t have the right color or size, put what you have to use and enjoy it today!
Back to the topic at hand: three large old picture frames. As I mentioned in the update post about accessories, I acquired quite a few antique frames from my grandma’s estate. I’m not exaggerating when I say antique! One has a stamp on it: July 7, 1959! What?!
I let these frames sit in my garage for months while I pondered what to do with them. Like I said before, slow decorating is best. Don’t feel rushed to use, hang, or refresh your treasures until you love the idea. Inspired by these two picture ledges posts, I grabbed a floating shelf from Pottery Barn that has been sitting in a closet for 6+ years and created a large-scale picture collage!

Finished Is Better Than Perfect
I had picture frames and a floating shelf. All is perfect, right? Well, the frames were kind of large for the floating shelf, as in they took up the whole length. Also the length of the shelf was a tad short when compared to the width of the bed. I did have two of these floating shelves, but two side by side would be impossible to level, and while one was a bit short, two was too long.
Hmm.
I pondered for a few weeks until I came to this conclusion: It isn’t the perfect arrangement, but I want to be enjoying all those pieces right now. Waiting for someday to build an ideal length shelf or finding different frames isn’t likely to happen. So I hung the shelf and the frames so I could enjoy them today.
Finished is better than perfect.

Imperfect Is Beautiful
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I moved forward. The prints look even better than I hoped, and the frames (and shelf!) are no longer collecting dust. The best part? The floating shelf doesn’t strike me as too small as it did on the floor. Once on the wall, my biggest concern was a non-issue. Imperfect is beautiful, as is a finished project.
Now, this project wasn’t as easy as taking the picture frames out of the garage and setting them on the shelf. I had to rebuild these completely from the frame up. It was a learning experience, and it brought instant life to these vintage frames. Tune in on Wednesday to learn all the details about how to successfully work with old frames. I’m sure you’ll find it helpful!
Look at that finished wall! Doesn’t it look great? Even though the shelf isn’t the length I’d choose, I love the arrangement and having a project finished. Now I can enjoy my bedroom all the more.

The prints have been hung for about a week now, and I find myself just glancing in the room to admire the arrangement. The room feels peaceful, serene, and bright…all the things I wanted in a master bedroom. So get up and finish that project! Wouldn’t you agree that finished is better than perfect?
Be sure to tune in on Wednesday to learn a few tricks for working with, matting, and framing photos using antique frames!
Check out the rest of the posts from refreshing our master bedroom!
I’m working with a lot of thrifted frames and new ordered prints. You gave some excellent advice in another one of your articles on framing. Appreciate the tips on getting glass cut. I’ve ended up with a lot more frames than prints. I’ll hang on to them. And need to learn how to cut them to size CAREFULLY.