Hi Chelsea, I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply in a more timely manner! It sounds like your starter needs more frequent feedings when you have it stored at room temperature, but you haven't ruined it. I would suggest trying our sourdough starter maintenance routine for a few days and see if this helps restore the aroma and vigor of your sourdough starter. If you want to do a reduced version of this sourdough starter routine, check out this blog post and recipe.  Try to feed at least twice a day when you have your starter stored at room temperature, and consider maintaining your starter with the equal parts by weight of starter, water and flour (1:1:1) we recommend, and I would expect that your starter will perk up within 2-3 days. When you're ready to bake bread you generally want to add "ripe" starter to your recipe, which means starter that has been fed at room temperature and allowed to rise to its highest point, or is just beginning to fall. 

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