Pinterest and HGTV have given me unrealistic expectations for my house and overinflated views of my DIY prowess. How hard can it be? Those people on TV are doing it! Never mind that they have professionals standing off camera to keep them from stapling their own hands to the wall. I can do it! This is how I think.
So given a new house and a limited no budget for professional helpers, I have chosen to embrace the unrealistic and overinflated parts of me in order to make a few changes.
Nothing crazy – just some painting, refinishing, nailing, that kind of thing. So far it’s turning out pretty well. The first thing was a coffee table I had made unfinished because I didn’t know what color I wanted. I was doing well on my own until I tried to add a wee bit more color of a stain/polyurethane mix that ended up clumping and generally looking terrible. I resanded it and tried again. I was trying to match the Chinese doors in the corner but this was as close as I could get.
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| Coffee table before |
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| And after |
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| Before |
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| After |
There are other projects in the works. So far so good! Lots of fun.
