DIY

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.

Coffee table before 

And after 

For my next trick, I wanted to redo the dining room. In the original pictures, I liked the chair rail the previous owners had, but upon inspection it wasn't a style I liked. We decided to keep the two color theme, but I bought new chair rail, sprayed it white, and Erik installed it last night during my Benadryl induced stupor. 

Before 

After 

The lighting isn't as good in the second picture, but you get the idea. On the left something I got from Hobby Lobby - this heavy black metal thing I painted yellow and distressed a little. It's going to go on the wall as soon as I figure out what else to put with it. 

There are other projects in the works. So far so good! Lots of fun.