Remember my "Neverending Project Story"?
Well they are done. And here is all the things you will ever need to know about DIY projects.
Number 1: Furniture renovations take time and space
When I started this project, I was convinced that I would be in and done within two weeks. Because of that, I figured that the space dedicated to my project would be worth the sacrifice.
This was taken after all the furniture was moved into our apartment. As you can see, half of our garage was dedicated to my renovation fantasy.
All that space was dedicated to dismantled furniture, paint supplies, and little pathways so we could walk from our house to the car. All the time was dedicated to sanding, sanding, sanding, with a little time for the paint to dry. So what started as a small sacrifice quickly turned into the bane of my existence. And how long did it really take? We moved into this apartment in June, and the furniture did not make it inside until mid-August.
Number 2: Curvy furniture = Crappy time
Here are the before pictures of the furniture I redid:
Do you see all the curves? Sanding those suckers down is like chipping away at a rock, only to find a smaller, more deformed rock. No sander on earth could get into all the nooks and crannies on these beasts! After many hours hunched over drawers and dressers, breathing in sawdust, and flattening edges, I finally got wise and got "liquid sander." It ate through my gloves, and ripped off my fingernail polish, but it was worth it when an hour later, I could walk away without sawdust up my nose.
The only down side to liquid sander is that paint does not stick to the wood as well as if it had been sanded down. A single coat on the sanded wood was adequate, but not on the liquid sanded wood, as you could still see the original color.
Number 3: Tools are a necessity, not an option
Paintbrushes, paint, mixing sticks, rags, electric sander, sandpaper, gloves, a drill, an iron, Elmer's glue, liquid sander, screwdriver, pliers, hammer, paint trays, measuring tape, particle board, wood putty, kitchen knives, pocket knives, a retractable razor, and a saw all made this project possible. And boy did I hear about it.
You see, I didn't want to paint all the drawers for the dresser. I wanted to take out the top two and make them into shelves. Dallin is a handy man, and so without much thought, I knew he could take on the task.
Two hours later, in 100 degree heat, in a bad mood and a puddle of sweat, Dallin had worked through a piece of particle board with kitchen knives, a pocket knife, a retractable razor, and a crappy saw to create two shelves for me.
Whew... He was mad at me.
So, what did we learn from this experience? Tools are a necessity, NOT an option.
Number 4: Choose your colors, hardware, and add-ons wisely
The colors and gloss you choose will determine the future of your furniture. How many coats of paint, how easily life will tear it down, and how noticeable your mistakes are will all be affected by your choice of paint.
Matte paint, or paint with no gloss, is only good at hiding your mistakes. Nothing else. Life has already made its mark on some of our pieces. On the other hand, the semi-gloss made all my dreams come true. Visible mistakes are minimal, and it looks smoother than a baby's bottom.
As for the hardware, if there's one hole, you should probably find hardware that only needs one hole. Filling old holes and drilling new ones does not always work out. So rather than trying to find hardware that would fit the random sizes of a secondhand piece of furniture, we just changed the look. Instead of having one big handle, connected by two washers, we bought two knobs. Easy as Sunday morning... on General Conference weekend.
Also, I decided to line the drawers with fabric. I don't know what the previous owners did with their furniture, and some of the stains inside the drawers had me convinced I didn't want to. I ended up giving up after lining five of the fourteen drawers. One day I might finish it, but not anytime soon.
Number 5: The pride you feel when finished makes the insanity almost worth it
When you can finally move your clothes out of boxes, and your TV off the floor, you can forget the heat, the time, and all the sawdust it took to make that hunk of junk into something worthwhile. Then, filled with such feelings of self accomplishment, you can tell all your friends, and your maintenance man, that it really wasn't that hard.
And if that isn't insanity, I don't know what is.
