If you follow me on Facebook you have heard about a project fail (ish) that I am in the midst of. So for those that don’t follow me there (what is WRONG with you?!) I am going to update you.
Finally after MONTHS of searching I found the perfect new (to me) kitchen table. I found the perfect paint color and have been using the perfect HVLP paint sprayer (that I will be blogging about and giving one away hopefully next week!).
So we have pretty much perfection right? What could go wrong?
Well, originally the plan was to really heavily distress the paint (Miss Mustard Seed Style). When I went into Sherwin Williams I told the guys I want the most durable paint that they had.
So I ended up with Latex Enamel.
Used my awesome sprayer and it went on like whoa. Seriously perfection.
I let it cure for a few days and went to sand it…. It didn’t sand. Like hardly at all. This paint is LEGIT. So after talking to a few awesome bloggers I came to the conclusion that I had used the wrong kind of paint. I needed something less durable.
I called the guys at Sherwin Williams and they told me to go and get Sand Blaster sand paper because that would work better than the regular paper that I had tried.
So what did I do? Did I do what the experts told me? Ha.
I stripped the top of the table.
Why?
Because I didn’t want to have to go to the store for the new sand paper, and I had stripper at my house. (Citri Strip and it is amazing)
The next day whilst out running errands I picked up some Sand Blaster and started sanding the legs (which were not stripped). Guess what? It worked. Guess what else? I hated it.
So my best friend in the world (Brooke @ All Things Thrifty) came over yesterday to pull me out of my pit of sorrow. We tried a ton of different options on the table like distressing, glazing (4 different colors), staining. In the end we decided to distress the chairs and not the table and that the table just need to be painted. That’s all. Just painted. Like it was perfectly the day before.
So I am here to confess my DIY defects to you all. 12 step style.
Hi! I am Mandi, and I am too lazy to do things the recommended way. I am also stubborn and jump to conclusions too soon. I am terrible at being patient when it comes to projects. I just want them DONE. And sometimes I take 1 step forward and 8 steps back.
So what are your DIY defects? (12 step style of course)
I’m wanting to do my table too. The wood is soft, do you think if I used what you did that it would kind of harden a little??
UGH. Latex enamel distresses like sh$t. And if you glaze over that? It looks even worse. I had to experience it to learn also. Hope it turns out even better than you expect!
hahaha! I Mandi, Im rhiannon and you just described me! LOL
I’m Sarah. [Hi, Sarah] I was making over a desk and a chair that I found on the curb. I decided to go all gangbusters and do my dinette set at the same time. The color I picked was totally booger-ish. The hubs and I have not been able to agree/decide on a new color and I haven’t had time to just do it my way…soooo… it still sits all half booger on our patio and NOW it has a split in it from the extreme weather we have had in Texas the last two months. FAIL!!
I left out that my curb finds turned out AMAZING!!
“…and I am too lazy to do things the recommended way. I am also stubborn and jump to conclusions too soon. I am terrible at being patient when it comes to projects. I just want them DONE. And sometimes I take 1 step forward and 8 steps back.”
Hahaha that’s totally me too. I’m too impatient and stubborn and always figure it will all just work out. Like DIY is magic or something. I’m nervous to tackle big projects like my table and hutch but am super excited to hear about this paint sprayer and giveaway. I’m sure if I won I’d have plenty of fail to share with you.
In general, I take SOOOO long to finnish projects. I blog about an idea and then five months later I have a reveal. Except for the few manic times I have an idea and work all night to complete.
what a bummer! im totally like that too!
-m
Uhhhmmm, yeah that sounds like me. 😛
you get me wrapped up in the whole saga, and then no pictures – we need to see it!! isn’t there some sort of craft fail blog out there, or maybe there needs to be…..
Hi, I’m Libby. I just do it and think it through as it’s happening. I don’t plan and I never measure {What?!? I eyeball it!} Sometimes, it works and I’m super happy and sometimes, I change it up and end up happy, but sometimes, I turn it to face the wall and let it sit in “time-out” for months. Ha!
Hi, I’m Indiri and I am a total space cadet about 1/2 the time. I do things like turning off the oven without realizing it (I meant to turn off the timer) and turning what would have been really cute cupcakes into a disgusting mess.
Well, at least you learned a few things from this! It’s a good thing you have Brook around to help you and to bounce ideas off of.
My DIY defects is that I procrastinate and get cold feet. For some dumb reason I worry that I might fail at sprucing up an ugly piece of furniture… even though I probably couldn’t make it look much worse than it originally is.
Usually I’m looking for short cuts–that turn out to be long cuts. Do I *really* need to sand everything EVERY time?? Won’t paint just stick because I want it to? Not so much. Impatience. I think it’s a common failing.
hahaha! I am 100% with you. Your confession = me. It drives my hubs crazy. He’s a planner. I’m a jumper-inner with no parachute.
Hi I am Traci, and I am also an impatient DIYer. I am too impatient to wait for the paint to dry and I ruin projects cause I want to move them into the house the second they are finished… I have way too many pieces of furniture with finger imprints on them from being so impatient.
Oh man! I sooo share your defects! I just went through this with a dresser, painted it silver…hated it, distressed it…hated it, sanded it and then painted it plain white…can’t say that I love it, but it WORKS. Here’s the thing, (which you already know)you are like a PROFFESSIONAL furniture redo-er! I promise you know more than the Sherwin Williams guy! Do you think he has painted as much furniture as you? Nope. Every thing paints and sands differently and that’s the frustrating part about those sorts of projects. My DIY defect is that I’m lazy and I ALWAYS take the lazy way out. I never sand, I use spray primer…don’t tell. I recently decided (in a moment of weakness) that I could touch up my kitchen table with nail polish, I then…wait for it…used nail polish remover to take it off (WTpoop?!!) Needless to say I had to refinish the whole table top! :/ I hope you will show us your kitchen table and chairs when they are all done!!
man you just discribed my whole weekend…i hung a bunch of platters but did not want to shell out the 295 a hanger so magivered some and last night …Crash…then an hour later…Crash…i thought my husband was going to kill me…lol.
You make me laugh!:)
I’m Hayley and I have a hard time “redoing” any project that didn’t turn out how I wanted. I’m good at finishing something fast if it looks fabulous, but the moment I hate it, it either stays that way for a long time or I just hide it in the basement for all eternity! Kitchen island? Still the same bad color with only half of the trim done. Dining chairs? Half are done, the other half are still in the garage…
Hi. My name is Andrea and I let projects “cure”. For months or sometimes years. I’m basically a lazy human being, and although I love creating and blogging, napping often plays first fiddle.
My garage is usually the storehouse for curing projects. Currently curing are a chandelier, cedar chest, and a chair redo.
In addition to curing, I also prefer projects that can be completed in one day, in as few hours as possible, preferably with the project starting in the late afternoon after I procrastinate half the day away. See laziness comment above for reason why projects must be short & sweet.
That’s my story & I’m sticking to it!
You know, “they” say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting the same result.
I must be insane. I figure I have to be for making the same mistakes (from impatience/lazyness) over and over and over and over and over. ..
My DIY defects? Exactly to a T what you said in your post. I am writing a post along the same lines and they pretty much mirror image each other. I get WAY too excited about new projects and I was totally born without that patience thing I keep hearing about…so I end up with failures. Ahem, I mean “learning experiences”…without the learning so much…
I second Allison’s comment, also learned it the hard way….Great post, you always seem so successful…nice to see we all have challenges! My failures are many, thanks for reminding us it is O.K. to admit…FYI, I love Citristrip too! I just used it two days ago on a project gone wrong, have a great weekend!
I totally share your pain with the whole wanting projects done thing! I’m also a very inpatient person when it comes to that! I’ve repainted and resanded my dang side table at least three times now due to my blessed gift 😉 lol
Hi I’m Michelle {HI MICHELLE}. I hate to measure so I seldom ever do – I just “feel” if it’s enough fabric, the right size, etc. As a result, I’m robbed of the peace of mind that comes with counting & measuring! I’m also too impatient for trivial things like waiting for my paint to cure. THANK YOU – I FEEL MUCH BETTER GETTING THAT OFF MY CHEST!
Warmly, Michelle
hi, my name is lori.
My diy defect is that I start big projects with precision and end them with a slap-it-together-make-it-work technique that is induced by procrastination or a failed judgement call of how long a project will take.
I start strong and finish weak.
I need help. (Not to finish the project- get your grips off my stuff. I can do it myself!)
Oh, that’s another DIY defect. I tend to not welcome assistance.
Whoopsie! Don’t you just hate it when things go wonky?! Tell you an easy way to feel a little better about your mistakes…have you visited craftfail.com? Hilarious!
~Cindy
My DIY fail is I have lots (and lots) of ideas but no desire whats so ever for the execution. I have all the furniture pieces I need now after slowly thrifting/garage saleing/inheriting, but have no drive to re-vamp any of it. I blame in on the fact that I have a 26 month old and a 4 1/12 month old and a husband who goes out of town almost every week for work. These kids are lucky they get fed let alone getting any projects done.
Jamie
I’m so with you when it comes to being impatient! I too just want to have a project DONE! I’ve been getting much better at taking my time even though it can be painful!
Hiiiiiiiiiiiii Mandi!
Hi, my name is Dharma. I have a horrible habit of procrastinating on projects out of a sickening dread that I am about to make the UGLIEST thing known to humanity out of a perfectly great find. Seriously, I can talk myself into months of waffling ona colour, fabric, stain, location to be put in the house…..just ask me. I’ll get back to you. Once I think about it.
I love this post. Ha ha.
Mandi! You are my long lost sister from another mister! I laughed out loud reading this because I TOTALLY get it. I am the same way. =)
Mandi- I LOVE your blog! I have been an avid reader for months now….your blog is actually what got me into various home blogs, so, thank you! I really love this post because I am constantly doing exactly the same thing but I never have the lady balls to admit it….I just pretend like I did what the nice man at the store told me to and secretly curse him in my head…..
Keep up the blogging awesomeness!!
Chelsea
Hi, I’m Andrea, and I somehow have a knack for making projects about a million times more complicated than they need to be. Just ask my husband. I’m not sure there is a cure! Haha.
Hi Mandi, I’m Sandy…and I am impatient to get projects done. Wait for paint to dry? What? I don’t want to spend my life waiting for paint to dry! My problem is I can picture it all done and I just want to be able to snap my fingers and have it be that way. So, if you ever figure out how to do that finger-snap-and-its-done thing? Please, please, please, share a tutorial!!!
Hi. I’m Lindsay and I do the first thing that pops into my head. I don’t research and I don’t give other options a fair shake. I just do it the first way I envisioned it. After it’s done, I realize there are 1,000,000 other ways I could have done it (better), and then I hate it.
Oh man. I hope this table starts getting better for you the second time around.
my biggest diy defect is trying to break free of what everyone does these days – buy a cookie cutter home, decorate with nothing but dark leather furniture and maybe one (and if we’re lucky, two) family photos on the wall. stale, dry, no personality. not even so much as a lovely thrifted item to give the place some character.
but i fall prey to this type of house because breaking out of my shell causes me to be ‘different’ and i have a problem with this 🙂
so, i go out of my way making all these diy projects..and then i’m afraid to put them in my house. because, quite frankly, most people i know think, why the heck would you waste time on this project when you could just BUY IT in a store?
I just have to tell you that I’m so GLAD you said this:
“…I am terrible at being patient when it comes to projects. I just want them DONE…”
I am the EXACT SAME WAY!! Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that doesn’t enjoy the actual process of creating something, as much I as I enjoy the end product. Once I start something, I just want it DONE, and the most efficient way possible. Which usually ends up taking me longer because I work too fast and screw something up. haha 🙂 Thanks for putting this out there, because I totally feel where you’re coming from. 🙂 Happy Halloween!
Beth
Um..yeah. The last full paragraph…you could insert Brandi instead of Mandi and that’s me as well. I want to get right to it and see results! Impatient is my middle name.
I’m with you in the “cutting corners” boat, but along with that, mine would most definitely have to be THE UNFINISHED PROJECT! My life is one big unfinished project 😀 In fact, I just redid a claw foot table too, which we’re actually eating off of but I have yet to seal properly. My daughter smearing spaghetti all over it the other night made me think I should probably get on that one. Can’t wait to see your table!
I totally don’t have the patience…I want the finished product to look amazing but I tend to guesstimate, but it works out most the time 🙂 Glad you had a friend near by to help you out!