Adventures in DIY Land.

Let me put this out there: do-it-yourself (DIY) projects are not for the faint of heart. Throughout the blog world you will find examples of people that have the courage, patience, and stamina to turn something awful into something awesome. This is not that kind of blog. However, the hubby and I have embarked on our fair share of projects in the past.

Pretty much everything in our first apartment was secondhand and painted some color or another. I know, I know, paint hardly counts, but I warned you that we were weak. We found the dining chairs on the side of the road, and the side table was a $5 thrift store find. The mirror, desk, and chair were thrifted and painted to match. The seat cushion was my first upholstery project.

Then we found this swiveling bad boy at a garage sale for $7. We sanded, stained, and sealed the base, then reupholstered the cushions.

This dining set was our most ambitious project. We started by sanding it down to stain it black and seal it. The turned legs made getting all of the original clear stain off impossible though, so we had to prime, paint, and stain instead. Then I recovered the seats with Sunbrella fabric.

The greatest lesson we have learned is to carefully weigh our time and satisfaction against the amount of money we'll save. Then if it's worth it - go for it!

*P.S. Have a DIY project that you're proud of? E-mail it my way (veryfinehouseblog@gmail.com) and I'll share it on Very Fine House.