My DIY Journey

My DIY journey started when I was child living in a small apartment in New York City. Living in a small space with my parents and siblings required us to think outside of the box and make the most of the space available. Whether it was building storage trunks that would double up as a bench, or a hallway shelves near the top of ceiling to store extra blankets, we would always help out with hammering, screwing and painting.

DIY PROJECTS

Later on, I started to work on my own DIY projects, and needless to say, I had my fair share of epic fails! One fail was to try and create a wooden ottoman that could be used for storage and seating. After using MDF board to build the ottoman and putting cushioning on the top, the whole contraption started to fall apart due to the weight! Of course, this was a lesson learned, where I needed to pay attention to the materials being used.

Best Projects

Lately, our DIY projects have been both large and small. Among the best projects that I’ve worked on lately has been building a custom dining table. At first we wanted to buy a large dining table, but the costs were a bit prohibitive. We then searched on YouTube for the right wood and other materials and were able to build it within a weekend.

Another successful project was an entry table that we also build from scratch. This also took about a weekend, and we learned a lot about wood and creating a strong support framework.

Recently, I worked on creating an entryway closet that would hold our coats, shoes, bags and other things. We don’t have a mud room, so I converted the closet into a mini mud room.

Finally, some small DIY projects involve painting older objects and making them new again. I’ve had some fails here as well, especially when trying to paint on plastic, but for the most part I’ve been pretty happy with my results!