The Thrift Diving Podcast

10 Tips for Starting a DIY Project You've NEVER Done Before - #17

May 28, 2021 Serena Appiah Season 1 Episode 17
The Thrift Diving Podcast
10 Tips for Starting a DIY Project You've NEVER Done Before - #17
The Thrift Diving Podcast
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Show Notes Transcript

Have you ever wanted to try a DIY project that you've never attempted before? Whether it's building a closet organizer or painting a piece of furniture, starting a new project can be absolutely intimidating! Not to mention frustrating when things don't go as planned or as quickly as you had hoped. In this episode, let's chat about 10 tips that will help you overcome the fear of getting started, deal with the frustrations, and learn to appreciate each and every mistake you'll likely make! 

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Hey, it's Serena Appiah from ThriftDiving.Com, which is a podcast, a blog and a YouTube channel that helps you decorate and improve your home with paint, power tools and thrift stores. And you know, here at Thrift Diving, we don't sacrifice our budget, the environment or style. Welcome to Episode 17 of the podcast.

Now, at the end of the last podcast, I said that we were going to talk about upcycling, right? We've been talking about thrift stores, and I thought today would be a great time to talk about what are the 10 questions that you should ask yourself before you upcycle something? Well, we're going to do that next week.

I hope you don't mind. So you got to come back for Episode 18, but today I actually want to talk about 10 tips for starting a new DIY project. Something you've never tried before. What are 10 tips that you need before you actually start? And the reason why I'm talking about this and why I'm so passionate about it  is because I've been building a closet makeover and this closet organizer, it's literally been a year and a half.

If you remember back October 2019, which seems so long ago, I started working on my closet. Took everything out. Took down the shelves. It's, you know, covered in wallpaper. I took the wallpaper down. You can see that video down below with the link to my YouTube video. And my goal at that time was I was going to finish it in a week.

Seriously. I had an idea in my head that I was going to finish this in a week, and it's been a year and a half, and I've not consistently been working on it the entire time. So it literally isn't taking me a year and a half, but that's the amount of time that has lapsed from when I started to where I am now.

And this week, actually in the last month, really, I've been pouring so much time and attention into this project, and I've been feeling so discouraged. I've been challenged, but I've been discouraged. And I thought as I was working on it, you know, I wonder what you feel. Like when you're starting a new project, what are the things that you're going through?

What are those new tips, techniques, things that you've learned, things that you're trying out for the first time and you're getting stuck, or maybe you messed it up. And I thought this would be a great opportunity to share that you and I were in the same boat. Sometimes, I think people look at bloggers, YouTubers, DIYers, and you think that we have it figured out. Well, you know from my channel and from my blog posts, I don't have it all figured out.

If I make a mistake, I tell you about it because whatever mistake I've made, it's a mistake that you don't have to make. So we can learn together right. As I learned, you learn. 

But I started thinking about what are some things that I would do differently next time or with things that I do right, as I started embarking on this closet makeover project.

So I just started jotting down 10 tips and there's probably more tips. Once I got in there, I'm like, oh, okay. I'm learning a lot of things here. I got to share these with you. But these were the 10 that came to mind as I just decided to talk about that this week. So let me give you a little bit of background.

As I mentioned, this project, was something that I started in October of 2019. We were just about to embark on a trip like a one-week trip to Brazil, just my husband and I, we were going to leave the kids behind. And I decided that I was going to do my best in order to get this project done and published before we left.

So we had about maybe a week, week, and a half. And I said, you know what? I think I can get this done. I'm going to take this wallpaper off. That's going to take about a day or two, and then I'll build a closet organizer real quick, and then it'll be done before we leave. And it's so ridiculous to think back to that project now, because, or to that, that frame of mind, because in my mind, I thought it was going to take so little time and here it's been a year and a half.

Now, the reason why it's taken so long is because when we got back from Brazil, I didn't jump right back into that project. There was like three or four other projects that I had to do. So things got in the way, and I put it off. And put it off and put it off a little bit more. And then I think it was probably, gosh, I, you know, I don't, I don't even know the timeframe it's been so long, but I realized that I wasn't going to be able to do it all in one sitting.

So last November, so about a year into the whole makeover, I was able to get one side of the closet organizer done. And I figured, let me go ahead and just post that so that I'm not so late and delayed. People were waiting like, where's this project, Serena, you said you were going to do it? So I posted one side, it turned out really well.

Of course it wasn't perfect. I  had my challenges. And once that was posted, then I said, I'll work on the next side. It's a small closet; it's 5' x 7'. So it wasn't like it was a huge closet, but I couldn't get it all done in one go. Well, that was last November. And it's now May 2021. And I am like in the trenches of building this thing and there's some frustrations I'm having, but there's some things that I'm doing well and there's things that I'm not doing so well.

And I wanted to talk to you about those projects that you have in your mind right now, the project that it's that big project that you've been thinking about, you want to do, but you're not sure how to get started. You're a little afraid because you think you're going to mess it up. We all have that project, right?

We all have that project that we're aiming for. My first tip is you have to muster up the courage to even do it. I can't tell you how many times people get ideas for projects, and they just never do it. They're afraid. They're so afraid that they're going to mess up or that they can't figure it out, that they don't even get started.

So what I like to tell myself and what you should tell yourself is ,yes, I can do this project. Now, I may not know how to do it yet. I may not have all the tools to do it yet, but I can do this. You know, you're not a moron, I'm not a moron. I think we're all pretty intelligent people where if we have a goal, we can figure out how to get to that goal.

And we just have to figure out what those steps are in between, making the decision that yes, I'm going to attempt this and actually getting to that goal line. And, you know, I also want to point out too, that sometimes projects, really, I mean, it's about the outcome. You know, you want a nice project, you want it to look good.

You want to be proud of it. But sometimes it's the process. Keep that in mind that sometimes it's the process. I was listening to a radio program the other day. And he was talking about this, not specifically about DIY projects, but about the journey and whatever it is that you're doing. And it just resonated with me.

You know, it's nothing we hadn't heard before, but it resonated with me because it was a good reminder that while we want our projects to turn out, it's about the process of getting there, all the things that we learn along the way, all the things that worked well, all the things that didn't work well that maybe next time we try this project, we can try something else.

Or we can do that thing again because it worked really well. But in order to even get to that point, we have to muster up the courage and to do that, you have to tell yourself, I can do this project. I don't know how yet, and I don't know what I need to do it yet, but I can do this project. So tell yourself the right messages and it makes a huge difference in you deciding what you're going to take on. 

All right. So the second tip is kind of related to the first tip. It's about doing your research, do the proper research to know what you're getting into, because I could say right now, yeah, I can, I can like build a house from scratch. Uh, yes, I can do that.

I can do that, but I have to also do the research to make sure that I know what I'm getting into. Right. Like I have to know how to excavate the land and how to hire architectures. And there's a lot of steps involved. And so if you just, you know, tell yourself that I can do it, but yet you don't do your research, then that's kind of like not being very intelligent.

So the second tip really is about doing your proper research. So sometimes that could be a really spending time going into Pinterest. You know, if there's a piece of furniture that you want to paint, and you're not quite sure how to get started, or there's a certain technique that you've been seeing around Pinterest and you really, really like it, but you're not quite sure how to do it.

Or maybe you want to paint your bedroom furniture and it's a nice set. You don't want to ruin it. You've got some research to do. Get some pen and paper to type some notes to an email, to yourself and start taking notes on all the things that you're learning about what it is that you want to do. So this is really the research phase.

And I think a lot of times people don't put enough emphasis on that research phase, because once you research, you're so much more prepared when you get into that project. And here's the thing, you're not going to be able to research everything. Like you don't know what you don't know. Right. And it's only when you are confronted with that thing where you're like, oh shoot, I didn't know that. 

Good example. I was building some drawers for myself with this closet makeover, and I thought everything was good. I thought all my measurements was good and come to find out it was off by 3/8". So I ended up having to rebuild some of the drawers again. It took me all day because I was like struggling with the math.

And then I thought it was Serena. You didn't properly research.  When you're building drawers, there's several different ways that you can mount the drawer. And I decided I was going to try the undermount drawer slides. Well, I've never used them before, and I didn't properly research how to measure the drawer in order to make it fit properly.

So I just sort of like, just did it willy nilly based on, you know, the drawers I've made before. And they, they, they didn't fit. They were off by three eights of an inch. And because of that, it ended up costing me more time and materials, but it was because I didn't do my research. So I admit it. So do your proper research, know what you're getting into.

And then tip number three is related to this one. Be realistic about how long it's going to take and then multiply that number by three. So when I first started on this closet makeover and I thought, oh, it's going to take a week and a half. Well that wasn't based on realism. That was based on, I'm leaving for a vacation in a week and a half, and I got to be done. So I can do this. 

That was not based on anything, but just sheer, like wishing. But once I started doing some research and realized, oh, this is going to be much more involved, uh, I started actually come up with a timeframe. I didn't come up with a timeframe, but whatever timeframe you think it's going to take, like, let's say, oh, I'm going to take a month to do this project. Multiple it by three.

And even then, you might even want to multiply it by six, depending on the level of complexity of the project. But don't feel bad if it takes longer, because if this is something that you're new to doing, it's going to take you longer, of course. The second time you do it, it's going to take probably two thirds less time.

And then the third time you do it, I'll take half as much time. So, that's just how things are, you know, we learn the more we do them. But however long you think it's going to take you to do something, just multiply it by three or six or in my case, maybe even 10. And then you'll have a more realistic idea of how long it's going to take.

Tip number four is to create a master tools and materials list. This was actually something I did well with this project. I did a lot of research and I started thinking through the project, what would I need? So I'm building a closet make-over here. I'm probably going to need some cabinet screws. I'm probably going to need some aluminum bars because I want to hang my clothes up.

And so I got to get those, got to get the bars, got to get the little end caps that go into the woods so I can attach that. I need edge banding. So edge banding is when you're working with a piece of plywood, and you want to cover up that raw edge. I need that. I'm going to need an iron now, not everything that you need are things that you're going to have to buy.

But if you make a master list of what you need for this project, it's easy to set those things up in maybe a bin or a crate or something in your work area so that as you need things, you don't have to run around the house looking for them. And so when I started this project or when I started making the list of what I needed, I just ordered a bunch of stuff at one time. I thought, okay, well, I'm going to do adjustable shelves.

I know that I'm going to need shelf pins. So I ordered those, I ordered edge banding. I ordered glue. It doesn't mean that everything that I needed was thought out at that time, but it helped make it a little bit more smooth.

So when I was ready to do the shelf pins, I already had the little jig that you just clamp onto your wood and start drilling so that you can get nice even shelf pins. So I didn't have to get to that point and think, oh my gosh, I didn't order that thing. Now it's going to slow me down another three days or two days while I wait for Amazon to send it. 

So if you have this master tools and materials list, it does make things go a little bit more smoothly but keep in mind, it's not the end all be all of your materials list. There are going to be more things that you discover later that you need, that you didn't know that you needed, but it definitely helps speed things up.

And number five would be to plan, plan, plan. This is all part of the research related to tip number two, but actually planning out your project. Write down the steps that you think you're going to have to do in order to create this project. And I did this for this closet makeover. I actually started drafting out what I thought I needed to do.

Right. But one thing that I did, and this is what took up a lot of time when during this project was, I actually taught myself how to learn SketchUp. Now, for those of you that don't know, SketchUp is a free program, there's also a paid version, that a lot of woodworkers use. Like if you are following DIYers, they're using SketchUp.

If they're building things, they're using SketchUp, it's like the best program, right. It's something that is not very intuitive to learn. So I actually used a program,  it used to be called lynda.com, but now it's LinkedinLearning.com. I'll leave a link down below for you. And I just took, you know, maybe like a few days or, or maybe about a week.

I think it took about a week. I didn't sit down and do the training all in one go, but LinkedinLearning.com is a great place to learn whatever skill it is that you're looking for. A lot of it is technical and art based. If you want to learn like Photoshop or video editing, you can watch a tutorial. So I was like, you know what, I'm going to teach myself SketchUp, and I'm going to learn how to use Sketch Up so I can draft this thing in my head onto the computer.

And the thing about SketchUp that's,  really cool is that it allows you to get the measurements of whatever it is that you're drafting. So like if I try to create a closet makeover my head, I don't know what the measurements are, per se. I don't know how big I want it to be. I've measured my closet.

It's five by seven generally, but I don't know exactly what size I need to make this. So by learning how to use Sketch Up, I was able to construct this, I mean, really kind of amazing. I say amazing, but it was amazing for me considering when I first used SketchUp, I mean, it was horrific. I was like, what in the world is this program?

I can't use this. And now I feel proficient enough that I can go in, create a simple model, get all the measurements, and then go into my garage, my little quote, unquote "workshop". We'll talk about that in a moment. And I can create this thing that I just drafted out on the computer. And if it doesn't fit, I can go back to the computer and figure out where I went wrong.

And so when you're, working with a plan, you're drafting out the steps, you're thinking through each step, because then you realize like, okay, well, if I want to, I'm trying to think of an example related to painting furniture. Okay. If I want to remove these knobs. or these pulls and add some pretty knobs,

at what point should I drill for a new hole? You know, should I do that before I paint? Should I do it after I paint? Like these are the things that you can think through and draft them down on paper. Keep that little notebook next to you, so as you're going through, you can check it off and say, okay. I did that. I cleaned my furniture. Now I'm going to fix these, gouges here from the family dog. And then I'm going to prime here because,  I've got some, stains that are coming through. You know, there's, a process to whatever project you're doing. And sometimes you can't foresee all those things, but if you write it down, it gives you an idea.

Now this is something that I had to actually do, too, when I was working on the closet. Five by seven is not a huge space for a closet. Right. So, you know, I'm drafting these big pieces of,  closet organizers that are going all the way up to the ceiling. Well, how am I going to get that into my closet?

The doorway is not all that wide. It's a closet doorway. So it's not like a standard 36 inches. So how am I going to squeeze this thing in there? Can I do this? And then I realize, okay, I have to build this in sections. So I'll build the dresser section with the four drawers and then that'll be one section, one unit. And then I'll build the top part,

and that's what I'm doing. Like literally right now. , I've been doing that for the last few days, but I'll,  build that part and then I'll bring it in and set it on top and then I can connect this piece. And so by thinking through each of the steps, it really has saved me a lot of stress, a lot of rework.

A lot of,  not messing up materials and having to go and get more materials. Although I have had to get some more materials. But also to, in, in your planning, I would tell you to take pictures or steps or videos of each step of your project. This actually helps you to learn so the next time you do it, but it also helps you to remember sometimes how things fit back together or how things fit together.

 It's just a really good visual, especially if you're trying to remember for next time. Good example, it's been so long since I've built drawers. It's not something that I do all the time. When I built my vanity, I built some drawers and they turned out pretty good. Although one of them didn't fit and I had to sand it down just to get it to fit.

That was fun! But that was several years ago. I have not built drawers since, and because I had not built drawers, I kind of got a little lost in what I was doing and ended up taking much longer than it had to. So if I had done my research more specifically on the type of hardware that I was using, and if I had taken some extra pictures, I could have looked back on those pictures.

Now, how did I do these drawers? Or how did I do this step? So always remember to take pictures and videos of each step so that you can reference it later for your own little library, your own little DIY library. 

Okay. Tip number six is to make sure that you have enough space. I talked a little bit about this because of the closet being so small 5' x 7', I knew I was not going to have enough space to build this huge thing in my garage, and then carry that up the stairs.

It just wasn't happening. So I knew that I was going to have to build this in sections, but also knew that my garage does not have a lot of space. This is why I'm waiting on my she shed. It's going to be huge. It's like 26 by 16. And I'm still waiting on that permit. Oh my gosh. That's been a process.

It's been two months now but, in the garage, I knew that I would not have space to build this big closet organizer. I had to do it in stages. So I had to figure out where was I going to actually lay this out? It's been very challenging because I've been having to scoot past the bikes and I'm stepping over the lawn mowers.  I can't move in the space that I am.

And it's very frustrating. So any bigger of a project, I would not have been able to do it, but you have to be realistic about where are you going to be working on your project. If you're painting furniture, you can do that inside. You know, a lot of furniture paints now, I mean, they're, non-toxic, you can do it inside.

You can do it outside. But if you're doing a huge project and you just don't have space, you may not be able to do that project. So you got to be realistic about how much space you have and seeing about how you can free up some space so that you can do this project that you have in mind. A part of that too, for example, if you're sanding, you know, a lot of times when you're painting furniture, you don't have to prime and sand before you get started, but it doesn't mean that every project is not going to require no priming or no sanding.

You might have some repairs that you have to make, so you might have to sand, or maybe the top is, badly gouged, right? Like that family dog just got on there, or the cat got on there and just "reeeeeehow!" Just scratched up your furniture. So you might have to do some wood filler and some sanding. Is that sanding dust going to be everywhere in your bedroom?

Is that where you're doing the project? How are you going to keep everything dust-free? So those are the kinds of things that you have to think through and where you're going to work on your project and how your environment is going to impact the speed at which you can move. I can tell you in my garage right now, and this poor garage, I mean, I feel like I've cleaned this thing out multiple times, but it always gets filled back up. 

Right now I think one of the reasons I'm moving so slowly is because I don't have space.  Not just for the project I'm building, but after I make a cut, I got to put my saw somewhere. So I got to like lean down and put it under the table. And I just bought a track saw back, I would say December, January. I've been upgrading my tools and I'm using a tracks saw now, which I absolutely love.

If you can buy a track saw, please look into it. It's so easy. It's safe. It does everything. Okay. Maybe not everything, but it does pretty much everything that a table saw would do, but it's just so much, like just simpler, I think, and safer, honestly, my opinion. But those rails that the track, saw rides on, once I do a cut, I need a place to put the rail.

So I got to step around the table, put it on the other tables. Step back around, try not to trip on hoses and cords. And it's been slowing me down. That's been a very frustrating part. So before you embark on a project, I've been using the word embark a lot, before you embark on a project, make sure that you have enough space and don't let space deter you, . But just be realistic that it might slow you down if you don't have enough space to, move through that project quickly. 

Tip number seven is to test, test, test. I love testing and yes, this does slow things down, but here's what happens when you test. When you test, you can make sure that each step turns out exactly as what you wanted. For the longest time I wouldn't test things, I would just do it and I wouldn't like it.

And then if it's paint, that's fine. Cause you can just paint over something. Or if it's stain, stains a little bit more permanent, you can't necessarily just stain half of a desk and then say, well, let me change my mind. Doesn't work like that. Paint, yes, you can do that. But when you're testing, you're actually using scrap materials to do each step of that project.

And even though your wood may not be the same, even though your project may not be the same as like the little test wood that you have over here, it's at least going to help you to know if this is what you want to do. Are you sure about this,  tool that you're about to use? Is it working the way you want it to?

And remember, I just told you that I am upgrading my tools, all my power tools, I'm upgrading to a new brand and, all these tools, I've never used before. I'd never really used a track saw. I mean, I've used a circular saw, but a track saw it's a little different. You have to make sure that that track is aligned properly.

You have to make sure that you know which side you're supposed to cut. Cause if he cut the wrong side, your Wood's going to be too short. So there's a lot of nuances that I didn't know. So before I used each tool, I had to do a test to make sure, okay, , this actually turned out as I expected. I can do this step on my good project and feel confident that it's going to turn out. 

And there was a lot of scraps that I used. You know, if you're painting a piece of furniture, maybe you're not sure about a color combination, or maybe you want to try a new like chippy paint technique, but before you do it on your real project, you want to test it out on a piece of wood. It's a little harder with furniture because you can't necessarily replicate that piece of furniture and do it on a test piece.

But as best as you can, try to test whatever you are looking to do, especially if it's something you've never done before. If it's a new color, a new technique, a new tool, do a test first, get to the point where you're comfortable and you're happy with the results and then do it on your real project.

And I can tell you one of the tools that I bought; it's called a Festool Domino. Now in woodworking, you have to join your wood together somehow. Well, a lot of times in the DIY space, you will see people use a Kreg Pocket Hole Jig. That's a really easy, simple way, especially for beginners to join their wood together.

You'll see people use biscuit joiners, where the machine just cuts out like a sliver of wood and you pop in this football shaped piece of wood, glue it in there, put your boards together and you can't see the joinery like you do with a pocket hole. And then there's the Festool Domino. I discovered it back in the winter and decided I was going to add this tool to my collection because  it'll cut out that little section for this little loose tenon to get glued in there.

And it joins together the boards so nicely. So I thought that's what I want for my closet organizer. I don't want to do the pocket holes anymore. Those kind of gave me a little bit of trouble when I did my last organizer, because I didn't like that I had to plug them and sand them. And it was just, it was a lot.

So I decided I was going to upgrade to this Domino. Well, I didn't know how to use it. And I was so afraid that I would make a mistake and put all these holes into my wood only later to discover, guess what? You didn't do it properly. Or the hole was not deep enough. And I would ruin it all. You know, I had paid $700 for the stack of plywood to build these closet organizers, which I don't think is too bad.

When you look at the fact, you could go to the Container Store and spend six to $7,000 on an organizer. And it wouldn't be of as good of a quality, personally, in my opinion. So $700 is, was a lot, but it was not a lot when you compare it, but I didn't want to go out and have to spend more money because I wasted my material.

So I took a lot of time to watch the YouTube videos and planned how to use these tools and even bought a few accessories to make it a lot more accurate and easy to use, but that took time. So I had to figure out how to use these tools. So, do your measurements, do your test cuts, do your test paints, colors, and all of that.

And when you get to a point when you feel pretty good. Like, I like how this looks, I'm doing this right. And I've tested it, then move on. Then move on. If you still make a mistake, figure out what it is that you did and try to repair it or correct it. And if not get another piece of wood.

Let's move on to tip number eight.

Don't beat yourself up over the mistakes and the imperfections. Listen, when I first started doing this closet makeover, this latest section, I had everything drafted out. I thought all the measurements were correct. I was working from the plan, but I made a huge mistake. Well, I say huge, a small mistake, but it was huge in my eyes when I saw that things weren't coming together.

So the thickness of wood also makes a huge difference when you're building, because a three-quarter inch piece of plywood is not really three quarters of an inch. It's actually, I think it comes out to be like 0.718. Well, that's a little smaller than 0.75", right? It's not quite three quarters of an inch.

So I got myself into the mistake of creating this in SketchUp and not using the exact proper measurement. So as I was fitting together some pieces of wood, making these dresser drawers, there were some gaps, there were some gaps in some of the pieces. And I thought, oh my gosh, what did I do wrong? And I had to decide at that time, is this something that I'm going to accept and learn from?

Or is this something that I'm going to be so upset about that I need to scrap the whole thing, go get more pieces of wood just to get that, you know, one eighth of an inch gap, like taken care of. What am I going to do here? And I decided that I was not going to beat myself up over little mistakes and imperfections with this project.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to focus on the fact that I'm doing the best that I can. I've prepared as much as I can. There's things that I still am not going to know or things that I didn't know I needed to research, and things are going to come up. So how am I going to handle that? I'm going to sit down and I'm going to actually note these things.

And that leads me to number nine is, to actually do what I like to call, and other people call this too. You can actually find this in Episode 2, when I spoke to Charlie Gilkey. He wrote a book called Start Finishing How to Get Projects Done, from, from beginning to end. And he talked about this where you have to do an act after.

Well, I don't remember when he called it. I think he called it an After Project Report. I've heard it called after action report, but basically, it's this: when you are done a project, not even when you're done, let's say while you're working on the project, what are the things that are going well? And what are the things that didn't go well. Because what we have to do here, when we're doing projects is we have to learn from the mistakes that we made.

But we also have to learn from the things that we did well so that we can congratulate ourselves on the things that, oh my gosh, I totally rocked it out. I did that cut and it was precise, and that drawer just came together like butter. But then we also have to take a moment to say, okay, I had that one eighth inch gap.

What did I do wrong there? Oh, okay. I was using, in the program three quarter inches actually. No, I was using my mistake actually was I put in the wrong measurement, and I was using like 0.81 for the thickness of the plywood, which is of course bigger than 0.718. So of course I was going to be a little off in getting everything to fit together because you're using the wrong measurements.

So now I know I've written down, hey, when you're working in SketchUp, make sure you're using 0.718 or at the very least just enter three quarters of an inch because maybe it won't make that much of a difference, but definitely don't use 0.81, Serena. Be careful lesson learned, check , the thickness of the wood so that your measurements are precise.

Even with learning how to cut with my new tools. There's things that I've learned that I didn't know before. And so I'm writing those things down. Here's a good example. When I was doing the drawers and realized the drawers are a little small, I had to fit those drawers into that dresser that I built.

And I was like, I am not doing this again. I'm not scrapping this just because the drawers are a little off, but when it came time to build the next two sets of drawers, I did a much better job to the point that it's truly a soft, close drawer. Like it took me some time to get it in there. I had to figure out, okay, well, if I want a one eighth inch reveal around there and I want it to be inset, where do I need to put the drawer mount?

You know, like there's a lot of thought that went into that. But if I just let that knowledge go and I don't note it down somewhere, next time I go to do this project, I have no idea how I built the drawers. I'll have to go back and look at my video or, or whatever it is. But, you know, take note of what went well, what did you do well, what did you learn? What didn't go well? How are you going to store that information, so next time you do this project, you know, you'll have a little library to know, like, oh, I love that finish that I did on that dresser for the kids' room. Let me make sure that I noted how I did it because I used a special technique or, maybe to get that chippy paint, I used Vaseline, but I just made sure that I put it on with a Q-tip or something, you know, whatever it is that you had learned to do, note it somewhere so you don't forget. 

Because it's about the process, right? It is about seeing this beautiful project that you've created, but it's also about the process. And that also leads me to the last tip. Tip number 10, show it off. 

Do not be scared to show off what you've done here. And let me tell you what we do.

Think about the project that you showed off. Like, let's say the last project that you showed off to friends and family. Maybe you posted it on Facebook, Instagram, texted to your friend, your mom, whoever your grandkids. Think about that project. And what's the first thing that you said when they said, oh, that's a great project.

What did you say? " It's not perfect, but I think it looks pretty good." I bet you, I can guarantee I'd put money on it that you probably said something like that. Am I right? I have done it myself. I do it all the time. I will post videos of projects that I've done, and people will say, oh my gosh, it looks so great.

And I'm like, well, it's not perfect. Or I kind of messed up here. But yeah, I like it. I think it turned out really well. It's good enough for me. And when we do that, we're downplaying how much time and energy just went into that project. So just think about that for a moment. Think about those projects that you downplay because you don't want to make yourself seem like, oh, you're so wonderful because you just painted this thing, knowing you've got some little gaps here or, you know, you had to superglue this thing here because it broke off. And it's almost like you feel like a fake, like why would somebody compliment you on this project when you know  it's got flaws?

And I think we need to get past that. We need to get past not being able to accept a compliment at what we created. It doesn't have to be perfect. We've learned from that. Next time, we'll do a better job so that it doesn't have that one eighth inch gap, or maybe the paint won't be smeared in this one area.  But let's not downgrade  the time and the attention and the focus that went into this project. You know, let's not downplay the process and I'll be honest with you: crafting to me,

and even woodworking, I'm calling it crafting. I'm putting it into this big box. Crafting is like therapy. I don't know about you, but when I am working on a project like this entire week, I have been bingeing on Forensic Files on Netflix. You know, husbands killing wives, wives, killing husbands, mysterious viruses killing people, and they got to figure it out.

There's a big puzzle who did it, who done it. And for me to just have that running in the background and listening to a story and how somebody solved a crime, it's like therapy for me. So even though I want this project to turn out, it's all about the joy of working in this garage, well, the frustration too, but the joy of working in the garage and experiencing just the calmness and the relaxing of,

okay. I'm challenging myself. I'm learning something new. This project is like a puzzle. I got to figure out how to put it all together. I'm watching or listening to something that I really like, or my favorite music, or, you know, bingeing on whatever the latest shows are on Netflix.  Let's not downgrade that.

Let's appreciate that, this is how we enjoy spending our time. So when someone compliments our work, don't feel like a fake, don't feel like you have to disparage yourself or the project, just say, you know, thank you. I really appreciate it. You know, it's been a labor of love. Let's do that and make ourselves feel even more pumped up to do the next project.

So I know I've been talking a long time. I'm passionate about this. That's why I just wanted to talk about it today, because I know I'm struggling with these things, and I know that you are too. So get over that, that hump of not even wanting to get started on a project, or once you get started, you know, getting so frustrated that you put it aside, it's taking longer.

You know, another tip I'll add on here. Let me give you a little bonus tip. If you don't have a lot of time, you may not have three, four, five, six, seven hours to devote to a project on Saturday afternoon. Set a timer and give yourself 30 minutes. Whatever you can get done in that 30 minutes, you know, it might even just be okay, let me do 30 minutes of research on how to build this closet or how to build this  kitchen table, or how to use a circular saw.

Let me do 30 minutes. Cause I want to build this table for my dining room. Don't know how to use a saw, but I'm going to start with doing some research on how to use a saw. Give yourself 30 minutes, and then once you're done, go do something else. The next day, come back, give another 30 minutes and you'll be surprised how much progress you start making.

You know, that's how I did it. When I started learning how to use SketchUp, I didn't sit down, and I don't think I sat down all in one day. I really do believe I sectioned it often like 30-minute segments, and I took tons of notes. So I could always go back. And how did I do this? How do I make sure I get this the right measurements?

So give yourself some grace and have fun at what you're doing, because you know, being able to take raw materials and put it together and build something or to take something that's ugly and it's in bad condition and make it look beautiful. Or even just to take your bedroom furniture and do a room make-over with just paint, it's a great process. I absolutely love it. 

Now, I don't love to cook. I can't cook. I'm not a very good--I can cook, but I don't like to do it. I don't like to spend a lot of time on my feet in the kitchen. I just don't. But if you get me in a garage, I could work on any project in the garage for hours. I mean, literally all day and not be exhausted.

Like I could keep going. It's only when it starts to get late and the kids are like, Mommy, it's time for bed. Then I will stop. So enjoy that. Don't disparage your projects. Don't get so caught up in, it's taken me so long and this is frustrating. It's a lesson that you can learn so that the next project will go even faster.

All right  next week for Episode 18, we are going to talk about upcycling. We're going to talk about those 10 questions that you should ask yourself before you up cycle, especially if one of those disparaging things that you tell yourself is I'm not creative. Guess what? I've got some questions that you can ask that will actually jog your creativity and you will start coming up with all kinds of . Solutions for how to upcycle something, just by asking yourself the right questions.

I'm Serena Appiah. Thank you so much for listening and I will see you next episode.