My dad will be disappointed to know that the entertainment center we built together a month and a half ago (here) is still not quite complete! I can come up with a hundred excuses as to why that’s the case: spring break, friends in town, waiting for hardware to come…etc but the excuses need to end.
This is how day 7 went down:
I woke up and was the most calm I had been the whole week. I marveled at our work, as incomplete as it was, and gave my children a little love. My dad packed and got ready to go – including a quick stop at the neighbors for a box of grapefruit to take home. (We pay in citrus for anyone that wants to come and work on our house!!)
He gave me a quick crash course on how to install the drawer slides and before long we were walking out the door to the airport.
It was a sad goodbye – I hate hate goodbyes. Especially when my entire being was full of gratitude towards a wonderful man who selflessly helped me for an entire week. And we worked long and hard! I just wished that he lived closer so he could enjoy the finished product with me!
And then he was gone. I came home to a house and garage that were completely destroyed and neglected.
Every fiber in my being wanted to push forward and keep working on the unit – but the universe was telling me to take a break and take control of my life again. Clean my house. Play with my kids. Finish work projects. And get to bed before 1 in the morning. So after seven long days, I took a break. Perhaps too long of a break considering it’s still not done!
A couple days later, I got all the drawers installed and a few days after that I installed the drawer fronts.
I kept putting off the cabinet doors because I had never installed a hidden hinge and I was not ready to drill large holes in my beautiful doors in case I messed up. But I had moved the doors around the house enough times it was long overdue to install them. Luckily, it was much easier than I made it out to be in my head. (made easier with a hinge jig from the woodworking store)
Our old unit sat in the entry way area for an embarrassing amount of time and I really have no excuse as to why – something sits in a place long enough and you just get used to it being there!
I took a two week break before giving it some more love and attaching the trim work on top and the baseboard moldings.
And it’s been sitting staring at me ever since. I am so close. I need my dad to come back to kick me into gear again.
Dear Dad-
Please come back and help me finish up. For some reason having you here was a great accountability check and I haven’t given it a whole lot of attention since then. I’m actually really close to completion (little details like filling nail holes), but there is one ginormous hurdle standing in my way – the bi-fold retractable doors. I’ve looked at the instructions at least 10 times, played with the hardware and then it goes back in the drawer because I’m not ready to deal with it. I’m scared I’m going to screw up the doors in the 11th hour. I’ve lived with the entertainment center long enough the way it is, I’ve almost convinced myself the additional doors aren’t really necessary! Yet the doors are still leaning up against the back of the couch just the way they were when you left. It’s silly really. Duff (the neighbor) says he wants to see it when it’s 100% complete – I warned him it often takes me some time to get to 100%, he said he’s patient. So are you ready to come back? I’m sure I can come up with some more projects to make it worth your time! Besides, I just like working beside you. I learn a lot and I like that its something we can do together. That’s worth more to me than any completed project ever will be. But it will still be nice to have this done. I can do it, right? At this point it’s just a mental game anyway and to be perfectly honest it’s time for it to be crossed off my to-do list. Thanks for helping out. Love you-
DIY Entertainment Center – Day 1
DIY Entertainment Center – Day 2
DIY Entertainment Center – Day 3
DIY Entertainment Center – Day 4
DIY Entertainment Center – Day 5
DIY Entertainment Center – Day 6
Not only am I now trying to finish it, but I’m not sure how to decorate it! I’ll build you a bed, but don’t ask me what to hang on the walls! I need to recruit the help of someone…any takers??
