One down, three more to go!

I finally finished a project I started almost a year ago.  I have to admit, when I started I never thought it would take as long as it did, and I didn't know that I would learn this much about myself during the process.

Late last summer, while trolling kijiji (Canada's version of Craig's list) I came across this old work bench that someone was trying to give away.  Yes, give it away, first come first serve, no money required.  The thing looked in pretty bad shape, but I could see it had potential...if I was willing to give it some elbow grease.  I called the owner immediately and was told that someone else had said they wanted it, but had not yet come to pick it up.  I jumped on that, called my partner at work and arranged for her to pick it up on the way home from work.  With all the arrangements made, I sat and waiting to see what it was I had just got myself into.

When the van finally pulled into the driveway I practically ran down the driveway, I couldn't wait to see what it was that I had gotten myself into.  I ran to the back and flew open the back door and there it was, bigger than I had imagined, and in worse shape than it had appeared online, but still really beautiful.  I knew in my head that it was going to be hard, but in my heart I knew I could make it beautiful.  We unloaded it and put it in the garage, where  it would sit for several weeks before I even really took a good look at it.

One Saturday afternoon, after hearing for the hundredth time or so "when are you going to start working on the bench" I decided it was time to start.  Over to the garage I went, pulling it outside, getting a really good look at what it was and what it needed.  There was a really good table under all the 2x4's on top, but I wondered if there would be anything work salvaging once I removed all that needed removing.  It was  worth the look I decided.

With crowbar in hand and some hammers we made our way to the bench.  We both worked up a sweat trying to remove the wood, which by the way were nailed in so hard I have to wonder what anyone was thinking when they did such a thing to such a beauty.  Finally, after a good hour of pulling and grunting we had the top layer off.  Finally, all that was left was this beautiful tiger maple table top, just waiting for someone to love it.  The day was done, all the time we had that day was spent, and back into the garage it went, where it sat for more than a month, almost two.

It was mid fall before I decided to get back to work on the project.  My office was in a terrible mess and I needed a good desk with drawers, so I really needed to get this thing done.  It was my Achilles heel, just sitting there reminding me on a daily bases how I needed to get it together and actually finish the project.

I had become a bit of a procrastinator.  Not exactly a personal trait of mine, but something that had happened over the course of the last few years.  I had all these great ideas, but for one reason or another I just couldn't seem to finished anything.  I was stuck, and I needed to get unstuck.  My fear was that this table was just going to sit there in the garage and become just one more reminder to me of how out of control my life had become, and how little effort I had been putting into moving forward.  I was determined not to let this happen this time.

The day came when I decided I must start.  I went to the store and bought a heat gun, to help remove the silver paint (yes the whole thing was painted in metallic silver, poor thing).  I went to work at it that day, even though it was pretty chilly out and I would need to work hard at keeping warm, and getting the paint off.  I work for a few hours that day, and then again a couple days later, and then a week or so later I again gave it some effort.  Not much was happening.  I had removed some of the silver paint, but discovered there was at least one layer of white below that, and under the paint there was a finish, maybe shellac or something.  This was going to take an investment in time, a big one.

The weather quickly went from cool to cold, dry to wet, possible to impossible.   Soon the desk was alone again in the garage, where it would sit for the winter months without being touched.  Again, working as a daily reminder of what I was not doing...

This spring was a cold one, for the most part, so I didn't get out there until May, but went out with determination to get it done.  I gave up on trying to melt the paint away with a heat gun, I decided to turn to chemicals.  After more than 20 hours, and many chemical burns later the thing was finally stripped.  Yes, I was finally past the part I thought I would never finish....this was a great step in the right direction.  Next was the stain.  We picked up two wonderful dark colours, ones we thought would bring it back to what should have been it's original glory.  We were right.  It worked beautifully, if I do say so myself.  The only remaining obstacle facing me at this point was the top.  It was riddled with holes, and although I tried many different ways in which to fill them, I couldn't find anything that did it justice in my mind....yes I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this.   I thought about it for days, sometimes falling asleep at night trying to work out the problem. 

This is where I leaned the biggest lesson.  This is the part that sets me off, puts be in a place where I have to accept that doing something is better than not doing anything at all.  This is when I have to remind myself that it's better to finish something, even if it's not perfect, rather than let it just sit there. 

An idea came to me, one I felt really good about, and I knew I would be able to live with.  I decided that maybe what I could do is add some leather across the top, covering all the obvious holes.  Then that idea grew to one of maybe I could go even further than that, maybe I could find some old belts and make them the leather straps that would do the trick.  So off to the thrift stores I went.  I had it in my mind that I wanted to find the roughest, worn out belts I could find.  Seems simple don't you think, well it's not.  Seems thrift stores don't put out bad looking belts....but I found two that I thought would work and came home and gave them a look.  Yes, they were going to work out great.

I finally finished it, and made it beautiful in my mind.  I am proud that I didn't let this project take over me, or win.  I'm glad that I could persevere and achieve a finished project I could be proud of.  Too many times, when the going gets rough, I have just walked away and thrown in the towel in defeat.  I am glad I didn't do that this time, it reminds me that if I actually put my mind to something, nothing can stand in my way.  And, I have a great looking desk to prove it daily to myself.