My high school friends nicknamed me MacGyver. I was often found repairing broken cabinet doors with toothpicks, loose towel hangers with paper clips, and piano keyboards with rubber bands.
There are only a few home improvement projects that will scare me off. I won’t re-roof a house (though I know the steps and have done less risky heights like sheds). I won’t mess with the main sewage line or breaker box. Everything else is fair game. Move a wall? Sure! Close in a door? No problem. Build a wider walk-in rain shower with body sprays and granite surround as part of a full bathroom remodel? Ha! I did that while 5 months pregnant.
Lately, I’ve been amassing unfinished projects during the pandemic depending on how much my recent foot injury lets me stand and my kids or homeschooling interrupted me. Today and tomorrow I’m going to plow through as many as possible.
Project #1 – that headboard I’ve been meaning to mount – DONE
Project #2 – I hate my laundry room
Will I finish it this weekend? Likely not. I have the unfinished cabinets, unfinished hanging rod, unfinished oak for floating shelves, but am missing a Kreg jig and unfinished crown molding for the tops of the cabinets. The conditioner, stain, poly, rod hooks are all ready to be used. I might DIY my own stencil for the wall. I have some awesome brushed nickel-looking paint that would be fun against the tan.
But I’ve been messing around with an app called Room Planner and I’m certain about the plan I have in mind. The paid version of the app lets you be more precise with inputting measurements, but if you draw the walls from scratch you can get closer than normal in the free one. I’m not wild about only having IKEA furniture options, but they’re close enough.
Project #3 – not enough bathroom storage
I’m hoping to dismantle inexpensive medicine cabinets and either 1) replace the front with framed art or 2) swap out the mirror for art and glass. Hopefully I won’t need a router.
Either way, I get to put holes in walls, break and rebuild things, and hang my own artwork so I’m happy.
Project #4 – those ugly end tables I got off Craig’s list
Everything matches if you paint it the same color!
Wish me luck!!
andrea lee bishop 