My DIY Beginnings

Home improvement can often feel like a daunting task, not only for beginners, but especially for busy families juggling work, school, and daily life. However, with some courage, patience, and creativity, you can accomplish anything without overwhelming your schedule or other responsibilities.

As you begin to browse some of the projects I've tackled over the years, you may wonder how my DIY journey began? I grew up pretty hands-on, helping with basic projects around the house that required a screwdriver or drill, moving the lawn, etc., but my foray into "extreme" DIY came with my first home purchase in October, 2015.

My first home on closing day!

My living room on closing day, desperate for furniture!

After graduating college, I moved in with my parents to save money while I started my first job (highly recommended if you're able - thank you, Mom & Dad!). After a year or two, I lived in apartments with roommates for several years and really didn't need much of my own furniture, aside from a bed, nightstand and dresser for my bedroom. That changed quickly when I needed to furnish my 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom house.

After briefly browsing local furniture stores for a kitchen and coffee table, I thought to myself - why don't I just buy some tools and use the internet to learn how to build them myself? That way, I'll have the tools for future projects, while being able to take pride in the finished products for many years to come? As you'll come to learn about me, once an idea pops into my head, it's pretty hard to convince me not to go through with it. The rest is history!

My basement workshop where all the DIY'ing began!

Tools

Tools and technologies are constantly evolving, but one thing you absolutely should do before embarking on your DIY journey is ample due diligence when selecting your brand and platform of tools. Acknowledging that your budget will likely drive the majority of your decision, to the extent possible, invest in a platform that will provide longevity and meet your potential, future needs.

My First Projects

As I mentioned earlier, a kitchen table was my first major project. To get started, I browsed the internet for inspiration and ultimately found other DIY blogger's websites that included detailed plans. You may not find a perfect match, but that's ok; follow their plans for the main aspects of the project and then adjust accordingly! For example, I found a plan for the kitchen table that I loved, however the dimensions were slightly too large for my house. With some advanced planning, you can adjust the plans accordingly.

Importantly, you'll make mistakes, and that's okay! It's all part of the learning process and will strengthen your problem solving skills as you work through them. In fact, I decided to also DIY the chairs to go along with this table. While they looked great (for the most part), they ultimately failed as the type of wood and construction I chose were not suitable to support any normal sized human. Pretty big mistakes to make for a chair, but I learned some valuable lessons and was able to repurpose the wood after dismantling.

Pocket holes were used extensively in this project and so many of my projects that followed. I highly recommend buying a Kreg Pocket Hole Jig and learning how to use it - it's very straightforward once you get the hang of it: https://amzn.to/44Rt6bB

Conclusion

DIY home improvement doesn't have to be intimidating. Look at how much wood you can fit into a small sedan!

Start with one project at a time. With each project, your confidence will grow (and so will your addiction to DIYing!). It won't take long to see the difference in your home.