Have you ever thought to yourself, “I have too much time on my hands and I saw this cool thing on the internet so I’m going to try it!” And then you totally failed?
Well, I’m not sure if you have, but I know for a fact there are some other people who have – there’s a whole show on Netflix called Nailed It that is based on this premise.
Since we moved into a new, much bigger apartment, we needed to furnish it and didn’t have money but had nothing but time, so I decided to try my hand at some DIY. Spoiler Alert: I did not nail it.
The goal: obtain some cheap or free pieces either from stooping or the Buy Nothing Facebook group (more on that another time), and then refinish them to be gray to match our blue/gray living space area theme.
More specifically: sand, gray stain, and finish a shelf to hold our stemless wine glasses and serve as wall art, a media center, and a coffee table.
Things started out pretty well. I found this awesome shelf on the street that my sister stored for me for a day. Free.
I saw a media center with GREAT bones on Buy Nothing, and paid Stoober $40 to transport it. Chris and I had to take it down 4 flights of stairs, which left me sore for 4 days, but #worthit.
I found this VERY cool coffee table that looked like it was made of crates in our building, that someone was throwing out. It had wheels, and totally fit in the theme of our décor (if it had been gray). Free.
Shelf on the Street (Like Elf on a Shelf but free) 
Media Center 
Coffee Table/Crates 
Look how cool!
We had random furniture all over our apartment while I got up the nerve to go to the paint store. It took me a week. I finally swallowed my pride after doing some preliminary googling, and I asked the guy at Benjamin Moore to “please speak to me like I am a stupid person who has never done any DIY before… because I haven’t.”
The man could not have been nicer. He explained sand paper, and told me I would be much better off getting a hand sander. He explained protective eyewear. He explained paint thinner for cleaning purposes (I still don’t totally understand this), and also helped me pick a gray stain. I had taken photos of all of the items and showed him, but since I didn’t purchase them and couldn’t be 100% sure if they were wood or laminate, I knew there was risk involved.
Thankfully, my brother-in-law had a hand sander I could borrow, so I didn’t need to purchase that, either. I watched 5 YouTube videos on sanding and loading spring-load hand sanders, then I put down some drop clothes and got to work. I decided to start with the smallest project, the interesting shelf thingy (very technical term).
Look at that hope and optimism in my eyes. 
My instagram story showed my fear. 
Are Ray-Bans considered “eye protection?” 
“Coming Along” was optimistic. 
When I took a break to look outside…. then gave up.
I had our air filter on high, the windows open, and our vacuum on hand. But WOW. It was LOUD. I was very worried about pissing off our brand-new neighbors. Also, despite the drop cloth, it was still going EVERYWHERE! About 10 minutes in, I went downstairs to investigate the possibility of using an outdoor outlet. Unfortunately, both outdoor spaces were closed due to snow/ice, and the only other outlet was at the entrance to our building. I asked the doorman and he said I should probably pass it by the super. I gave up on that plan and went back to my living room.
After sanding, I tried to clean up all the residue, and went on to step #2. Staining. Well, guys. I messed up. I used the FINISH. But only on one half of one side before I noticed, and thankfully, it was the top that no one would really see unless they were super, super tall. After switching to the actual stain, I proceeded. It didn’t look gray. I double checked the can. Gray. I waited. Still not gray. I waited overnight. Still not gray.
I added real googles for the paint/stain fumes. 
The Lineup 
Me double checking that it does, in fact, say GRAY.
48 hours later, the house STILL smelled like fumes and sawdust and the shelf was… you guessed it… NOT GRAY.
I decided to take my mind off of it by taking a Peloton class. (Yes, I will mention Peloton in every blog. I promise a full post on it soon).
All of a sudden, my entire neck broke out in what can only be described as a massive rash. It was bright red. Swollen. SO itchy I could barely finish the class. Of course, since I’m including this detail in my DIY blog, you already are guessing it’s from the project, but at the time, I was completely flummoxed. Remember, I hadn’t done anything with the project in almost 2 days! I thought I became spontaneously allergic to the peloton bike. Or my towels. I switched to 100% cotton tshirts. I tried working out in a different room. Nothing worked. I continued to break out in a serious neck rash every day when I sweat. I stayed up late, night after night, until my googling came up with this tidbit:
What to do about an itchy neck:
Toxins: Sometimes, exposure to toxins in the environment may be enough to cause an itchy neck. Working with chemicals or small particles such as wood fiber may increase the risk of irritation.
TADA solution. Sorta. I went about trying to figure out how to get rid of the toxins. Step 1: get rid of the paint. I gave it away on Buy Nothing. Step 2: vacuum EVERYTHING. The bookshelf. The rug. The couch. The windowsill. Step 3: clean out and empty the vacuums. Step 4: wait.
If you were wondering about the shelf and you read this entire blog hoping for an “after” photo, I apologize. It does not exist. I threw away the shelf. I took the media center back out to the street. I sold the coffee table for $40 on FB marketplace to try and make up some of the money lost on supplies and stoobering. Unfortunately, no amount of money made up for 7 days of neck rash. Eventually, it did go away. Meanwhile, you can find me on Amazon/Wayfair looking for a NEW coffee table that requires zero skill from me.