One Room Challenge: Week 4

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Happy week four of the One Room Challenge! This week I tried my hand at a failed DIY. To see what happened, just check out this week's IGTV.

Let me give you the quick run down... since this room is our guest room, and because Jared and I know that at some point in the kind of near-ish future we are planning to look at moving into a different home, I felt it wasn't the wisest option to purchase a new bed, especially since I was investing in the bedding. I made my list of where to splurge and where to save, and the headboard wasn't on the splurge list for me. So I decided to do a bit of research and discovered that there was a lot of rave reviews for a product called Rub N Buff. "How hard can it be?!" Ha. Let's just say that this headboard wasn't made for this product. It didn't cover well, and it easily rubbed off (hello potentially ruined bed sheets). On to plan B. I decided to use the remainder of a can black metal spray paint that I had to cover the mess, and to my surprise, it actually worked.

If you didn't watch the IGTV, I talk about the dilemma with professional interior designers and the gray area of DIY projects. DIY projects are fun. SO much fun. They challenge you mentally and cause you to think creatively about your space, as well as empower you to do some amazing things to change your home on your own. This issue is is that many clients want help with a DIY project, but DIY projects take a lot of planning, researching, and trial and error. And this is time that could be better suited with us connecting you with the right professional to get the job done right. Can DIYs save you money? Yes. But they also take up a lot of time, and if you are not careful, you could actually waste a lot of money. Also, I spent four years studying space planning, AutoCAD, building codes, and more, not metalworking, painting, welding, etc. Fortunately for this project, it was small, and a personal project, so I was really out only $10. I'll take that. But what I want clients to understand is that designers want to help you save, but we also want to produce a lasting product, and work with those that have truly honed in on their craft.

So when a designer hands you an estimate for tiling, plumbing, electrical, etc., know that these are trusted vendors that we know will take care of you and your home. And know that we are crunching numbers on our end, but that our time is spent laying the groundwork and plans for these tradespeople to come in and totally blow your socks off the project we've hired them for!