Last week proved to be the biggest test to my marriage yet. Forget childbirth, newborn babies and living without a dishwasher. This was far, far worse.

We battled through it and came out the other side, I’d like to say stronger than before, but that’s debatable. Here are the lessons I learned during the testing period that was our first ever major DIY project together. A period covering four days of blood, sweat and tears. Literally.

1) My husband thinks I am like my mother

It turns out that jumping out of bed at 6.30am with a motivating, “WE CAN DO THIS! COME ON! TEAMWORK!” isn’t the way to inspire my husband. Apparently my irritating early morning chirpiness and enthusiasm for Getting A Job Done is, “Just like my mother”. Not a bad thing if you ask me…

2) Suggesting that my husband is lacking in willpower and determination is not the quickest way to his heart

Comments like, “Come on, we can do this, don’t give up now,” don’t go down well with a grumpy husband who is sick of the sight of his hammer. Even if he’s only two hours into a four day job.

3) The kitchen is no sanctuary when DIY meltdown is in full flow

Wondering aloud if Nick Knowles and co. let their DIY work space become disorganised and messy is a one-way road to Argument City.

4) Washi tape is not a precious commodity in my husband’s eyes

It’s perfectly acceptable to use Washi tape as a marker, bonding material or tool to avoid paint smudges, according to my husband. Any other use for this pretty tape is just frivolous and “airy fairy”. Apparently.

5) My husband would rather write a full set of reports, plan a fortnight’s worth of lessons and teach his most demanding class for a triple period, than sand a floor ever again. Ever. 

It turns out my husband has an undying love of the carpets in all the other rooms in our house and has no wish to lift them and sand another floor. Ever. (“Ever, ever, ever, ever.”)

Can’t wait until the next job: Re-wallpapering the hallway. *Jolly face*

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Instead, I’m turning to furniture revamping. Is that even a business? Should it be Furniture Revamping?

Either way, this is what I’m going to do with my life from now on. For I now know, I have missed my calling. I have an untapped gene of Furniture Revamping-ness within me which I’m going to embrace in my future.

Remember that 90s chest of drawers that was gathering dust in my bedroom? The one I so desperately wanted to be rid of when taking on the Feather and Black bedroom revamp challenge? Not being able to stretch to a whole new range of bedroom furniture from the store, meant I had to use every creative speck of DNA in my body.

Here’s the before version (you can’t miss it – it’s the eyesore by the wall):

And behold! The revamped version:

I got the inspiration for doing up my 90s pine chest of drawers from Pinterest and a company called Lollipop and Pepper. Taking their idea to decoupage a chest with sheets of music, I simply chose newspaper instead. I originally came across the idea of decoupage on this post at Mum of All Trades.

Because I am a mad person with no idea of what limited amount of time I have keen on a challenge, I decided to take on the idea of decoupage and spent an age sanding down the chest before painting it in two coats of white primer. I then painted three coats of wood satin cotton white paint, before pasting the newspaper cuttings on the front of the drawers (coats in primer). To finish it all off, the front of the drawers is covered in PVA glue, with two coats of varnish. And some snazzy handles.

The (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine entered the Feather and Black challenge with gusto, refusing to invest in one of their gorgeous wooden beds and instead bringing home a bedside table which was being got rid of by a colleague moving to Australia.

I gave the bedside table the same Laurence Llewellyn Bowen treatment. Here’s the finished piece:

There are a few final purchases to be made with the £150 given to me by Feather and Black to complete the makeover. When it’s done I’ll post again here in a couple of days (I’m not stupid enough to take on any more upcycle jobs) and share my picture over on the Feather and Black Facebook page – along with the four other bloggers who are taking part in the challenge.

Between now and then, I have a few cushions to buy, much hoovering and really must locate my missing bottle of Mr Sheen.

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