Hello world.

Hello world, it's me, Margaret. Well, Meg. Definitely not Margaret or Marge or Peg. I'm launching this blog to start a conversation about learning how to do different, challenging, rewarding, hilarious, humbling and even trivial things.

Why? Well, it's pretty simple. Life is just more fun when you're learning. And, there are some pretty interesting people out there doing things I'd like to know how to do. But before this turns into the blogging equivalent of a Mr. Roger's episode, I'm going to start at the beginning. Actually, it's really more like A beginning because THE beginning would likely include a five-year-old version of me playing school, and sporting a mullet closely resembling Davy Crockett's coonskin hat, and I'm saving that story and supporting photo collage to encourage people to read a future post on how to cut children's hair.

So, for today's purposes, the beginning starts with my cute little Formica nightstand I've had since I was a little girl. While it had held up well after 25+ years of abuse, it was starting to look shabby, as were my matching desk and dresser.  For awhile I considered buying new bedroom furniture, but a quick online browse revealed that furniture is expensive, like really expensive. I'm talking two designer purses and cute pumps or a weekend getaway expensive. So, I decided that what my furniture really needed was just a fresh coat of paint--not a trip to Goodwill.  I then remembered I don't know how to paint furniture, and it was back to the interwebs. There, I quickly came across a really great tutorial video on refinishing Formica furniture from Alchemy Fine Living. I took notes, rushed to a nearby home improvement store and in no time I was sanding away. A mere three hours later, my first small new thing was significantly improved.

Boring Before



Awesome After

 Truth be told, it had been awhile since I had tried to do something completely foreign. Sure, I tackle new projects at work frequently enough, but this wasn't work, this was fun. I found myself proudly displaying before and after photos to friends, coworkers and coworkers' friends. But it wasn't until I found myself calling to passersby in my office to, "Look! Look here! Wanna see something cool? I made this look like... this!" that I realized that 1) this is a really annoying way to get someone's attention and 2) this type of exploration and sense of accomplishment is what made being a kid so exhilarating.

You see, when you're young, each day is filled with new projects to tackle and ideas to wrangle, and when you're not busy figuring out how to write a cursive Q or build a model volcano, you're tied up telling anyone and everyone about this really amazing thing you just did. But, as we mature, these challenges and opportunities slowly taper off. We become more self-conscious and less inclined to try new things until we're doing so few new things, that we somehow think painting a piece of furniture now warrants an entire blog. We really shouldn't be too hard on ourselves on this last part. People blog about everything these days, so this couldn't be the absolute worst blog out there, right? Right? Anyway, the point is, we have a lot to learn from one another, and whether you're the teacher or the student, a novice or a pro, a natural or a lost cause, experiencing new, challenging things feels pretty good. 

So, I'm going to ask people to teach me how to do things, and then I'm going to write about how it goes. I'll be sure to include lots of pictures, tips and tricks and how-to information. Along the way, feel free to suggest things I should try or let me know if you or someone you know could teach me something new!

P.S. Check back: more information on exactly how I refinished my nightstand coming soon.