Redemption

We bought this bench from Home Cheapo about six months ago. In the South Florida sun, wind, and rain, the wood had already started to warp and deteriorate. Seeing that we were approaching the point of getting a nasty letter from our HOA ("Get that piece of crap off your front yard!"), I took it out of service this past weekend. A bit of sanding, some paint, some creative reinforcement (hurricane strong-ties, painted and screwed to the underside with stainless-steel screws) - and voila - new bench!

Amber and I have always loved making dilapidated things useful again. We once bought a $99 TV hutch from K-Mart. We kept it in its fake wood, press-board state for a while, then refurbished it with paint, trim pieces, and even full size doors. It was painted two or three times before we gave it away last year. Several of our houses have been fixer-uppers until we ran out of steam during the baby years. One day I'm sure we'll find an old beater around here, lure Amber's parents into pitching in their expertise again, and do our magic.

I used to dread the work (and usually frustration for me) of renovating houses or things. But I'm seeing that one of the antidotes to the consumer disease we all have is rolling up your sleeves and fixing something. How easy is it in our culture to take something to the dumpster and go down to Stuff-Mart to buy another one? Believe me, my nature is to pull out my wallet rather than sweat and cuss and bust my knuckles for the 15th time. Fixing a bench may not be a big deal to you...but I'm pretty doggone proud of my handi-work.