A Do-It-Yourself Disaster

When my husband and I bought our first home, there wasn't much to be done to improve on it. However, one blemish was the stain on the kitchen cabinets. It was a light brown with just a little too much orange for my taste. I knew that trying to strip the cabinets to stain them a different color would be a nightmare, so I went for what seemed like an easier option. I had enough experience with painting to feel confident in my abilities to slap a fresh coat of paint on the cabinets and go on about my business. How wrong I was.

I went to Home Depot. Firstly, I must admit that in large stores, I hate asking for help. I feel like I've failed in some way if I have to ask an employee to help me find something or, God forbid, what I should actually buy. So, I quietly selected the paint color and relinquished my sample at the paint counter with instructions to mix one gallon in interior semi-gloss. I drove home feeling very smug. I had paint and brushes, and wouldn't my new husband be so surprised and impressed.

After I got home, I went right to work. I carefully unscrewed the cabinet doors, using tape to label which door matched which opening. I also screwed the loose screws back into their original holes to ensure that everything lined up again after I was done. I quickly painted every stained surface and thought all that was left was to let it all dry. I felt very accomplished, like I'd thought of everything.

My husband came home and saw my surprise. I could tell that he was battling skepticism coupled with anxiety, but he was holding it together pretty well. He reached for one of the doors at the same time he asked "Is it dry?" With one touch of his fingers the quick and painless project turned into a disaster. It was all happening in slow motion, his nail grazed the paint, and a 6 inch strip of not-quite-dry paint peeled off.

Silence.

A fit of rage was threatening to bubble to the surface as I considered exactly the words I would use to punish him for ruining my hard work. I choked on those words as he interrupted my thoughts with a sigh and "You didn't use a primer."

Another trip to Home Depot later, we were equipped with sand paper, more paint, and a primer especially made for covering stain or oil-based paint (who knew.) In the morning, I sanded every inch that I had just recently painted. The paint came off the surface, but the sandpaper was unable to reach the inner depths of the wood grain. We had some lovely orange stained cabinets with small white flecks all over them. The next day, I primed the cabinets and let them dry overnight. Then I painted them again the day after that.

We finally ended up with a nice finished project; it just took many more steps than I had anticipated. If I would have explained to a Home Depot employee what I was doing and asked them what I should buy, I probably could have gotten everything that I needed in one trip, avoided having to sand the first coat of paint off, and saved money and two days of work. Better luck next time. Probably.