At Some Point, the Birds Will Be Upside Down
Recently I undertook a project that involved a lot of techniques I had not previously tried before. I decided to redo a dresser that I had because it fit in the space I needed it to fit within a quarter of an inch. There was no way I could shop for and find anything that was such a perfect fit. The dresser I had was old and ugly, so I decided I’d try some new techniques I’d watched others DIY on Reels.
First, I was going to fill the large recesses that served as drawer pulls and drill holes for new gold hardware. Despite the fact that I had never done anything like that before, I was undeterred. It took a bit of work and a lot of waiting-something I am very, very bad at. The filling steps presented surprisingly few problems and went pretty well. Once the spaces were all filled, it was time to start sanding.
I sanded the top without incident, and then I flipped the dresser onto its side. Things were not good there. The veneer had water damage and had buckled in an impossible number of places. I thought maybe I could pull off the loose veneer and fill the spots left by what I pulled off. Well, it almost all came off. The wood underneath was very low quality and had to be covered. Could I have bought new veneer? Yes. Did I want to spend the money on buying new veneer? I did not. So it was time to make some decisions.
Ugh. What am I going to do with this nonsense?
Had this piece not been an absolutely perfect fit for the space, I probably would have just scrapped the project right there. I was determined to make this work and I wanted to make it a learning experience, so I pressed on. I’d seen someone on TikTok decoupage a piece of furniture with fabric, so I decided I’d try it.
I needed to match the fabric to the paint and I told myself I’d remember the exact paint color I was using because, as it turned out, I hated it. But I wasn’t going to buy any more paint, so again, I pressed on. I decided I didn’t need a paint swatch because that color was burned into my brain enough that I couldn’t forget it…until I got to the store and saw approximately 567 different shades of blue. Crap. As luck would have it, I had dripped some of it on the back of my hand and I was able to hold it up to various prints.
I decided on a print that had multicolored birds sitting on little flower bunches-tres kitsch. I brought the fabric to the cutting counter and the lady who worked there inquired as to what I was planning to do with the fabric. I told her I was going to decoupage the side of a dresser.
Fabric lady, “Oh, that sounds very cool. Just be careful not to put the birds on upside down.”
Me, “Oh my gosh, thank you! I never would have thought to pay attention to that and I definitely would have put the birds on upside down. I’m so glad you said something!”
So I got home and completely boarded the struggle bus trying to put this fabric on the dresser. The mod podge dries so fast it’s hard to get it on quickly enough and precisely enough. You’re supposed to put it on the wood and the fabric, but I decided that was next to impossible so I just slapped the fabric down, poured the mod podge on it and hoped it would soak through. It did…more or less. I was frantically trying to even it out before it dried while paying special attention to the corners. After a frantic 20 minutes, I had it looking near perfect. I was reveling in my success, admiring my work when my heart sank. Despite having been specifically warned not to put the birds on upside down…I had put the birds on upside down.
NOTICEABLY upside down
At first, I was devastated. It didn’t look bad, but I knew it would always bother me if I left it that way. I took a moment to wallow in my failure. How could I have possibly done this after being explicitly warned!? Why do I throw myself into things headfirst with no forethought? Then I ripped those birds off the side of the dresser with one sweeping motion. I reasoned that I had only wasted half an hour and about $5 worth of product. It really wasn’t that serious. Nothing couldn’t be undone.
We all put the birds on upside down sometimes. We humans learn the most when we stumble; instant success teaches very little. It’s important to remember though, most mistakes aren’t permanent. Most mistakes aren’t that serious and can be undone. The next time you put the birds on upside down, just take a breath, rip ‘em off and try again.
