Just so we are clear I am actually almost done with this project. I’m just now getting around to blogging it.
When my wife and I got married we were the typical college kids. We wanted the entertainment center that showed of the electronics. Now a few years, and a few kids down the road we want to minimize the TV.
I showed her the armoir that dennis built a while back and she said it didn’t impress her, so I decided to try and come up with something else.
Well last August we’re visiting our families that live 3 1/2 hours away. We went to a thrift store looking for something for the kitchen. Of course we didn’t find what we were looking for, and decided to wander through the rest of the store. I saw a beat up TV cabinet
and thought, “If my wife hadn’t shot down the design already I’ld show her this and start taking measurements.” A little later my wife comes up to me and says she wants to show me something, and takes me back to the same cabinet. She likes it, wants to buy it, and have me fix it up. I doesn’t matter we are 3 1/2 hours away from home, and didn’t bring the truck.
We the wife is alway right or so I’ve been told repeatedly. We buy the cabinet, borrow her grandma’s truck, and take the it to my parents until we can figure a way to get it home. (I ended up having my brother bring it up to his in-laws (2 months later) who live an hour and a half away, and picked it up from there.)
The cabinets made of particl board, missing some hardware and trim pieces, the drawer bottoms all have water damage, and two brace boards are broken amoung other things. But if it makes the wife happy (and so far it has) then I quess its worth it.
-- remember always measure once and cut twice
7 comments so far
Todd A. Clippinger
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5639 posts in 993 days
posted 253 days ago
As a remodeling contractor I run into scenarios where the husband and wife disagree. I always tell the husband, “When Momma’s happy, everybody is happy.”
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
gizmodyne
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1674 posts in 984 days
posted 253 days ago
Todd you are very wise.
-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne
RAH
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413 posts in 771 days
posted 253 days ago
Words to live by “Yes Dear”.
-- Ron Central, CA
Brad_Nailor
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1214 posts in 851 days
posted 253 days ago
Ya…I guess you guys are right, but with my wife I take the Steve Erwin approach…you know how he would always lecture the camera about how dangerous a certain animal or spider was…” you wouldn’t want to get this close to her mate…you wouldn’t want to poke her with this stick mate” but then thats exactly what he would do! And look where it got him…I guess I just had one of those ‘Ah Ha” moments! lol
-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"
lew
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4485 posts in 649 days
posted 253 days ago
Just remember, every new project the wife wants will warrant the purchase of at least one new tool to be able to start/finish said project :^)
mmh
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1384 posts in 616 days
posted 253 days ago
You are some smart woodworkers. As for the TV cabinet, it’s mystifying as to her reasoning, but then she enabled you to get the template to measure and copy and create in some decent wood. Your project probably enabled you to get you those new tools you were drooling over. When you’re finished with the new version, you may even get a super nice supper, and maybe even get “lucky”. |}:)~
My husband is always saying, “Well, I suppose it was my fault?”, and sometimes it isn’t, but it creates the atmosphere of low resistance, so there’s very little arguing in our household.
We made several pieces of furniture together and it was a learning and fun episode. We have never argued when we work together (no threats either). Our first piece was a dining room table, as we threw out the antique oak thing that was too big for our small home: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/10551
-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe
roundabout22
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78 posts in 980 days
posted 253 days ago
Todd, I learned that lesson not too long after I got married. It’s the she can change the rules whenever she feels like it that I sometimes run into problems with.
Unfortunately since I’m a school teacher, and we’re trying to live on my salary (and they don’t pay a whole lot in Utah, in fact our state is almost last on the list) so that she can stay home and raise the kids, I don’t have the luxury of requesting a new tool for each new project. One nice thing though is that I can use the shop at the school.
-- remember always measure once and cut twice