
DIY is for everyone! It’s a common feature of our American heritage across all cultural distinctions. DIY is a bonding experience for young and old, an opportunity to share skills across generations. It instills the confidence that only comes from a sense of self-reliance and knowledge of past accomplishments. Independence is a function of doing it yourself. Debbie’s DIY Kitchen Door Project is a shining example of all these things.
One of the most rewarding experiences in life is a job well done. It takes planning, effort, and execution to see a job through to the conclusion. The power of people to plan, strive, and achieve is revealed in the product of their work. Taking pride in one’s work is no fault, but the mark of maturity and dignity.
That’s what makes a DIY project so much fun. When someone else’s project can inspire your own, well that’s DIY-full-circle. So take a look at this weekend undertaking from an Eco Relics customer named Debbie. She needed some some more storage space in the kitchen, and let’s face it, who doesn’t?
As Doc Brown once said, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? Or in this case, if you’re going to build a cabinet into a wall, why not do it with some style? Debbie started with a vintage five panel door from Eco Relics. It took some elbow work to get down to a stainable surface.
Scraping, sanding, and peeling through some 80 years of paint is something of an anthropological experience. The bare wood underneath was last seen by the door’s original craftsman, probably some time during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. With the sort of rehabilitation job the door is getting, it ought to still be swinging into the next century. Will 22nd century DIYers salvage the door yet again, and wonder about the last craftsman to touch it?
Thank you for sharing your work with us, Debbie! Eco Relics is Jacksonville’s DIY headquarters. Not only is it the home of the southeast’s largest collection of architectural salvage, it also employs some of Jacksonville’s craftiest builders and most enthusiastic DIY proponents. Whatever stage your project is in, we’d love to help in any way we can.
Eco Relics is open 7 days a week at 106 Stockton Street, Jacksonville, FL, 32204.
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