Rise of the D.I.Y.er

Taking on New Projects
There are many signs that Spring has finally arrived, but one I saw in full glory over the weekend was the frenzy at Home Depot. Plants, paint and lumber were flying off the shelves like some sort of fire sale, fueled by the strength of the sun on a weekend in April.

I was there picking up a few things to continue with my Deck. Fortunately, I have most of what I need. grabbing a few pieces of lumber and some more screws wasn't all that difficult in comparison to the poor fools just starting out their projects.

Spring always sets up a big season of home improvements - spring cleaning, preparing for sales, and personalizing newly purchased homes. As loans are harder to get, and the housing market slumps, the types of projects may be a little different this year. Renovating instead of moving, functional instead of facelift. It'll be interesting to see if professional contractors end up getting more work out of botched DIY attempts than in previous years.

Strategic Postponement - Seasonal Strategy
Unfortunately, I haven't yet finished my previous project - renovating my basement. But there is a reason, Abby REALLY wanted the deck to be useable for that majority of the sunny months. In Colorado, this is Spring, Summer and Fall (Autumn for those not in the US), so I had to get started early. We can use the basement all year round, and work on it in the rain. Not so for the deck.

By starting my project 2 weeks ago, I actually missed the really big rush at Home Depot. I managed to have a fairly leisurely time picking out what I needed, and have plenty of time to both enjoy the deck, and put the finishing touches on it without working in 100 degree weather.

Leave Nothing Undone
The ever present danger is to become one of those people who start a lot of projects, but never finish any of them... I'm determined not to join the ranks. After the deck, It'll be back to the basement. While I hope that it would be the next thing finished, a basement can be quite pricey. I have a many other projects in mind (Painting bedrooms, tiling bathrooms) so one of those may end up sliding in there before the basement is complete, but I'm going to do my best to never have more than 2 projects started at once.

We'll see how that goes... ;)