Crying Uncle

That's it. I've given up. I'm throwing in the towel. (At least for now.) I'm a sucker for a good project, but this is getting ridiculous. My hands are cramped from sanding. (I seriously look like my hands are riddled with arthritis.) My little bungalow is filled with blue dust. My ears are ringing with the reverberations of my automatic sander. And, despite weeks of work, I'm nowhere near finishing. Tomorrow, I'm loading the dang thing into Mouse's truck so he can take it to the storage unit. I just cannot stand to look at it any longer. I need a break.

What's all this fuss about, you ask? Several months ago, a friend spotted a vintage art-deco cabinet at an auction. It needed work, but he knew I enjoyed refurbishing things, so he took a chance and bought it for me. Now, I'm cursing the day he came across this monstrosity. It has been the absolute bane of my existence since I started working on it.

To be honest, I knew it was going to be trouble the moment I laid eyes on it. The veneer was rippled from moisture and cracked with age. The paint was bubbled in places and flaking off in others, revealing several layers that would have to be stripped away. At least two shelves would need total replacing. Mouse wanted to chuck it immediately. I dug my heels in, determined to uncover the diamond in the rough. I guess this is my reward for such stubbornness.

I thought I could finish this before my brother's visit this weekend. I thought it could be transformed into a quirky wine cabinet, and make for a cool conversation piece. So I've forgone all of the other little projects on my plate, spending every spare moment sanding and dismantling, until today.

Today I finally had to face reality and realize this project had zero chance of being done in time for the big visit. I had to hang my head in sheepish shame, admit defeat, and ask Mouse to help me hide the evidence. So, tomorrow it goes. I'm not totally giving up; I'm just postponing further agony. Eventually, I'll have the motivation and mental strength to tackle this cabinet again, and make it into a piece I can be proud of. (And I'll be sure to post my progress when I do.) But for now, I need to focus on the little, more do-able things to make my beach house more visit ready, like tidying up the mess I've spent weeks creating. Ha!