Three good reasons

I like to do things myself, but when time and circumstances don’t allow I sometimes take shortcuts I wouldn’t normally take.

For a new woodworking tutorial article, I needed a simple photo of me finishing a piece of furniture. Trouble is, while there is sofa table project on my (read: my wife’s) to-do list, I couldn’t stop what I was doing to build it now. With no other furniture project in-progress I could use, I took a shortcut and bought this.

That came from a local unfinished furniture store. It’s not the best piece in the world – I would have preferred oak, but it’s parawood, and there are screws underneath those bottom rungs for rigidity – but it was inexpensive, and a good size for my photo. It worked out just fine.

When Sally saw it, she immediately claimed it. It’s ostensibly a stool, but it just happens to be the exact same size as a spindly metal plant stand we have in our bedroom. She suggested I paint it to match our bedroom furniture, a creamy off-white lower portion and cherry-stained top, and use it in there. That was actually a really good idea I hadn’t thought of.

In the end I accomplished three things. First, of course, I got what I needed for my photo shoot in a timely manner. As a bonus, the stool will work perfectly as a plant stand in our bedroom without having to add another build project to my lengthy to-do list.

And, finally, I helped support the area economy by buying the stool at a locally owned Mom & Pop store. That’s no small thing at a time when local businesses are struggling to recover now that the end of the pandemic finally appears to be in sight. While not my first goal, that result might easily be the most important.