Over the past couple of weeks, my home has been undergoing some overdue improvements. The carpet on our stairs desperately needed replacing. After almost 13 years of seven people and five cats traipsing up and down the steps multiple times a day, the carpet had worn down to nothing.
Rather than putting in new carpet and risking more wear and tear, we decided to make the stairs hardwood. Much of our first level is already hardwood, so we wanted to tie it all together.
We found a very talented “stair guy” to tackle the work. When we first met with him and talked about the project, he made it sound effortless and easy.
Little did we realize the magnitude of the work involved! He spent hours and days on the project. I didn’t realize he’d have to practically “gut” the stairway and start from scratch. I didn’t realize he’d need to perfectly measure, drill in, and then stain and paint each step and railing. I didn’t realize he’d have so many measurements to make, so many details to attend to, and all the touch ups at the end.
Here are a few pictures of the process:
Here’s the stairway after it’s been “gutted”
The new steps are on and the upstairs railing is added.
The downstairs railing is being built.
Getting close to being done! Only the finishing touches are left!
During the project, this simple truth hit me: Often things appear easier than they really are.
How many times have you started a project only to realize it was much bigger and tougher than you anticipated?
I’ve done so plenty of times. Over the past year, I’ve been playing the piano (after many years away from it). I recently purchased a Piano Guys song that I wanted to learn. As I started, I quickly realized it would take me longer to learn than I’d anticipated (and lots more practice too!).
Sometimes when people find out I’m an author, they’ll let me know they have a great idea for a book and hope to write it someday. Most of the time, I listen and encourage (and give tips when asked for). Privately, I say to myself, “They probably don’t realize the magnitude of the work involved.”
Creating stairs, playing Piano Guys, or writing a book . . . the tasks often appear easier than they really are.
Those who are good at their crafts can make the job appear effortless and easy, but what we don’t see are the countless hours and days of work that go on behind the scene, the sweat of the hard labor, the attention to detail, and all the touch-ups (editing!) that go into the finished product.
All that to say, I think it’s beneficial and even healthy to tackle projects that stretch our abilities and endurance. We just have to remember not to get overly discouraged when we hit a rough spot. Instead if we keep the perspective that anything worth doing takes a lot of effort, then we’ll anticipate some roadblocks and persevere through them.
In the end, we’ll be glad we did!
What hard projects or hobbies have you tried lately? And how did you do?
Jody Hedlund
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What a great analogy! I’m going to remember this next time I speak with someone about what’s involved in writing a book! It’s simple, but it’s not easy! (Your stairs are going to be wonderful! Worth the wait!)
We did some landscaping on a hill in the back of our home. It is steep and we have bears that keep messing it up. We are trying a new approach and hope it works. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe even your toes.
Homeschooling! We are on our second year. I love having the kids home with me, but corralling little people, teaching lessons, and trying to keep the house decent is very challenging for me! But it’s making me stretch and learn and lean on Jesus, so that’s a good thing!
Love the new stairs, Jody! I have several home improvement projects that I’m wanting to have done, but I’m scared of that phenomenon of the job taking twice as long as the contractor’s initial estimate. Our whole house needs new carpet. I’d love new cabinets and countertops in the kitchen, and I dream of a claw-foot bathtub in the master bath. Maybe I’ll find my courage and try one and see how it goes. 🙂
What a timely post! I am currently in the finishing touches-stage of a costuming project that has, as usual, taken about double the time anticipated. I’d estimated a couple weeks, and it’s taken a month instead. Oof. But it is looking great, and I know all the extra time invested paid off in enormous ways yet again. And again, despite some very rough spots, frustration, and long hours, I still love costuming when I come out the other side. It’s worth it. I think projects that spring from your God-given gifts always are, if we don’t let them or the stress consume us and try to remember why we love what we do.
Thanks for your post, Jody!
The stairs look great! Yes, they’re a heap of work and not for the inexperienced.
I refinish antiques, usually ones I find at thrift stores or auctions. Quite often they’ve been painted over with a quarter inch of paint, and that paint has been there at least 20 or 30 years. I love the process of taking something that I bought for 30$ and restoring it to its former glory. Lately , all the pieces I’ve done were for charity auctions for our sons’ hockey teams. My favourite pieces were a set of matching bird’s eye maple dressers that we paid 65$ for, and that sold for 950$. Very few people know who did the work, but my husband and I were thrilled to know that something that was covered in white and black water damage had become such a treasure. But it took months of work. Months!! The oval mirror with the carved roses took longer than the dresser itself. But beauty like that is worth the effort. Also, I’m never doing carved roses again.
They turned out great! We plan on tackling our hardwood floors in the spring but my dad has refinished them in his house so he’ll be helping us
I can’t even bear to think about the home improvement projects needed around here! But my biggest project has been my manuscript, by far, with all the complications of a very recent hip replacement! I definitely bit off more than I could chew with the manuscript. The research alone has been … well, you know! But I’ve been learning as I go, a military historian dropped into my life just in time, and now I have a finished book in the hands of beta readers. We’ll see if my efforts pay off. Through it all, I’ve been trying to trust God’s timing. Perhaps the timing of the hip replacement was what I needed to finally get those last words down!Have a wonderful Thanksgiving tromping up and down those stairs!
Your stairs are definitely an example of life’s lessons. Nothing is as easy as it appears. That being said your stairs are gorgeous!