Oh hey there January. When did you get here?
I came so close. Close but no cigar as they say. It’s not the first time I’ve neglected the final item on my annual Furniture Flip Bucket List (see what happened in 2016 for example) but I really did come close.
Every January, I publically declare my resolutions for the year with a list of projects or challenges I’d like to see myself complete. And sometimes the year gets the best of my despite my most noble intentions.
I may have left completing Item No.2 undone but I at least have something to offer the New Years Resolution Police:
My Plans
So what happened? Why didn’t I crank this last project out? I mean - I have the plans and measurements right here don’t I…? Did I run out of time? DId I get a little lazy? Did I change my mind?
Yes.
I admit it. I ran out of time and gusto to make this project happen in 2018. This happens sometimes when I hit a creative wall - when I sat down at my metaphorical drawing board, this project began to accrue a long list of challenges that I just couldn’t ignore:
How to connect each table top + leg to each other with dowels
How to stain tapered legs to match table tops
Will the table tops be large enough to feel proportionate to leg length?
Am I spending too much on the components to still make a profit
Maybe with some more time in the year I could have solved this puzzle, but the main reason it ended up on the cutting room floor was moolah. Without the connecting dowels or stain, I’m already running a tab close to $80 just for legs, table tops and mounding hardware.
Source: West Elm
Consider this: West Elm’s Clover Coffee Table (now discontinued) is the polished/ mass-produced version of my plans. Although no longer available, they were able to market their tables somewhere around $250. Even f I were able to assemble a table that looks as polished and try to list it for a similar price in the shop, this still means my profit margin would below my comfortable threshold.
It just wasn’t a practical project to take on. Maybe if I were in the market for a piece like this in my own home, I would give it a go. But the unknown risks far out weigh the potential for reward so I had to pass. For now.
So my 2018 list is incomplete. Alas. But exciting things are coming this year so stay tuned for the 2019 Furniture Flip Bucket List!
Catch up on the 2018 Furniture Flip Bucket List:
