Saturday, January 19, 2013

Project Fail

This project fail wasn't my fault, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it.

 We live in an old house that we've been working on fixing-up/remodeling for years. Years, because I didn't inherit my Dad's artistic/creative mind/soul, darn it, and I didn't have Pinterest.
Worse, J is apparently even less creative-thinking than me, and that's saying something. Like, I have none, so he has less than none.

So he depends on me to design what I (think I) want, and he tries to implement it. Usually he gets started and my "vision" isn't looking in reality what it looked like in my mind. Then I get discouraged and abandon the project and start another.

Well I didn't know what I wanted. Thing is, I practically grew up in old houses like this one. My Grannie's house had wooden plank walls, and I did not like them. When we inherited J's Grandpa's house it had wooden plank walls, and I had him cover them up with sheetrock.

Image: Moon Meadow Farm

But now, thanks to Pinterest, I see how lovely the wooden plank walls actually are, and are exactly what I need for my old farmhouse style!

Image: Sweet Pickins

Someone else apparently didn't like the wooden plank walls here before me, and I guess they tore them out during the 1970's remodel when they put up the ugly, cheap pecan paneling.

Image: The Inspired Room
I can't afford to put real wooden planks on the walls, so I was looking for an alternative idea.

Image: Pinterest

I happened to come across a fantastic deal on some MDF wall panels at Lowe's.  These 1/4-in x 5-3/8-ft x 8-ft wall panels on sale/clearance priced at only $5.98 each. (Regular price then was $11.66. Now they are priced $17.98.)

Screen shot of the webpage that is still on there as of
9:49pm on 1-19-13, showing 5-3/8-FT
I ordered 10 at one store, all they had left in stock, and 8 at another store, all they had left in stock, and today we set out to go pick up my new "wooden" plank walls.

When we get to the first store, they hadn't pulled my order, so they go to pull it and come back and they only have 4 in stock, not the 10 that I ordered, but worse, they were 5-1/2-INCHES, not 5-3/8-FEET as advertised.

Unfortunately I had forgotten to print out my order sheet so I couldn't prove to them that yes I did order 5-3/8 FEET sheets, not 5-1/2-INCH strips.  The cashier's computer/register showed 5-1/2-INCHES, so she just thought I was a dumb chick that couldn't tell the difference between inches and feet.

Soooo disappointing.

2 comments:

374's Wife said...

Dang! Sorry it didn't work out as planned. I've found a project on Pinterest I'm trying to talk hubby into. Our flooring needs redone, and I found a link to use plywood to make wood flooring. Our house is old too, and we are afraid to tear stuff out - afraid of what we will find.

Melissa said...

I think I pinned the same plywood floor idea, in case I need to remember it in the future. We have hardwood floors, but we had to fill in a board here and there and I thought they needed sanding/refinishing to be made to look new again. But I have seen pictures of wooden floors that were painted a shiny, high gloss color and they looked really good even if some of the boards are mis-matched or chipped. So eventually I'm going to tear up this crappy laminate we put down a few years ago and try painting. If that doesn't work, then I'll probably try the plywood idea.

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