These Are the Cabinets that Mindy Built

Way back in February, I went to a friend's house and instantly fell in love with the built-in cabinets she had surrounding her fireplace.

In March, when my visiting teachers came I mentioned to my friend, Quinae (who deserves a post all to herself about all of the amazing talents she has, one of which being woodworking)  that I wanted to build some cabinets to surround my fireplace.  From there the idea sprang to life.  We (well, mostly she) drew up the plans, calculated the amount of wood that we would need to purchase, figured out a budget, and then did the hard part...convincing Darren that a.) we could do it and b.) that it would be worth the time and money spent.

After a trip (or seven) to Home Depot we purchased supplies we got to work.  We would work at her house during the day while our children ran wild on her "farm" or late at night when the kiddos were sleeping.  It took us nearly 6 months to complete, but it was an empowering project that has given me the confidence to try other woodworking projects.  I have even added "table saw", "air compressor" and "nail gun" to my Christmas Wish List.  (Are you reading this Santa??)

Well.  Enough talking.  Here is what you have been waiting for: the pictures, intermingled with some quotes from my 2nd favorite talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Original color of the fireplace when we bought the house.  Yuck!

I painted the fireplace black and the wall a beautiful shade of yellow.

“Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty.”  -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"What you create doesn’t have to be perfect…  Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside."  -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“To me it appears that our splendid sisters sometimes undervalue their abilities—they focus on what is lacking or imperfect rather than what has been accomplished and who they really are.”  -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Completed cabinets!

 Here is what I learned about myself throughout this project:

• Building and creating is uplifting to my spirit.
• Things hardly ever go as planned, but twhen they do it is a cause for celebration.
• There is always a solution to every problem.
• Things don't have to be perfect in order to be beautiful (myself included.)
• Doing things with friends is more fun.
• I really enjoy woodworking.

It might sounds silly, but each time I look at my cabinets I feel better about my ability to do hard things.