On My Own...

"...pretending he's beside meeeeeeeee!" Yes, I am singing the title of this post to that very tune from The Phantom of the Opera. Don't judge.

In case you've been wondering in the many, many weeks I've been away, yes, we finished our headboard. Contrary to the title of this post, I did NOT complete this task on my own. My muscles, as I've alluded to previously, are too puny, and I needed my handsome and more importantly strong boyfriend to help me.

We decided that we'd secure the headboard to our metal bedframe. I've read about others who have bolted the headboard to the wall, but given the fact that we've already made so many of those (holes) in our apartment walls, I was hesitant to make more.

Together, we moved our bed about a foot away from the wall. Then, we brought the headboard in, slowly shifting it into place behind the frame. Earlier, I had outlined circles (four) where the bolts would screw through the frame, and drilled holes through the center of each. Once the holes on the legs of the headboard were lined up with the holes in the frame, I screwed the bolts through each end while Tyler held the headboard in place. Then, he tightened things up (again, bigger muscles). Finally, we were done!

For some reason, the headboard appears crooked in the picture,
but I swear it does not look that way in real life.

While I was not completely pleased with the final product, Tyler liked it - mistakes and all. Since it's been up, I've done a decent amount of reflection and I want to clarify something important. My friend, Greg, probably summed it up best when he commented, "Gee, Jess. You made it seem like the worst project ever." He followed me as I blogged about the project, which made me feel awesome. (Thanks Greg!) Going back, and re-reading some of my posts, I realized that he was right. During each phase of this project, I had felt as though this project was doomed to fail. It was tiring and it made me pissy. Even now, months later, I could tell you a handful of things that still bother me about the headboard. In the end though, I realized that all of that crap was what doing it all by myself - on my own - is all about. It's about making mistakes. It's about getting frustrated, even failing at times, and then learning.

So, despite my negative attitude when originally posting about this project, I'm so grateful for it. Because strangely enough, a part of me likes making mistakes. I like knowing that I'm not going to get it perfect the first time. I enjoy the process of figuring it out, and feeling like I'm improving each time. That's the beauty of DIY.