Feeling down on yourself? Build some furniture.

(Source: Pixabay)

Yes, I’m serious.

In the past month, I have moved into a new apartment. I moved with no furniture because all the pieces I had from my parents’ house were hand-me-downs from my mom’s teenage years (yes, even the mattress). If her vintage Sears collection had somehow miraculously managed to survive the trip down two flights of stairs, they most definitely would have not survived being pushed up two more flights of stairs by two very non-professional movers.

That being said, I elected to purchase new furniture. I tried to thrift as many pieces as possible for the sake of both the environment and my wallet, but for the sake of time and efficiency, I ended up ordering a good deal of pieces that required full assembly. Some items arrived with incomplete instructions or booklets only in one language. That reminds me, shoutout to Duolingo for helping me learn just enough Danish to build a dresser.

In a very short period, I’ve become stupidly familiar with different bolts and nails. I know what a cam lock and cam bolt are, and what the difference between them is. I charge a power drill more often than I charge my iPhone (I wish I was kidding).

While the process of pushing and unpacking enough boxes to build a cardboard recreation of the Titanic has left me with many bruises on my ego and body, I wouldn’t trade the construction of any arduous piece for the world.

I read a wonderful article lately by one of my favorite writers of all time, Mitch Horowitz, titled “Throw Away Your Self-Help Books. Get A Bike.”

The article was like flint in the firepit of my skull. I realized that sentence alone summed up my feelings better than I probably ever could in my own original words. Therefore, I recommend you read Mitch’s article and then come back here if you’re still interested in my take.

Go on, I’ll be here.

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Welcome back! Or, maybe you never left. Ether way, it’s wonderful to see you again. Let us continue.

You know those annoying people who say they enjoy exercise because they can just ‘zone out and relax’ as if they aren’t bench-pressing an entire weight room? Yeah, building furniture is the truthful version of that statement. You just get your tools, zone out and go.

Assembling a product from scratch engages one’s mind and hands to a comfortable degree. Following instructions requires attention, but not an exhausting amount of focus. The goal isn’t to perform life-or-death brain surgery. It’s to attach to pieces of lacquered plastic/wood together with the right dowels or screws. I’ve found it’s also very easy to multitask while building if you are a visual learner or have built enough pieces to where you can predict what the next assembly steps will be.

Building these mail-order furniture pieces also requires less physical effort than one may anticipate.

Obligatory disclaimer ahead. The above sentence is not me saying that professional furniture-builders are in an easy line of work. The line of work that these passionate craftsmen specialize in much more refined and detail-oriented than the partially assembled pieces that come in my Wayfair and Amazon boxes.

If you want amazing hand-crafted furniture that you can hand down for generations, then a professional carpenter or builder is an easy first choice.

For those of us looking for medium-price options that will last far into adulthood, grab a measuring tape and find a space in your home to fill.

Unsure of where to begin? Here are some tips I learned along the way after building an entire apartment of furniture:

1. Start small. You don’t need to redecorate your entire space to enjoy new furniture options. Look for smaller pieces like end-tables or bathroom shelves. In addition to being lighter and easier to maneuver, they also frequently require one builder, which offers additional solace for those seeking a solo project.
2. Look for wooden pieces. Not only are these pieces usually more durable, but they can be easily customized. Wood can be sanded, stained, and painted much more easily than plastic or other blended materials. Repairing wooden pieces is also much easier. If you find a wooden piece you love but it’s scratched up, grab some Old English Scratch Cover and rub it in with a rag. The scratches will turn invisible. My vintage wood dining room table is 30-plus years old, but after a quick wipe down, you’d never know.
3. Invest in protection. If you have a black desk and don’t want it to be smudged with fingerprints after five minutes, you might want to also pick up a desk pad from Etsy. If you have light-colored furniture, I would not handle the pieces after applying a full-face of make-up.
4. Mix sets/collections. You can stick with one color scheme or design, but don’t think you have to confine yourself to one collection. You can easily shop around and build pieces from different collections. Don’t spend thousands of dollars on a pre-arranged set if you only love one or two pieces.

Build your new pieces and take in how you feel. Filling a dresser you built with clothes and laying on a bed you assembled yourself provides a feeling of literal stability that’s hard to come across.