A couple of weeks ago I had to retire my very first build. This was a build I built before I even knew I liked building, before I even knew I would be making furniture for a living. This build has a special place in my heart not only because of the colors, but because the sign used to create it was from a place I worked at for one of my first jobs. It is probably a build you have seen before because I use the picture of me sitting on it for a lot of my marketing stuff. It is the "Orange Rolling Sign Storage Table".

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When I quit my 9-5'er I had no idea what I was gonna do with my life. So I read a book called "48 Days To The Work You Love" by Dan Miller. It is not just a book, but more of a workbook of sorts. You have to answer all sorts of questions about change, personality styles, what your good at, what your not good at, etc. Really self reflect on what will make you happy.

At this time, when I quit my job, I also had a lot of free time on hand and I wanted to nest or put my stamp on our house. You see I had never really done this at a house before. I had painted walls and hung up pictures, but I really didn't have a style. With our first house I was just young and didn't really care about those things and then our 2nd and 3rd house were investment properties so I really kept them vanilla. And if you know anything about me, I'm not vanilla. I like things to make you feel something or express a personality. But I also couldn't afford to go out and buy a whole bunch of stuff, because remember I quit my job. So I started building and/or refinishing furniture to my style.

So going back to the book.... I could get a job like I used to have in office management, bookkeeping, realty, or as a travel agent. There were things I liked and didn't like about each of the past jobs I had. But the new found joy building things was sitting on the back of my mind. Plus, one night talking to my husband about building he said that when I made that first piece of furniture, the Orange Rolling Sign Storage Table, I was happy. I built it at night after work or on the weekends. I had this small hand me down miter saw on the ground of our back patio, and a drill that I really didn't know how to use, and no sense of how to put things together. I asked him a ton of questions! But what I did have was determination to build a cool piece that would utilize that old sign and add storage to our patio. I was so tired of the charcoal and what not cluttering the patio. My hubby said I was jamming to the tunes and dancing while I built that table and he liked seeing me like that. At that time I hadn't been like that often because of all the stresses of work. Hearing him say that and reading that book and enjoying the process of turning a stack of wood into something awesome is where it all started. That is where it clicked that I might be able to do this for a living. Lots of struggles and nay sayers along the way, but that is for another post. This is about that first piece I made on the ground on my patio that made me happy!

The Orange Rolling Sign Storage Table had a good life and it served it purpose for a long time, about 5 years! It has seen its fair share of BBQ's and served well as extra seating at parties. But since moving into our new house 3 years ago it has been exposed to the elements. We don't have a cover on our patio (that is yet!) so it has gotten some water damage and rot on it. Plus, it really is too big for our current space. That is why a couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time to retire my first build. It was kinda sad, but writing this and reflecting on the my journey has been healing and exciting to remember where I started.

So I first took some photos of it, like any good blogger would do, and then slowly took it apart. As you can see in the photos there was a lot of damage, but there were also a lot of pieces that I could save, including the sign! This got me thinking.... I should upcycle some of the wood and build another awesome piece....AND THEN my first build will live on! This is where I need your help.... What do you think I should make? I was thinking a centerpiece box for my dining table, a small cabinet type thing for my office, a planter box.... I don't know. What do you think would be cool? Let me know in the comments!