For every good do-it-yourself project I share with you, there is at least one untold disaster.

I’m a Mom, not a renovator/artist.  I have three kids (one that is 2, so that raises the total even more). I have a limited budget and I’m messy.

So, disaster, is but a paint spill away.

I don’t want you guys to think that my weekly projects always go as planned. Because they don’t. I just don’t usually talk about the laminate bookshelf I spray painted three different times because the paint wouldn’t adhere to the laminate.

But it did adhere to my skin. For 3 days. I was blue, just like a Smurf.

Or remember my fancy pantry door? What I didn’t tell you is that I spray painted the door inside my garage. My hubby rigged up something so it could hang and I could get even coats. What I wasn’t counting on was the paint grabbing onto every dust particle in the air and covering everything in the garage with a fine red dust. It took weeks to clean it up.

Another example is the wall in my toddler’s room. I found a can of Magnetic Spray Paint on the clearance aisle at WalMart. This stuff is not cheap, except I found it for just a couple of dollars. My big idea: paint part of a wall and let my daughter use it to hold magnets.

Brilliant, right?

Um, no. Because it was spray paint. But I didn’t want to waste money, so I did it anyway. She couldn’t sleep in her room for two days due to fumes. The overspray was horrible and the bonus? It wasn’t magnetic (I would have been much better off with the roll on magnetic paint). Of course, I didn’t learn this until after I painted the yellow Latex room paint over the gray magnetic paint.

A disaster.  

But rather than give up, I decided to be creative and flexible. Here’s how I fixed it:

Rather than buy roll-on magnetic paint that runs about $20, I found two magnetic dry erase boards for less than $20 for both. I adhered those over the non-magnetic mess I’d created. I used some bright pink paint to create a border to cover up the overspray. 

The magnetic boards didn’t cover the entire area, so I used some leftover rub-on alphabet letters.

Not exactly what I had planned, but still good, and most importantly, useful.

When your DIY turns DISASTER:

• Don’t panic.
• Rethink your plan and lay out all your options.
• Google-this is a great resource for stain removal ideas.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help,
• Buy used items to redo from garage/thrift sales so if it does get ruined, you haven’t invested a lot.
• Learn from your mistakes.
• Give yourself a break. Most DIY-selfer’s are trying to save money. It takes a lot of courage to paint your kitchen cabinets or rip out carpet. So, don’t be too  hard on yourself. Not everything always goes according to plan.
• Be realistic. If you expect perfection on every project, you will be disappointed.