For those of you who have lucked out and never caught the DIY bug, I feel the need to make clear a few trusims I have learned over the years doing various Doing It Yourself projects. One: they always take longer than you want. Two: they always cost more than they should. Three: you never have the right tools. Four: I hate to admit this, but it is almost always cheaper just to go to the store and buy a replacement.

I once was inspired to build a new CD rack out of wood and some massive six-foot tall threaded rods—which is what a screw is when you take off its head—as the support structure. This was before I had learned the laws of DIY, and in every way this project went broke them. It seemed so simple, just get some wood, scrounge up some threaded rod, and pick up a few big screws to hold everything in its place. It was to be cheap, easily portable, and have a cool, sturdy industrial look when assembled.

Come to learn that threaded rod becomes hard to find at a certain thickness. I had to special order it. Screws prices skyrocket at a certain diameter and they ended up costing more than wood, some ten shelves of it. Lacking a better location, I spent hours in the shower, with the curtain closed, doing the necessary sanding and keeping the dust on me rather than everywhere in the house. I spent two days screwing everything into place on those damn six-foot rods, leaving my arms physically sore for days afterwards. When I moved a few years later, the memory of its assembly stopped me from breaking down the rack.

From start to end, that project took weeks longer than I first envisioned. It cost ten times as much as I thought it should have. I certainly could have used better tools. And yes, if I am honest with myself, I could have bought a factory equivalent item for a quarter of the price of what I spent on supplies and new tools.

I had both learned and broken all the DIY rules with this project. Still, despite the costs, despite the pain, despite all the effort, the end result is a CD rack that is one of my most favorite pieces of furniture.

I write all this to you to confess to you, my reader, that the chair project has been delayed slightly. And supplies costs are more than expected, thanks to the fact that I could only find wood glue in a massive, industry-size tube. I have enough wood glue to last me a decade. But now that I have all the supplies I need, the fixing will commence soon.