Have you ever thought about the word, ‘Professional’? It’s one of those words that is used quite often in reference to many situations in day to day life. “I have a meeting today and I want to look professional.” “He was late for that appointment. That was not very professional of him.” I need to have some work done in my house, and I want to hire a professional to do it.”
The definition of the word Professional, found in Webster’s Online Dictionary is this:
There are activities or tasks that require specialized training or education. In fact, the job or task demands it. You want an educated, competent, trained and experienced surgeon if you find yourself in need of foot surgery. When you have a tooth ache that requires evaluation and potential attention, you look for someone who has their Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. Building a house requires a great degree of knowledge as do many other professions or skilled and richly experienced jobs.
Are you taking a chance with a DIY project?
If you spend some time on Pinterest, you will be sure to come across hundreds of boards teaching and encouraging the ease and simplicity of ‘Do It Yourself’ tasks. You can find YouTube videos, TV networks and products dedicated to helping homeowners tackle seemingly intricate and complicated projects on their own. Rest assured, some of these projects that were meant to be done by professionals can be accomplished, with a good outcome, with good tools, and a lot of time and patience, in a DIY fashion.
The professionals who make a living doing the projects that the ‘DIY week-end’ warriors undertake, would argue that more times than not, the end result may not be as pleasing I appearance or function.
And isn’t that the expectation? You do-it-yourself instead of hiring a professional because you know that the finished project will not be as good as hiring a professional to do it and it is a risk you are willing to take.
Faux Finishing takes a Professional
Take Faux Finishing or painting kitchen cabinets as an example. Upon evaluation, you conclude your cabinets have seen better days. They are structurally sound, but the color is outdated and painting the cabinets is just what they need. The DIY thinks they can do the job just as well as a professional painter and decides to tackle the job. How hard can it be? Just take off all the hardware, maybe sand it a little and paint. It sounds easy and you’ll save some money in the process,right? You go for it only to find the finished product is worse than the original color and now it will cost you even more to fix it and have the kitchen cabinets professionally painted so they look as they should.
The new chalk paints that are on the market are easy to use for the DIY person and great for the professional, as well, they need to be prepped and sealed properly in order to be durable. A professional will not skip steps to save time. Think about how you use your cabinets. The amount of wear and tear they take and how much time and money you would be willing to invest to have them redone if need be. Professional Faux finisher, Brenda Macaluso, can tell you stories. “I can’t tell you how many phone calls I get from women whose husbands said they could paint the kitchen cabinets themselves and the end result was a mess. It will also cost more money to paint the cabinets if we have to sand off painted cabinets first.”
Doing it yourself may make sense if the project is small and you are trying to get your feet wet and gain some experience, but when it comes to painting kitchen cabinets, it’s a little like gambling. Only take the money to the casino that you don’t mind loosing. When you want a professional outcome, hire a professional.
