When you have an item that is old and worn, broken, malfunctioning or presents a safety hazard you have a few options. Whether it is an essential item such as an exterior door or appliance or something old and sentimental, you have to weigh your options on the most cost-effective means of correcting the problem. But sometimes it is not that simple. Let say your front door is original to your 80-year-old house and you have become attached to it due to its age and character. You say to yourself, "I really love this door and there are no suitable replacements to be found. Besides, it matches our other doors".
I recently had such a such a project for my parents. They have an old, two bench canopy swing that had seen better days. The canopy was torn, the metal frame was rusted and had peeling paint, and a few of the wooden slats on the benches needed repaired. Completely refurbishing the swing would require a new canvas canopy to be custom made on a rebuilt roof frame. All the metal frame parts need to be disassembled, striped of rust and paint and recoated. The benches required repairs, sanding and scraping to remove the old, flaking stain before applying two coats of fresh stain. The costs to refurbish outweighed the price of a new swing.
Buying a new swing was not an option in this case. Four generations of loving family members have spent quiet, quality time together gliding back and forth on the swing. My parents watched four children, ten grandchildren, and four great grandchildren (and counting) enjoy visits that included sitting on the swing and talking about what was going on with their lives. In this case I happily invested the resources of time and money to make the canopy swing set like new again.
We all have items like this that are full of memories and are near and dear to our hearts. Most of them are reminders of what we cherish the most, family and friends. Some of the items just sit around as decoration while others are items we frequently use. Either way they sometimes require tender loving care to continue soothing our souls.
I have a soft spot in my heart for repairing or refurbishing old sentimental items. I rebuilt a hand mixer my wife and I received as a wedding gift two times before finally letting it go after thirty-five years of dedicated service mashing potatoes and mixing cake batter. I also repaired the wooden swing set our four children played on so our grandchildren could experience the joy of playing in Grandma and K-Pop's back yard while swinging and going down the slide.
If you have items you can't seem to part with, consider investing in their renewal. You can start by researching your item online to see if there are how-to guides and spare parts that may be needed to bring the item back to life. These projects can be exhilarating and bring back wonderful memories of days gone by. The projects can also reduce stress and when completed give you a sense of accomplishing something that matters.
Comments