Make It Your Own
The joys of customizing your stuff
Happy Friday. Today's essay is about modifying our things and why we do it. An extensive renovation of an IKEA cabinet in my shop inspired me to share these thoughts. Please be sure and watch this IKEA hack "makeover" on my YouTube channel:
As always, thanks for being here. ~JRC
This past week, I spent several hours customizing an IKEA garage cabinet in my shop. I use the cabinet as my central work stand. It's nothing special; a metal-construction utility cart-on-wheels with a plywood top.
The stand has served me well as I developed my YouTube channel. It has unsuspectingly become the central stage for my show. The thing is, it’s not very sturdy, and increasingly I thought about retiring it for something better.
I debated creating a from-the-ground-up new bench. But that old IKEA cabinet was not junk - it had potential. So instead, I opted to customize it by bringing it up to snuff for my current and future work. And, boy, was it ever satisfying.
Such is the joy of "making it your own" - a.k.a., customization.
Customization is "the action of modifying something to suit a particular individual or task." At its heart is taking an off-the-shelf "whatever" and tweaking it to suit your wants and needs. We see customization everywhere, but no more conspicuously than in the vehicles we drive or ride.
Drive down any street or highway, and you'll see customization aplenty. It's rare to see a car, truck, or motorcycle with nothing special added. From simple bumper stickers to fully decked-out rebuilds, people customize their rides. We do so to express our identities. Political allegiances, nationalities, sports affiliations, religion - all are on full display. And we also do it to express who we are.
Home is the truest expression of who we are. And as such, we customize the places we live in more than anything. What's one of the first things we do when we move into a new place? That's right; we hang up pictures. An apartment or house doesn't feel like home until we put up a beloved pic of our family or that cherished piece of art.
From painting the walls to full-on remodels, we customize to make our homes ours. And the more we take on - the more we do the customization ourselves, the more we own the things in our lives.
For me, where customization meets DIY - that's where the real joy resides. Sure, it feels good to take a sticker we identify with and place it on our car. But it's another thing entirely to repaint it to our liking. One is a statement; the other is an act of love.
Making things ourselves is a joy I've discussed time and again in this blog. It's the central theme, after all. And often, the "builds" I present are the "from scratch" kind - projects I create out of nothing but raw materials. There is something very satisfying in doing so.
But remarkably, taking a pre-made object and modifying it can be joyful too. It's the act of creation that matters. And when we take something someone else made and tweak it, the object transforms into our own.
Back to that IKEA cabinet I modified. To be honest, I almost had disdain for it. It was average at best, and yet it played such an essential part in my work. Worse still, I needed it to do more, and the cabinet wasn’t up to the challenge. That is, it wasn't capable enough as is - until I customized it.
What I did to the cabinet was straightforward.
First, I identified the weak points - the wheels and side panels, principally. So I first replaced the wheels with heavy-duty castors. And a few bolts and screws tightened up the panels. I then built and installed a sliding tool tray inside. And after drilling some mounting holes for my scroll saw and planer on top, the build was almost complete.
These mods covered the "needs" aspect of my cart customization. And I know they'll serve me well. But it wasn't done. I wanted to make it my own, so I decided to add a final bit of flair to the build.
How? I cut a piece of nice heavyweight leather to serve as the workplace mat for the top. Sure, it's a bit extravagant. Why leather? I could have used one of those green cutting mats. Or even another piece of wood or laminate. But leather added character and made the whole thing feel all the more special. And special is what customization - making it my own - is all about.
My efforts did not disappoint. When I sit down in front of my IKEA stand now, I don't think of it as a burden. I own it, and with the few tweaks and mods I made, I transformed it into a tip-top component in my workflow.
Now, I'm looking forward to using my power tools on it. And that leather mat? I can't wait to get it broken in with a few dints, spills, and stains. There's no better way to customize a customization than with some use and abuse. The proverbial "witness marks" of a maker's touch will be the final touch this cabinet - no, workbench - needs.
Sure, completely scratch builds are the crème de la crème of making. But taking something pre-made and making it your own is just as rewarding. Both take skill and a passion for DIY. And doing so, no matter how trivial, will improve your relationship with an object.
So make it your own. And enjoy the build, no matter if it's entirely "do it yourself or a nifty "make it your own." Both render the rewards of creating.
Until next time.
JRC
Even if the object is small or very large, you can make it fit your needs, have fun go for it.