Success is a whiteboard
But it’s no big deal.
Now, I don’t want to sound as if I’m making a big deal over this. Because it’s not a big deal.
And I don’t want you all to assume I suddenly think I’m some DIY king. Because I’m not a DIY king.
But see that whiteboard right there at the top of this Chapter?
I put that up.
I bought the kit, drilled four holes, pushed in the cavity wall fixings, lined up the board with the holes (with some help from my flatmate Kerry) and then screwed in the screws.
I told you: not a big deal, right? It’s just a whiteboard. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a difficult job.
But this is actually more significant to me than I’ve so far given it credit for.
For three years, within minutes of moving in to Halls, and then my house at Richmond Grove, and then my house at Amherst Road, I was planning how I’d change my room. How I’d add a couple things here and there. Maybe buy some extra furniture for the place.
It wasn’t just me, every single one of my flat/housemates did it.
In Halls we wanted to kit out the kitchen.
At Richmond we hoped to make the living room more cosy.
At Amherst we had big, elaborate plans for the basement.
None of them really panned out. Nothing got done.
At Amherst I added shelves to my wall, but that was 90% my Dad and 10% me watching and passing tools to him.
The most DIY I did to a house during three years at university was hammer some nails in to the wall and hang up a Jurgen Klopp scarf.
That’s not even Little League DIY.
But once I moved to West Didsbury with a full-time, well-paid job, I knew I had the chance to do some DIY on a grander(ish) scale.
Being so limited on time juggling a full-time job and daily writing, a wall-mounted whiteboard seemed like the perfect addition to my new room.
So at the end of August I bought one. Then I quizzed my Dad on and off for a month until, this weekend, at long last, I found the time to get the thing up on my wall.
With the Father’s long-distance help, and a bit of common sense — which no doubt he’ll tell you I don’t have a lot of — the whiteboard is now a permanent fixture in my Didsbury flat.
Finally, after three years of imaginary interior design, I’ve made something become a reality.
But it’s no big deal, right?
