Tags: Chiqui Flores Gentry DIY decor DIY furniture Do-it-yourself Edge Davao Gentryfy DIY home decor Home edit Home improvement home styling interior design Meghann Hernandez Metro Mom
Self-taught maker, Chiqui Flores-Gentry, shares her DIY success and home projects.
Have you pinned one too many room styles and furniture designs on Pinterest and never got past the vision board and planning phase? Sometimes, we get so engrossed in curating “inspos” that we lose track of time and miss the opportunity to take our dream project from screen to reality. In other cases, the enthusiasm gets curbed when there are not enough resources or support available to execute our pegs.
Before you leave those ideas to fantasy, consider picking up a few handy skills and try creating these designs yourself. You don’t have to be a master craftsman to furnish your home with style. DIY furniture and decors are popular nowadays. There are many tutorials online that can serve as your guide from A to Z. Who knows? You might just discover an untapped potential or gain the confidence you need to jump-start a long overdue plan.
Take it from Chiqui Flores-Gentry, a self-taught maker who started out with glue guns and paper craft and can now firmly use a power drill. Her “stop pinning, start doing” mantra led her to learn and practice skills in crafting, decorating, painting, and furniture construction, repair and restoration. Born and bred in Davao City, this former nurse and her husband, Jereme, are currently living in a charming suburban town in Rome, Georgia, USA, where she is slowly furnishing their home—one DIY project at a time.
Jereme and Chiqui Gentry
Small beginnings
“I have always enjoyed doing arts and crafts projects as a kid,” says Chiqui. “The results were not really impressive, but I loved the process of creating something out of bits and pieces.”
Crafting took a backseat when she worked as a nurse in Kuwait. She rediscovered her passion for DIY when she and Jereme, who was still her boyfriend at that time, transferred to New Zealand to complete her post-graduate studies.
“We had to furnish a small apartment on a tight budget. I was a part-time student and worked as a bartender at night. I didn’t make much and I didn’t want to touch our savings. Still, I was determined to turn our humble abode into something pretty and homey. So, I made yarn hangings, created a wall art, and refinished second-hand furniture we bought thru Facebook Marketplace—just little projects that didn’t break the bank.”
“My very first project there was our personalized wooden coaster. The idea was to transfer my favorite Instagram photos onto little wooden squares. I didn’t know where to buy wood, so I asked my Jereme to bring me whatever scrap wood he could find on the side of the road. Since we didn’t have power tools back then, I had to cut wood with a hand saw. This took a lot of elbow grease. However, I was determined. I still have the coasters on our coffee table and it still evokes great memories of our humble beginnings.”
Filing cabinet
Creativity in all shapes and sizes
“Thankfully, in our new home, I get to handle bigger projects, faster and easier, because of the power tools we have accumulated in our garage-cum-workshop. Less than a year ago, I didn’t even know how to work a power drill. Now, I’m very comfortable handling any wood working tool. I can build furniture from scratch such as sofas, headboard, tables, outdoor benches and daybed, address planter boxes, wooden planters, console table, hanging picture shelves, wooden art, and more.”
Despite her newfound confidence and skills, Chiqui still loves working on simple designs that do not require a power drill.
“I painted a chevron-patterned faux wallpaper for our office using a $2 kitchen sponge.”
“There are other home projects I could not have accomplished without my husband’s help. Together, we built a wine and coffee bar, dining benches, an extra-large outdoor couch, built-in desk for our ‘his and hers’ office, and a full-sized bed base. We also installed a 6’x11’ privacy fence and extended our patio using pea gravel all by ourselves.”
Patterned plywood tray
Conversation pieces
Three of Chiqui’s favorite handmade pieces each has story behind it.
“I have this herringbone-patterned queen-sized headboard made out of shims. It would cost an arm and a leg to purchase our choice headboard online when we moved in, so I decided to create it myself. Armed with only a circular saw and liquid nails, I managed to create a headboard using shims (these are cheap pre-packaged small pieces of wood used as spacers by construction workers) and the entire project amounted to only $80—a lot less than the inspiration piece which was priced at $1000.”
“The first item I ever did on my own, and sold and shipped to a client, was a patterned plywood tray. It was bought as a wedding gift. It’s rewarding to know that somebody loved it so much and considered it a treasured piece in their home.”
Geometric side table made of wood
“Our geometric wooden side table is memorable for an amusing reason. My husband complained about not having a nice side table, so I built him one. It wasn’t a regular table. The tabletop was made with wooden patterns mitered at an angle and marked with different stains. I was proud of it and I posted it on a Facebook DIY woodworking group which had predominantly male wood workers as members. Most of them posted about how their wives constantly ask them to build stuff for the house. So, I was happy to break that pattern and prove that it isn’t always the husband fulfilling the requests—wives do it too. Needless to say, it drew a number of comments and a lot of Thank Yous from fellow women in the group.”
Just do it
As the saying goes, creativity knows no limits. This is something Chiqui wants to impress upon those who have hit a roadblock in decorating their homes.
“A measly budget does not mean it is impossible to turn your home into a Pinterest-worthy one. It will actually bring out your creative side. Had I not been frugal when it came to furnishing our house, I would not have discovered my skills in creating and refurbishing furniture. Don’t wait on anyone to execute your ideas. Be resourceful. Pick up those tools and watch as many Youtube tutorials as you can—or ask someone who knows how. As silly as this may sound, there is a tremendous feeling of empowerment in installing your first screw using a power drill.”
Find more DIY ideas, follow @Gentryfy_diy on Instagram and check out Chiqui’s posts and stories.
Story published on my Metro Mom column in Edge Davao newspaper. Photos courtesy of Chiqui Flores-Gentry.
