The Trim Hides Imperfections

One of my side projects is the slow restoration of our 1943 farmhouse. I recently decided to convert an indoor water heater room into a utility closet. This involved installing a new door. If you’ve ever installed a door before, you probably just groaned. It’s no small task.

Basically, it’s a fight with a wooden beast that’s taller than you. Screws slightly out of alignment? The door sticks on the bottom. Shim in the wrong place? The striker plate doesn’t line up correctly. It’s enough to make me want to put my foot through the door. Sadly, then I’d have to start all over.

But it all gets beautiful in the end. And that’s because of the trim and spackling paste.

Trim is amazing. It doesn’t matter if there are holes in the wood, cracks where things don’t line up, or missing pieces all together: it ALL gets hidden by the trim and spackling paste. It’s like the big secret in construction: every door has some ugly aspects. All the doors around you do. But you’ll never see them, or even think about them, because of the time spent to add the trim.

Time for you to implement. It’s Ron’s Monday Mission™:

You’re probably involved with many projects, including launching new products and services. The sausage is being made, and it’s not pretty. But remember that people don’t need to know about all the errors, problems, or shortfalls. So don’t broadcast them. Use them to learn how to do better next time, sure. But take time to think about the appearance of the final product. How will people experience it for the first time? What opinions will they form? Take time to add that final trim. It’s likely all people will ever see.

Have a great week,

Ron