u/FakeMiner1234

My DIY husband is away and I thought, I’ve got this! I really don’t.
I want to paint veneered chest of drawers. It’s brand new, the colour just doesn’t match the furniture that will be placed next to it. The veneer has ridges it in, the surface isn’t smooth, and since I want to paint it a dark green colour, I want it to be nice and smooth.
I watched some YouTube videos and decided that scraping on watered down wood filler and sanding is the best thing to do. It isn’t. When I sand it, I get rough edges where there’s little wood filler left. So I sanded it more, but then I am left at my starting point, where the surface isn’t any smoother than before…
My google search tells me I could use high build primer, but don’t want to make this decision without being slightly roasted here. And maybe people will have some other ideas.

I put the wood filler on every single part that will be painted, so I have a lot of sanding to do before I can get onto the next step.
First picture is what the wood filler looks like when I put on, second is sanded with power sander (I now know sanding blocks will be better, I have those too), and third photo shows the ridges in the veneer (I hope).

My husband and I (both 32) just started TTC this cycle. Being at the start of this journey, I am feeling so nervous in my first two week wait. I’ve been checking everything I eat, and panicking about things like my kimchi being unpasteurised, and my boiled eggs not being fully and truly hard boiled. I’ve passed on a spa day with friends and a catch up with uni friends cause it was a place that only served traditional sushi. My regular routine includes 2x hot yoga and 4x sauna per week, I’ve avoided both for the past 9 days.

I’m aware of how long this may take. And how some women feel they lose their own self, centring their whole life’s around their cycle. I really want to do everything “right” but it seems that all advice online is very vague and I found conflicting information. Some say to continue your life as normal, some say to cut down on things that may pose a risk, especially to neural tube development.

I would feel awful finding out I’ve potentially put my future baby at risk. But my yoga and gym routine is what helps me with anxiety. I am so conflicted. I’d love some recommendations on what you used and how you decide on things to continue and things to give up. I found Emily Oster’s book, “Expecting better”, which is my next thing to read. I would be interested in maybe some published articles and other books, if anyone has something they could recommend!

Smoothing veneer grain - I messed up?