Before and After: Table and Tray

Good morning! Is it sunny where you are? If it is, would you mind sending a little my way? It has been so gray and rainy here in the past week that it's making me a little grumpy. Grrrr... But you know what doesn't make me grumpy? A good before and after.

I had this little black table that has been in my family room for several years. It was in my parents' house before that, but when they downsized to a smaller home, I inherited it. It's not a fabulous table, but it's sturdy and has good lines and it fits perfectly behind our couch as a depository for wrappers, empty glasses, pop tabs, dirty socks, pencils, random playing cards and other detritus of the feral goats that live in this house with me beautiful things.

When it came to me, it was light blue. I painted it black. It worked fine when my room was green, but when I lightened up the room and changed the curtains, I wanted something different for the table. Also, I had been dying to try out Annie Sloan chalk paint, so I decided that the table would make a perfect guinea pig for a chalk paint experiment. I figured if it didn't work out and I hated it, it would be easy enough to change.

Bad blogger! I started painting before I thought to take a "before" shot. 

Turns out, I love it! I used the Annie Sloan chalk paint in Greek blue. I used a 4 ounce sample pot and that was enough to completely cover the table. I used two coats, because I wanted good coverage and I didn't want the black to come through because I wasn't going for an antique-y look. The paint dries super quick and no sanding or prep is required, which is a great match for my need for instant gratification in crafty projects. I also used two coats of the Annie Sloan clear wax. The can is HUGE and a little goes a very long way. I barely made a dent in it and will be able to use it again and again on other projects. All told, with the painting and the waxing, the table only took 24 hours start to finish.  The blue is a nearly perfect match for the lighter blue in the family room curtains and it adds a nice pop of color to the room.

Perfect spot to sit your dirty socks refreshments.

The tray was a Goodwill find. I think it was $2.50? It was just a simple wood framed tray with a cork bottom, but there was something about the lines of it and the cork that I liked. So I sanded it and stained it with a dark stain (Minwax Kona), gave it a going over with some paste wax, and BAM! Just what the blue table needed to be complete.

I think the tray is pine, but I'm not sure. I wasn't fond of the orange-y finish, so it was given a sanding and some darker stain. 

I think the table and tray turned out great. Plus, because of the cork bottom, the tray does double duty in acting as a coaster.

Accessories were also found at Goodwill. Except for the cute kid. He's my own unique creation. :)

Now if I could just figure out a way to make my offspring understand that pretty things go on the table and tray and dirty socks go in the hamper...

Just A Quickie

No. Not that. What kind of blog do you think I'm running here? I may regret giving this post that title later when the google hits from the pervs starts coming, but for now, it's all good.

This quickie is a quick craft project I did yesterday. It all started with a framed painting from Goodwill.

I spray painted the frame black because the silvery/brassy/leopard-spotted frame didn't really do it for me. (Sorry I don't have any completely "before" pictures. I just jumped right in and then remembered to take pictures. Bad blogger!) Then I chose stickers for the word I wanted to stand out, in this case, "peace." That word sometimes seems elusive around here and so I thought that having it staring out at me from a frame, well, if it didn't make me take the time to find some, at least it would look pretty.

So! I stuck the letters onto the landscape painting, and then I painted over them in white. I removed the letters while the paint was wet and cleaned up any smudges from any paint that might have seeped under the stickers. And this is what I'm left with. I like it! I like that the texture of the canvas is varied because of the underlying oil paint underneath and I like the variations in paint color in the letters.

Yes, I know I have some touching up to do on the frame where I got white paint on it. I was too impatient to get started and the black paint on the frame hadn't had time to harden completely and I didn't want to risk having to paint it again, so instead of taping the frame off, I free-handed it. Yes, I know that my free handing looks like I'm suffering from DT's. Whatever. I'll fix it. The point is, I took a not so pretty picture from Goodwill and turned it into something I like much better.

Also? I found this idea somewhere in the pre-Pinterest days and I cannot remember where so I cannot give proper credit. Just know, as usual, this is not an original idea, but, as ever, I am a copycat.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I finally replaced my 50mm lens and now I have some pictures to edit. (I'm sure you'll be seeing them soon. Boring family photo alert! Um...not that we're a boring family. It's just that you'll probably be bored looking at the bazillion pictures I took of my offspring using my nifty fifty. Digression over!) Also, I need to do some laundry since my husband came home at 12:30 this morning after a week on the road. And I need to cook some turkey bacon because my daughter ate the last strip. And I should probably go for a walk and a bike ride. After I get out of my pajamas. Ahem.

Before And After: Side Table

It's been a bit since I've had any before and afters to show. It's not that I haven't been on the hunt for stuff, it's just that the stuff hasn't been there for me to find. However, I did recently come across this table. I wasn't in love with the rattan, but I did like the lines. And I knew the rattan was something that a few coats of spray paint could fix.

Here it is before, sitting in our forlorn--but not for long--basement. (Okay, our basement will still be forlorn for a bit longer. But it's less forlorn than it was and it is the project that has my beloved's focus now, so you know. Hope, and all that.) That white stuff on it is primer. Because I had started in on it, having sanded and started to prime it before I remembered to take a "before" picture.

And here it is in our baby poop brown living room. Can you tell that I am tired of living with other people's decorating choices? Because actually, even though the room photographs baby poop brown, it's not. The brown is an okay color. In fact, it's very close to the brown we painted in the master bedroom of our old house. But that's the problem. I am OVER. IT. Done with the brown! In fact, if I were to show you the whole wall there, you would see white patches where my beloved (finally) filled and sanded holes from the previous owners' decorating decisions. Soon--perhaps as soon as next week!--I will be painting our dining room--can you call it a dining room when it no longer contains dining room furniture and instead has a couch, desk, t.v. and gaming system?

Hmm...I seem to have digressed. Have you gathered that I have my mind on several things? That other things are afoot in the decorating department? Yes. The table is nice. It fits the spot and was just what I needed.

For now. It may end up painted bright yellow and be an accent table in the dining-room-that's-not-a-dining-room somewhere down the road. Or not. I am nothing if not indecisive.

Sittin' Pretty

Hey! I still have my fingers! I am not typing this with my nose! And apparently I still know how to use exclamation points!

Okay. So. The chair is done. (!) ( I had to use one more there because that statement deserved one.) It's not perfect and if you look too closely at it, you will know that it was done by a complete amateur who had no earthly idea what she was doing. So, you know, don't look too closely. Heh. Even if you are looking closely, the finished chair looks--and smells--better than the chair I came home with from Goodwill.

Eventually it will go in the sitting area in my master bedroom. We have a sitting area. It's just right now, you can't really sit there because there's an ironing board, several boxes of my beloved's crap important stuff, and an empty unused file cabinet in the way. (Three guesses who the file cabinet belongs to. And the first two guesses don't count...) But! Someday I will have a sitting area there. It will also have my own desk by the window overlooking our back yard. I will sit there and ignore my children bury my nose in a book that I can't put down. (Speaking of books that cannot be put down, have you read "Room"? If not, hie thee to your nearest book procuring place and get it. It is unputdownable.I don't care what spell check says, that is totally a word.)

Enough talky stuff. Here are pictures. Yay! Lookie, lookie!

Before: Stinky, blue "velvet."

After: Good smelling and mildly distressed. (You would never think those two things would go together, but they do!)

I went with a distressed finish because I wanted a look that would fit into the bright, airy, blue/white/beachy bedroom that I will someday have. My children all told me that they thought the chair looked good but they asked me when I was going to finish it. When I told them it was done, they pointed out the "bare and scratchy spots." My children don't know from distressed finishes. Whatevs. Also, the fabric I had chosen didn't look right to me, but I got a great deal on it and didn't want to find different fabric. So I just used the "back side" of the fabric. I like it much better. That's right. The side you are supposed to see and sit on is facing the inside. Look at me! I'm a rebel!

I am happy. Now I just have to clear out my sitting area so that I can put my chair there and actually sit there. But that's a project for another day. My fingers are still recovering.

It Could Be Beautiful. Or I Could Lose My Fingers. Time Will Tell.

Hubris or hope? Courageous or crazy? Frugal or folly? In for a treat or in over my head? These are all the things that went through my mind when I picked up this chair at Goodwill last week and decided to fix it up.

I have always had reservations about buying upholstered pieces from someplace like Goodwill, but after giving the chair a sniff test (You should be thanking providence that there is no such thing as "smellovision" right now. Just sayin'.) I knew that I would be replacing all the material, foam included, so I gave it a shot.

I am halfway through the project right now. Which basically means that I've rid the chair of its old smelly fabric and foam, pulled a thousand and one staples, and done bodily injury to myself. Because you know that a job worth doing is worth doing well and sacrificing your fingers is just part of the deal. At least that's my story.

Hopefully today I will head out to find foam and fabric and look for an electric staple gun so that I may not totally lose my ability to play piano. Not that I ever played well, but I have found that it's helpful to retain your fingers to play more than "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater."

I'll keep you posted and either way, win, lose, or lose my fingers, I'll show you how the chair comes out. What can I say? I keep telling you people that I'm a giver. You should totally believe me by now.

Before And After: Who's Crazy Now?!

Remember this?

She's all finished and sitting in my entry hall. I may be crazy for taking it on this time of year, but my crazy got some good results. I love her. I shall call her Blanche because she reminds me of a southern belle who was forlorn and past her prime, but with a little care became a beauty once more.


Also? Blanche is very handy to have around since Goodwill came last week and carted out my old dining room table and china hutch. I needed some place to store the very few things that I kept after cleaning out the hutch and Blanche is happy to oblige. Gotta like that in a girl piece of furniture.

What? Don't you name your furniture? Truthfully, this is the only piece of furniture I have named in my home. But I think it fits. (Will you think I'm crazy if I tell you that while we haven't named furniture, we did name our van? Never mind. Don't answer.)

I was lucky that all of the hardware was in good shape. I was able to spray paint it with oil rubbed bronze paint. It photographed black, and it is dark, but it's not really black. I used some paint I got free from Glidden to paint her and if she gets scuffed up--which, let's face it, in this house is likely to happen this week--I'm okay with distressing her a little bit. I think she can take it. So this project cost me nothing but what I paid for the cabinet ($40.00 at Goodwill) and a few hours of my time since I had all the supplies I needed already, leaving me a little extra green to use at my discretion. (Hello, nice bottle of wine to add to my Life List!)

Now, just so you understand, there will be no more of this project madness until well after the holidays. I have stuff to do--stuff that involves making Oreo balls and Irish Cream cakes so that my family will not feel neglected over the holidays.

And who will ever know if some of those Oreo balls disappear on their way into the freezer for safekeeping? Shhhh....

It Says So On The Calendar

Fall is here, folks. It says so on my calendar. And now, finally, it even feels a bit like it when I step outside. Autumn is, by far, my favorite season. I love the still-warm days and crisp nights. I love having a fire in the back yard. I love cooking various foods on sticks. I love watching football games--both those of my son and of professionals. I love finally getting back into my jeans after a summer of shorts and giving my sandal-weary feet a break with actual shoes. I love sweatshirts, the smell of fires, the changing color of the leaves, and just generally getting ready to cozy up.

I am not, however, a big fan of Halloween. I don't decorate much for it, although many of my neighbors go all out. (Big surprise there, eh?) But I do like to decorate for fall. I enjoy the changing over from the lighter, cooler colors of summer to the warmer colors of fall. I like to add more candles around the house. I like to bring out my little pumpkins. I like to buy and then kill mums. It's an unintentional, but annual tradition for me. It'll just be one more way that I can make my neighbors continue to feel just a bit superior to me. That's me. I'm a giver.

Last year, when we moved into this house, there were many, many more things on my mind than fall decorating. Things like: laying 800 square feet of hard wood flooring, unpacking 60 bajillion boxes, registering my children for a new school, homeschooling my daughter, and figuring out how to cook for a family of 6 with a kitchen that was torn apart. But this year, things have calmed down enough for me to be able to enjoy fall a little. We still have a To Do List for this place that is as long as my arm, but at least now I know where my fall decorations are. Last year I would have just waved in the general direction of one of the enormous mountains of moving boxes and said, "Um, I think they're in one of those boxes...over there...somewhere..."

So this year, I was able to do this:I found the little scalloped edge stand at Goodwill and sprayed it and put a little dollar store pumpkin on it along with some berries that I found at Michael's. The tray is a cheapy little thing also from Goodwill that I painted with chalkboard paint.

And collect these branches and grasses from my yard and arrange this:

Then I was able to buy a couple of candles and some pretty ribbons and stuff and make these:

And when I saw this glass candleholder/vase thingy on a Goodwill trip, I knew that I wanted to do this:



I'm not done just yet. There are a few more things that I want to put around the house or rearrange for fall, but this is a start. And now that the weather is finally starting to match up to what the calendar says, I don't feel so strange about it.

But you still won't see any ghosts or ghoulies in my yard. That's okay. I'll leave that to my neighbors.

A Little Crafty: Umbrella Holder

So it turns out that working has cut into my Goodwill hunting considerably. It has also kept me from starting and finishing some of the projects currently waiting for me in my basement, because as I might have mentioned before, it's kinda hard to work on a project when you have about 8 random minutes a day that belong only to you. (Got your little violins out? Play me a pretty little tune and cry me some wee tears of sympathy. Woe is me, my life is soooo hard!)

Last week I threw caution to the wind, shut the door on the mountain of dirty clothes that were multiplying in my laundry room, and headed out to GW. I know! I live on the edge, y'all. Whilst strolling the aisles in search of some specific things (things, by the way, that I have yet to encounter and for which I am still looking) there were a few things that caught my eye and got my creative juices flowing. One of them was a galvanized metal flower pot. If you spend any time at all in a thrift store, you know of which I speak--they are tall, skinny, and easily found. In fact, this is the second one I've purchased. The first I spray painted white and put in my (still unfinished) mudroom. I had different ideas for this one. It still involved paint of the spray variety, but a bit different. Are you ready?




I used spray chalkboard paint! And you know what? I am a little in love with this thing. Sad, but true. I have changed the message a couple of times already and my 5 year old has doodled on it as well. (heh--just made it sound like she's not potty trained...) I have written "Rain, rain, go away," "Raindrops keep fallin' on my head," "Rain showers bring pretty flowers," (since it's not April) and I've drawn various umbrellas, clouds, and raindrops on it. I love it!

And also, I am apparently easily entertained.

Can you read this? It says: Put your umbrella here or face the wrath of the CRAZY WOMAN.
She may or may not be me. Perhaps she is, like on so many soap operas, my evil twin.

I may have to be on the lookout for some more of these, because they would make an awesome housewarming, wedding, or shower gift. I think they would be a well-received gift. And if the recipient is as easily entertained as I am? Bonus points!

A Little Crafty: Coffee Table Transformation

I've been on the lookout for a table that I could make over into a bench. I had several spots where I could put it--foyer, kitchen, or mudroom--so that wasn't an issue and I figure we can always use extra seating around here. I wanted to find something that would seat at least two people and it couldn't cost an arm and a leg. I mean, we do seem to have many arms and legs around here, but they are all being used, so you know, nobody was really lining up to give up one of theirs for another of my projects.

After several weeks of looking, I went into Goodwill on a whim. You see, I've tried to cut back on the number of times I go in there in a week, because, well, it's not really saving money if I buy something Every. Single. Time. Plus, it's getting to that point in the summer where my plate is getting full with other things and when I have a project waiting for me, I tend to let other things *cough* laundry *cough* slide. Not good.

But! I just had a feeling about going in there. And it all paid off, because I found this coffee table for $20. It was solid wood, extra long--and with the leaves out, extraordinarily long--and very sturdy. I sat on it. My daughter sat on it with me. I tried to wobble it but couldn't. This sucker would've passed even my father's picky standards. So I snapped it up.

Then, rather than doing laundry to clothe my family, I put them in togas and told them they could go commando for a day while I got busy. I'm kidding. But not by much...

First, I needed to remove the hinges on the leaves. Do y'all have any idea how hard it is to take a picture with a DSLR camera and hold a drill? HAHAHAHA!! I forgot who was reading this. Of course you do!!

Then I had an offer I couldn't refuse. An extremely cute 4 year old decided that she would be my "screw picker" and take out the screws that I had just unscrewed. She works on the cheap, too. I paid her with a grape ice pop. Mmmm....

So now, the leaf could be removed.

And then the brace holding the leaf up could come off too.

See? All gone! Now it's just a regular ol' extra long coffee table. But not for much longer....

Sometimes when you're doing refinishing or repurposing projects you come upon little surprises. Sometimes they are pleasant, like money. Not that that particular surprise has ever happened to me... Sometimes they are not.
Ack!! Ewwww!! Spider egg sacs! Completely. Squicked. Out!

Whew! Here's the table-- end leaf and spider egg free and ready for sanding.

Next, well, um, I sanded it.

Then it got several coats of black spray paint. Pretty!


Here is where the tricky transformation occurs. Are you ready? You put foam on the table. Ooohh! Ahhh! See? Told you. Tricky.

Then I covered it in batting and stapled it. With much muttering and a few utterances of naughty words under my breath. This was where I decided that it was foolhardy to try and put the cotton duck covering on all by myself, so I called in some help. It sounded like this: "Oh honey?! Could you do me the weensiest, little favor? It won't take long and it's really easy!" To which my knight in shining armor ratty, old t-shirt responded, "Of course, my beloved bride. Anything for you." Shut up. This is my fantasy I'll write it any way I want to.

So my husband happily (mostly) helped me get the cotton duck stapled on. Then, the bench was declared good, and lo, there was much resting of booties.

This pretty bench is sitting in my kitchen. I realize the corners aren't perfect but our staples were too short. I have plans on fixing them. But even so, I think it's lovely. And I have told my offspring not to sit upon it or touch it. At least until I can get some Scotchguard on it. Then they can put their grubby little bodies on it and mess up all my hard work. *Sigh.* It may get moved to a different location someday if I find the right dresser or cabinet to go in this spot. But for now, I love it. And it's not perfect, but neither am I, so that works out well.

If you like this project head on over to A Soft Place To Land. You will be amazed at the projects people are doing.

A Little Crafty:Before and After--Folding Shelves

A couple of weeks ago when I was trolling Goodwill, I came upon this shelf. It wasn't my style in the finish I found it in, but I kinda liked it. I walked around some more, debating in my head if I had a place to put it and what exactly I'd do with it. Then I went back and looked more closely at it and decided that it would work in my youngest daughter's room.

A couple of summers ago, I painted a little table to go in her new "big girl" room and thought that I could make this shelf a matching piece. Here is the table.

We have since moved from our old house and this room is a temporary room for Mary. We have a loft that we're going to wall in and that will become Mary's room, making the room she now uses as a bedroom, my eldest son's room. (Didja get all that? Confused? Welcome to my general daily state of mind...Ahhh, brain sprain!) My two boys are sharing a room right now and that has worked for several years, but since both of them refuse to quit growing, space in their room is getting a little tight. We haven't painted this room (Mary's current room/James' future room) because it didn't make sense to paint it twice, once in Mary's color and then again for James. So Mary's black/white/pink/green color scheme looks a little strange against the tan walls, but whatever. We'll get there, right?

So I got out my trusty primer and changed the shelf to this:

And then with white spray paint and some acrylic paint it became this.

**Note--the pink is not as Day-Glo in real life as it looks in these pictures. Pinkie swear.

I am, however, a little on the fence about something. Well, a couple of things, actually. Give me your opinions--are there too many dots? Not enough dots? Should I put something in the middle of each shelf, like a monogram or flower or swirl to match her bedding? Here is Mary's bedding: Should I leave well enough alone and move on to the next project? Oh wise Internet people, what do you think? Help a girl out, mmmkay? Thanks!