Dining Table ReFINISHED

I promised to follow-up with you on my dining table. As usual these projects are never as easy as you hope.

The Plan

Lightly sand and repaint table legs & strip and re-stain the table top

All went according to plan until the second and final coat of stain went on the top. After drying the table looked splotchy and as if it had not dried in some spots. I apologize for the lack of photos as my camera has been hijacked for the weekend.

All signs pointed to re-strip and re-stain = a lot of tedious work.

I found some scrubbing and polishing pads that fit to my mouse sander. They actually came with the sander and I'd never used them because I really didn't know what they were for. I just wanted to try to see if using it on the top like sand paper would take off the shiny UN-dry looking parts. It worked!! After an hour or so of using the sander it was pretty good. I then lightly VERY lightly sanded the top.

So this weekend I applied the clear coat to the entire table. I use Varathan, which is actually floor sealer, this works well on white furniture because it does not yellow the finish. I put 2 coats on the painted parts and 3 coats on the table top. I am very pleased with the results.

Before

After

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed has been my word of the week. Everyday that passes I continue to feel overwhelmed by all the things I need to do. I have a lot of house projects floating around in my head that I want to accomplish before winter is over but I'm having a hard time moving forward with them because life has been more hectic than usual. Typically in the winter I have a lot of time on my hands because my job is slower, but I started a new job in January and I am very busy now with that.

Since I am having such a hard time completing these projects I thought I share them here on the blog and hopefully it will help me stick to my goals in completing them by the end of March.

1) Refinish Dining Room Table (half way done)
2) Paint Dining Room
3) Paint Guest Bedroom
4) Get picture framed for guest bedroom
5) Hang shelf in guest bedroom & buy jars and frames for decorating shelf
6) Start the annual Spring Clean/Goodwill delivery

I need to finish all this in a month so that when April rolls around I will have time to start my vegtable garden and outdoor planting.

I will update as I complete :) Wish me luck!

Bonus Room Idea

Often times I collect magazine pictures or surf the internet for design inspiration. I recently came across this great picture of a media/multi purpose room.

So many things I like here. First of all I love the colors, I tend prefer blue tones and this uses blue & green with a neutral background. I also love the paisley designs on the back wall adding a little fun to the space. I like that the room pictured contains a casual living area with other useful areas, such as a desk area, table, and bar (or popcorn station).

We really should do something with our bonus room, we've been here 5 years and the bonus room contains a treadmill, tv, and ironing board with no seating. I have always wanted to do a sectional couch and make this room more of a media room or second living area all the while saving space for the treadmill. I am in no hurry to work on our bonus room mainly because I don't have the funds and it is not a necessary room. I will however be holding on to this photo in my design files until I get ready.

Weekend turned Week Long Project

This weekend I finally started painting my thrift store table.  I should probably start by telling you the whole saga of the purchase of the table....but you will have to tune in later for that because that story is really about chairs.  For now, just know that I bought a table and chair set, the chairs were for my kitchen table.  This table is not exactly what I had in mind for our dining room but it was cheap and non formal.  I bought the whole table set for $250 (chairs pictured are from Target, $79.99 for a set of 2).  I like the rustic farm house feel of this table, but not loving the original color. The plan is white legs and a dark walnut stain for the top.  I hit a little bump in the road today.......

Here is the table before painting....(ignore the jungle in my dining room...Hello my name is April, I'm a plant hoarder)

Here is the table during painting....

I stripped the table top and sanded like crazy the and last night I put two coats of dark stain on the top....it looked gorgeous!  I was so happy with the color of the stain.  As I was leaving for work I noticed the stain still looked wet in places and it is all splotchy all over the top.  The stain still feels tacky to the touch.  I have never had this issue before and I am not sure what happened.  I am going to let it dry for 48 hours before I try anything else.  I am hoping I can sand it a little or apply the shiny clear top coat to reduce the effect that is happening.  I will be doing some research so stay tuned for the final product.  I hope it is back in the dining room by Friday!!

Why can't just one project go smoothly ?!?

Collection or Obsession?

I like to think I have a few small, contained collections but I've realized that once I start a "collection" it turns into an obsession. A few years ago I was in love with apothecary jars and I would buy everyone that I saw, now I have so many I cannot display them all. I promise to blog about that one day and show you the many uses they have in decorating. But today I wanted to confess my latest collection obsession....birds!

I love bird watching and have many feeders that I keep out in the winter and I have summer feeders as well. Originally I thought my cat Nipper would be entertained by a few feeders to watch during the day and I found that I really enjoyed them as well. But now it has turned into a decorating collection that I am sure will turn into an obsession very quickly.

I found this little guy at a thrift shop about 6 months ago. When I took this picture I realized I also had a bird cage, I've had it for years...one of my first decorative accessories.

This bigger ceramic bird I found at an antique shop right after Christmas. These little birds add a pop of color and little whimsy which is a big part of my decorating habits.

I saw these great curtain rods in a Lowe's Home Improvement catalog and had to have them so after Christmas I took my Lowe's gift card and snatched them up. Very cutesy but they are small and do not over power the room. This also happens to be my bird watching window :)

Spring is Near...

I've been hoping and praying for warmer weather and this week has been AWESOME. Highs in the 70's. Now I officially have spring fever! I took a little trip outside today to see if any of my daffodils were poking out and much to my surprise they are popping up all over the place :)

I LOVE DAFFODILS!!! I am not sure why, I don't particularly like the color yellow, but I have always loved the flower. I believe it is because it is one of the first signs of Spring and I am NOT a fan of Winter. I also think it is because you see them everywhere, on the side of road, old barns, and at old home sites. I know I shouldn't pick them all and allow others to enjoy their beauty but I pick all that I can and take vases full to work and place them all around my house in the Spring. I don't pick the ones in my yard :) I have to make emergency road side stops! And I frantically pick them in a hurry like I am committing a crime...I think I learned a Girl Scout motto once about leaving things as they are in nature and I have always wanted to pick flowers, I can't leave them.

These were a Valentines gift from my Mema, they are blooming wide open now filling my kitchen with Spring.....What is your favorite flower? Favorite thing about Spring?

Welcome

Well I am finally blogging! Lots of back and forth on this one, hope I can keep up :)

Hope you enjoy!