Weekend Project Update!

The weekend was a complete and utter disaster... Neither of my two to-dos are finished... Unfortunately I got sucked in to the wonderful world of QVC and HSN and spent most of the weekend vegging out watching people talk randomly about objects... Seriously, those channels are hilarious!

Anyway... we did get to Ikea and grabbed the curtains, as well as another piece for a super secret project coming up in July. The store was ridiculously full, and when we got there the queue went around the whole building to the front door. On a Sunday!! Does no one go to church anymore?

So while I didn't finish the spare room, I did manage to clear the bed, wash all the linens and set that up. But the other side of the room looks less pulled together...

This is our "still to sort" pile. Do I at least get points for being honest? haha

While I didn't get anything on the to-do list completed and spent countless hours laughing at home shopping channels, I DID manage a living room switcheroo that I am kinda proud of.

We went from this...


To this...

The clutter on the sofa table has since been cleared.

Andddd I finally styled the coffee table! W00T!!

See what I did to cover the lattice? Those are the beautimous placemats I picked up at Pier 1 and they work perfectly to distract away from the imperfect paint job. Love!


THIS is why I spend a third of my day straightening rugs! (And pillows on newly made guest room beds!)

Weekend Project: Finish Guest Room & Paint Cabinet

This weekend I am headed to my favorite Swedish home store to take advantage of the crazy deals on offer. With Monday being a public holiday, we're looking at a lovely (albeit rainy) long weekend. But I am totally ok with that!

Rainy days will force me to focus my attention on things I can complete indoors. Can you say guest room? Yes. Come hell or high water this is the weekend I am going to finally finish that room.

I also plan to rehab an old cabinet that I've dragged across three continents with me. I love love love my Oregon pine antique book case, even with it's missing pane of glass and lack of hardware. The fake fiberboard back and scratched surfaces. It has character and I love it... but plan on totally cleaning her up over the next few weeks, starting with a good sanding and few layers of paint this weekend. Right now she is standing in the entry, but I plan on relocating her to the guest room. Eventually I hope to do something about the backing, replace the missing pane of glass and get some cute hardware deserving of her. We've come a long way together her and I and I am confident that with a little makeover we will spend many more happy years together with (hopefully) a lot less globetrotting.

Apart from the above, I am hoping to find time to clear out and organize my closet. Reorganize the pantry and clean the fridge if I find time.

Top priority are the curtains though...

Rehabbed Mirror

I said I would update you on the other projects I tackled this weekend. This one I am also VERY proud of... We inherited this mirror from my in-laws. (Hi!! *wave*) I love love love the lines of the mirror, however the finish was really starting to look ratty. The poly was chipping, it was badly scratched in places and the color was uneven in others. I believe it once as part of a dresser set, so it's no stranger to a "makeover" and I felt that it could use one more.

I couldn't find a recent "Before" pic, but I found one taken at our dodgy little apartment in Buffalo above. (Please don't mind the junk shop-esque reflection... it was a tiny apartment and I worked from home... space was at a premium there and that paint color was not our choice, but the landlady's.

Here she is ready for her makeover.

After a light sanding. (The black giraffe statues had a makeover of their own. It failed, but I am working on it. Update soon)

Taped and first coat of Krylon Satin White spraypaint.

And here after a coat of poly. Ahhhh... isn't it beautiful! So fresh and clean looking!
The original plan was to turn it into a blackboard for the kitchen. I wanted to use black magnetic paint, but realized that we don't have a window in there (yet) and adding a black item to the already dark laundry nook wouldn't do our light issue any favors. So instead this little beauty will hang there as a mirror and reflect light from the sliding doors opposite into the kitchen.

LOVE it!!

Weekend Project Update!

It's Sunday and finally time to show you the finished coffee table!! I am soooo happy with how this turned out I could seriously cry... I am not kidding.

Here we have the table sans glass in our crappy patio area (yes, I know it's a sty... we're working on it!)



I sanded the whole table lightly to smooth rough spots and create a "key" for the primer and paint to stick to.

Here she is all primed... it was about this time that I posted my feelings about the lattice work and how I hope to never have to deal with it again.

This was the first coat. Don't you love that gorgeous shade of grey/blue? It's Amphibian by Behr. I chose it on a total whim when the Home Depot paint lady looked at me askew after I requested Behr's Dense Shrub... She handed me the paint deck and told me to take it outside to get a better idea of the color in natural light. I am SO glad she did, or I wouldn't have found this gorgeous color!


After 2 coats of Poly, here is the finished product in the living room. I've not set up any table scape as yet.... Want to be totally sure that the Poly has dried before I go setting anything up. The last thing I want is to have things stuck to the surface.


So there you have it! My beautiful $15 coffee table rehab totalling just under $30 all told. Best of all, this color has inspired the whole living/dining color concept. More about that later. For now, behold the beauty....

P.S. Any of you veteran Craigslist furniture rehabbers ever tempted to send a picture of the refinished article to the person you bought it from in the first place? I am sure he thought we were some scrubs buying his beat up old $15 table... little does he know, it looks better now than it did when it was new.

What do you think? Did I make a good choice on the grey? Would you have done the lattice differently? I have some other ideas for ways to fix it, but I am going to live with it like this for a while and see how I like it before I go about changing.

ETA: I forgot to add the final, final pic complete with placemats to distract from the lattice.

Color Me Bad

Still playing around with ideas for the table. But Lu came up with the genius idea of possibly painting it charcoal grey to help bridge the gap between modern and traditional by giving the traditional table, more of a modern "edge".

I think I really like this idea... but now I am torn on which exact shade of charcoal grey. (You had to know this was coming).

I think that Lu meant something along the lines of this little fella's coloring.

But a quick squizz in the Behr.com paint lab I discovered this little paint chip:
What do you think of the last two? I think that Evergreen Bough (bottom) might be too green. But Dense Shrub could do the trick.

Or should I just stay with the regular dark grey color of the Behr bear?

I shot an email off to that master of makeovers Kate from CentsationalGirl.com to get her advice on color. Will let you know what she thinks!

Craigslist Treasure Hunting

Look what is on it's way home right this minute?

Ok. I know what you're thinking... You're thinking, "WHAT are you thinking?" Am I right?

Ok, hear me out!!

This classic lined, beveled be-glassed beauty was only $15 and I have big plans for her future. We need a new coffee table. I had a few in mind, but they were all too cold and modern for our taste. Now, I know, we have the uber modern sectional couch that we love... but that doesn't mean we can't play a little mix and match does it? The "vision" for the living room is evolving every day and we want something more classic, and perhaps traditional than what we are working with now. My plan is to go with the flow and buy what I find beautiful and edit when we're done. If that means we lose the couch then we will cross that bridge when we get there. For now though,
I think we can make it all work together.

Stay tuned for the mind blowing (I hope) after pics of the table next week.

P.S. Please know that the above pic was taken from the Craigslist listing and is NOT our living room. kthxbai

ETA: Holy Cow!! Table is here and it's GORG! The bottom shelf has woven wicker/rattan-ie stuff on it. Totally chic! Love it! There are some scratches and spots of discoloration, but nothing that some paint or stain couldn't solve. Wouldn't you know it... a quick scan of Craigslist this evening uncovered this little beauty: http://austin.craigslist.org/fuo/1144900821.html I think I like this version more than the one we got!!! Oh well...

Now, my question for you is... white paint or chocolate stain?



In the light of the evening the wood appears darker, and I have to say that I do really like the look of it, but I need to remember that we're going to have lot's of white pieces around the room (living/dining) and I want to keep the balance. Honestly, I think that the lattice work would look much better in chocolate stain than white paint. What say you?