Dining Set

So now that summer is here, I have not had as much time to do any projects. So much harder when Ava is not in school. All I've managed to do are a few hoodies here and there. However I finallly decided to do something with my old dining set. And by old, I mean it is my parents from some 25 years ago. It was given to me years ago and I kept thinking we'd get something else but then other things that I'd rather have kept popping up and we talked about moving at one point so I didn't want to get something that might not fit the new space.

Anyways, this set is completely not my style and I am shocked that I have had it so long and not done anything to it.  If I had known that I would own it for so long, I really would have done something years ago.

Anyways, here is what I am doing right now.  Painting all the chairs a turquoisy blue (this is the same paint I used on the media cabinet I did awhile back so it was free!)

  A vast improvement if I do say so myself.  Here are the before photos of the table (please excuse the mess, the very old rug etc. - it's all a bit embarrassing that this is what a corner of our living/dining area looks like).

 A shot of the hutch (it has been empty since we moved it out for the kiddos parties because I knew I was going to do something with it soon)

And here is the inspiration photos I found that made me finally decide to do something about my table/hutch/chairs.  The final product will be slightly different as I think I am going to stain the table top a dark espresso color (since we have a brown couch in the same room as our set) and I think the hutch and table legs will be painted black and have that "Pottery Barn" distressed finish on them. I also am debating if I will make or buy chair cushions so for awhile I would assume that we won't have any.  And I am hoping to buy a colorful striped rug from IKEA that ties in all the colors of my room.  We'll see. 

Keep posted for the final photos.  I still haven't finished the chairs (I can only work at night on this and it's been too hot!) and I know the table and hutch will take awhile to complete too.

Finished!

I know. I know.  It's been awhile since my last post...I'm always full of excuses but in all fairness Sept through Dec are always busy!

Anyways, if you remember my last post about the media center, I am now finished with it!  Woo hoo!

Here is the before again:

And the after!  I painted it a tealish kind of color and then used a brown glaze over it.   Very different, right?  I personally am loving it!

I used all the original hardware and just spray painted them with an oiled bronze paint.

 And because I thought the original screens were a bit out dated, I went ahead and replaced it with some aluminum screen sheeting in a much more modern pattern. It also provided a little more coverage so you can't see what is in the cabinet as much.  Still open but less so.  I also spray painted the new screens in the bronze paint.

The before:

 And the after (sorry for such bright lighting!)

 And here it is in the house with the new TV on it.  We actually have the TV centered now since we were able to put the satellite box in it once we drilled holes but as usual I'm too lazy to get a good pic.  Maybe once the whole living room is complete (more artwork, hopefully new floors in a few months), I'll take a better pic.

Refinishing a Cedar Chest - Done!!

I finally finished the cedar chest I started oh so long ago (see here for a refresher). Here are the final pics.

It's red! With a brown glaze to accentuate the detailed molding. It was funny b/c when I first painted it, the color in the can looks hot pink and I was worried that somehow the oops paint I got was not red. But it dried into this nice dark red. Darren of course thinks it borders on Aggie maroon and was thrilled. Me, being a longhorn albeit a 2%er, was not thrilled with this being called "maroon" or "Aggie" anything. But I still like it!

Side view.

Inside! The front compartment was completely sanded down to nice cedar but the 2 back compartments had a felt of some sort that was glued in and looked old and grungy. So I bought some foam board, cut it to size, covered it in some upscale brown/white zebra print and voile! A modern and stylish cedar chest. Note: the main area below was untouched after the sanding and is just plain cedar. I could cover it with the same print but decided since it was the bulk of the storage that I would leave it alone.

And in case you were too lazy to click on my link above, here is the reminder of what the chest looked like (keep in mind this was already after some sanding...it looked nicer than this but was just not my style). This chest looks light years different from where it began.

The inside...see the felt! Ew! My father-in-law sanded off the glue in the front compartment thought but I still decided to cover it for aesthetic reasons.

One more thing knocked off my list! Strangely enough I really want to start looking into refinishing other stuff. Chairs and other things with cool shapes and molding. We'll see!

Ava's Room

I think awhile back I promised to show what Ava's refinished furniture looked like (all of it). Here it is..I tried to clean up her room a bit before I took the photos b/c it never looks this put together.

Vanity & Dresser

Another shot.

Her bed & the Pinkalicious painting. Notice the empty spot on the wall above her bed? I'm busy trying to take care of that now...will post a photo when that is done. I actually was waiting to post these photos once that area was complete but obviously that is taking too long!

And her closet (where most of the clutter ends up). Darren built a nice shelving system in there that holds most of her toys and I was happy he did b/c all of her puzzles and bigger items had no where to go!

New Life

I've had this old patio table (handed down from my mom) for about 7 years now. For the last 4 years it has sat in a corner on our patio collecting junk and looking sad. So we decided in an effort to save money (and put off buying expensive nice patio furniture), we would breathe some new life into and refinish it.

First we sanded it down (and got rid of the stains and cobwebs it had collected over the years) and then we cut off the legs to make it a nice low coffee table.

Here is after sanding/cutting (for some reason I again forgot to take a before pic). This, by the way, is already a vast improvement to what it had looked like.

And after finding a nice chocolate brown paint in the oops! section of Home Depot, painting and varnishing, this little table looks so much better. We paired it with some of our inexpensive, colorful adirondack chairs and it is all set. Next project for the house - we need to clean up the patio and paint the back doors (think they will end up being chocolate brown too as the beige factor back there is very high). Can't wait!

Redoing Vintage Bedroom Furniture - In Progress

Weekend 1 complete on this furniture project. Yeah!! We were able to strip the furniture, sand it and prime it. We accomplished a lot more than I thought we would in those few days and I am thankful to my in-laws & hubby for their help (both with the furniture & babysitting our daughter) so that we can work on this.

We will still have to go down to Conroe to work another weekend (at least) to finish the project but I am already pleased with the results thus far.

Furniture after stripping the varnish off:
Rudy, hard at work with the paint gun:

Me, working...and not looking my best!

After being primed:

Redoing Vintage Bedroom Furniture - Before

Here is the second furniture refinishing project I am working on. Once again, I enlisted help from my father-in-law, Rudy, to help with this project. My mother-in-law, Jeanie, has had this bedroom set since she was a girl and we are redoing it for Ava's big girl room.

Eventually it will be white, but here are the before photos. We had to strip off the varnish, sand them, prime them and then we will paint them.

Chest of drawers:

Headboard & Footboard:

Stool:

Vanity:

Top of vanity (that holds mirror):

I love the way this vintage furniture looks...fairly simple yet will be perfect for a little girl's room. Still trying to decide if I am going to use the vintage hardware or not. Leaning towards yes because I love the little doorknocker style and the floral design on the knobs. Just wondering if I should paint them hot pink to be a little girly/funky or if I should just do them a bronze or black or something more neutral.

Refinishing a Cedar Chest - In Progress

I've had my mom's old cedar chest in my garage for a few years now..waiting to be re-done. She hand painted it awhile back and though it is really nice, it is just not my style.

So finally I started working on it this weekend with the help of my father-in-law who has some experience at this. It's hard to find time when you stay at home with your almost 3 year old and have many other home projects that need to come first. But I'm happy we at least starting working on it.

The original plan was to strip the paint off the chest and then repaint it but then I decided that since I am not staining it, I would just sand, prime and paint it. Step one -sand!

Here is the chest after some sanding on the outside (I forgot to take a before-- oops!)

The inside of the top drawer - before (note the felt/paper stuck with strong glue in there...not coming off)

Here is the after of the drawer (this is all my father-in-law, Rudy; I tried my best but did not have the power/patience to get it all off):

And the inside bottom of the chest - before (notice the spots and wear on the cedar):

And the after: (amazing what a sander, sandpaper, and a handy man will do for you!):

Hopefully I'll get started on priming it soon but that all depends on if I can lug this thing outside by myself while A is at school. Stay tuned!