Industrial Numbered Crate

After I refinished my table and got my industrial chairs I needed something on the table to tie the whole "Industrial Farmhouse" look I was going for. I planed on just constructing a planked, wood top but then I found another great, heavy-duty farmhouse table for dirt cheap at a yard sale. Now, my thoughts are to sell the original table with the matching chairs and just make my own table from the newly found, yard sale table. Anyways, I digress...

So, in the meantime, I need something to A. Tie the styles together and B. Create some height (we had a counter-height table before this one, so even though its standard height, it looks too short to us now).

Using some leftover 1/2 in plywood from another project and my table saw, I came up with this.

To make the stencil for the numbers, I simply printed the numbers on some cardstock and cut them out with an exacto knife. To get the cardstock to stay in place while pouncing the paint on, I lightly sprayed some spray adhesive on the back of each stencil and made sure to really rub the stencil into place. Worked great. No bleeds.

To make it look authentically old, I distressed the wood a bit. I planed the corners to make them look worn, and just went to town banging my hammer all over the thing.

For the finish, I started by staining the whole piece Antique Walnut and let it dry overnight. Next, I brushed on a layer of Antique Crackle from the Old Fashioned Milk Paint company. I didn't want uniform crackling  so I brushed it sparsely in some areas, heavily in others (the heavier you apply the crackle medium, the larger the cracks). I also rubbed a little Vaseline around the handle holes and on the corners. Next, the whole thing got brushed with one coat of a creamy white "oops" latex paint. While it was still wet, I used a rag to wipe off some of the edges. I think distressed the paint much more natural-looking than using sand paper.

I braided 6 strands of jute together to make handles.

(LOVE the natural- looking chippyness)

I decided it needed some hardware to look more tough, so I grabbed some small L brackets. The color choices at Home Depot were brass, shiny zinc, and black. I wanted more of an iron color, so I bought the zinc ones and got creative layering bronze spray paint and black, sprayable window tint. I love the way they turned out! I will be using this technique again.

In each section, I placed a half-gallon mason jar and some faux grass. I had originally planned on dying my jars light blue, but then liked the lightness the clear glass gave. We'll see, maybe I'll end up dying them anyways.

Here's how it looks, in place with my new table and chairs. What do you think? I think it looks old and authentic. It's just what I wanted!

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My Kitchen Table: Before and After...and After

The husband has a friend whose wife we love to quote. She...well, I guess you could say has a chronic case of "foot-in-mouth" disease. I could make you laugh for a while repeating some of the one-liners we have from her, but that's not what you're here for.

One of our favorites has been running through my head the last couple of days. In defending herself from feeling stuck-up and materialistic, she proclaimed "I'm not stuck-up, I just like nice things." Oh that's all?! I must just like crappy stuff I guess.

My love for crappy stuff was VERY apparent in our kitchen table for the past, long while. We bought it used 6 years ago and time has not been kind. It was counter-height and esspresso- all the rage 6 years ago! I've been wanting a table we can seat more than just our little family at for a long time, plus, I was really over this beat up thing. The only photo I could find was the "mugshot looking" craigslist photo I took before I kissed it goodbye.

(I stole the other 2 chairs to replace the gross barstools)

After patiently looking on Craigslist I found this table and 4 chairs for $70! It was in pretty good shape, just dirty and outdated.

Although it has room for 6, and a leaf to allow 2 more seats, sadly it only came with 4 chairs. At least it had enough butt-space for us until I came up with a better solution.

First step was to lose the yellow-stained wood and give the base a new coat of paint. I sprayed a custom mixed, bone colored latex over the frame of the chairs and table. The top of the table and seats I had to use something special. There was NO WAY I was going to strip and sand those contoured seat tops! So, I decided to use PolyShades.

PolyShades is basically a oil-based, tinted polyurethane. It's sold alongside the stain, but it's not really a stain. I've used it before and it's not my favorite product, but it doesn't have one awesome quality. It can be applied over an existing finish! Yes, that means you don't have to strip down to the bare wood to be able to darken the stain! It is translucent, so the surface needs to be in decent condition, otherwise the defects will still show through. And, It may require 3-4 coats to get the color intensity on darker colors. My local store doesn't carry the "Tudor" color, so I had to make do with Bombay Mahogany with a fair amount of Raw Umber universal tint mixed in. It still was a bit too red.

Another thing to keep in mind, the label claims "Color and top coat in one finish". Although that technically may be true, I would ALWAYS recommend a couple additional coats of a protectant. The reason being, the color is in the finish, so if you scratch your finish, it takes off the color in that spot and you can see the previous color underneath. A couple layers of clear coat protect the color.

After everything was sealed with 3 coats of PAS, here was the first "After".

(look at those sexy legs!)

It's pretty...but that's the problem. It's too pretty for me. (Remember I like crappy stuff?) Plus, I'm still trying to "de-old lady" the place, and the matching table/ chair combo wasn't helping with that. That's where these 2 large boxes come into play. I came home today to find these beauties on my door step! I can't tell you how excited I am!

Let me start by saying that I have not bought a single piece of new furniture or home decor in 6 years! Honestly. I'm thinking about it and sure, I've got some "new to me" pieces that I love but until today, I have not had anything new in my house since I've been married (when we splurged and bought the slouchy, $600 Ashley sofa set, and $40 Target bookshelf you see in my house today). I either built or inherited everything else. In fact, I don't think I ever had a piece of new furniture growing up. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with used stuff! In fact, I love the patina and age you sometimes get on old pieces that new can never reproduce. Plus, like they say "they don't build things like they used to".

But I have been dreaming of Tabouret chairs for it seems like forever. These chairs to be specific.

I also have been saving my pennies and shopping around for what seems like forever. Last weekend was finally the time! I flanked out $440 for 8 Tabouret Stacking Chairs in "Vintage". I only needed 6, but they only come in groups of 4 (bummer). So I ordered to sets and listed the 2 spares on craigslist. I love when they are paired with a farmhouse table. I like the look of the World Market tub chairs better but for half the price, I went with Overstock's version. Maybe, one day I'll be brave and paint them a bright, glossy color.

I saddled them up to the table and here is the second "After".

(Ignore the odd green color in the photo. They are definitely gunmetal color)

My husband hates them, and I'm pretty sure most people will. I guess they don't have "the vision" ha ha. The table top is all wrong. I need something rustic, something planked, to work with the whole modern-farmhouse look I'm going for. I've got big plans for that soon.

What do you think of my new chairs and new-ish table? Either way, I love them.

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Target Mirror Hack: DIY $18 Mirror

In my quest to"de-old-lady" my family room, I decided to try a project I had been dreaming up for a while. I saw this mirror online through Target and fell in love. I love the traditional style, and how it almost looks like a recycled window.

source

  I wanted something a little larger, white and wasn't about to pay $69.99. You know you're cheap when you decide to knock-off something from Target! 

I started with 6, Dollar Store mirrors and a piece of 1/4 in plywood a had lying around. You can make this same mirror any size or configuration you'd like. I have plans to make a large, 15 panel one for my living room soon. You don't have to use plywood. Any lightweight, stiff surface, slightly larger than the mirrors put together would work.

First, I had to pull the mirrors apart. They came in a cheap, plastic frame that was easy to pull apart, exposing just the glass mirror. Then, start by using a square to draw a straight line, horizontally across my plywood. 

I then lined up 3 mirrors across, with a strip of small moulding between them and measured to get my width. I then cut a piece of my small trim that length, centered it on my line and glued it to the wood.

The moulding I used was about 5/8 in wide and similar to "half-round" but flat on the top. You can see my "fancy clamping system" I used to hold the moulding down while it dried.

Next, starting on the right edge of my center moulding, I laid down a good amount of wood glue. I used wood glue because the mirrors I used were pretty lightweight and honestly, it's what I had. It worked great! But next time, I plan on using Liquid Nails, just to be safe. 

Then alternate, mirror, trim, mirror, trim, mirror, moving across the wood, keeping everything tight against the center moulding. 

Repeat the same process on the other side of the moulding and "clamp" everything down to dry.

After drying for several hours, it was time to add the casing to create a frame. Measuring was easy. I just held a piece of moulding up to the edge of the mirror and using a pencil, ascribed a little mark on the outside edges, giving me my exact width. Then when I went to use my miter saw, I just used those marks as my short point and cut a 45 degree angle. 

Using more wood glue, I attached my frame and weighed it down with some more cans to let dry.

I let everything dry over night. The next day I filled all my gaps with caulk. Notice the area where the pieces of small moulding line up? Because of the curved edges, it left a ridge. 

I simply filled and smoothed the area with some caulk and it blended the two pieces beautifully.

Next step was to paint. I started by haphazardly brushing on some tan, latex paint I had in the garage.

Then I brushed on some silver acrylic paint, randomly.

Lastly, I coated the entire frame and trim with one coat of a creamy, white, latex paint.

I then distresses the edges with some 100 grit sandpaper to bring through the other colors a bit.

I sealed everything with 2 coats of PAS and I was done! 

I like the look of it leaning on top of the bookshelf, but I also bought some picture hanging wire and hooks in case I decide to hang it on the wall sometime down the road. 

What do you think? It's large (approx. 2.5 ft x 3 ft ) and the perfect style to update my family room. Not bad, for around $18!

Piece of 1/4in plywood = FREE (on hand)
6 Dollar Store mirrors = $6
12 ft of door casing @ $0.68/ft = $8.16
7 ft of small trim @ $0.54/ft = $3.78
Paint, caulk, glue = FREE (on hand)

TOTAL: $17.94



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