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 It was in pretty good shape, just dirty and outdated.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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DIY Chevron Rug

YES, you CAN paint a pile rug!


Here is my slightly boring family room. I'll be the first one to say I don't like color. I like clean lines, natural light, and neutrals. I do have a constant fear planted in my head by my good friend Ashli, though. I'm constantly afraid of looking too "old lady", so I decided to shake things up. I needed some pattern in this room.

Plus, the old, dirty, hand-me-down rug was starting to curl from my constant vacuum cleaner abuse. A couple of the edges had been pre-chewed by my brother's puppy when he owned it, and our coffee table never lined up with the border (which drove the perfectionist inside me nuts!).

 A DIY chevron rug is nothing new. I first saw the idea at Tatertots and Jello. Although, I've spent the last week searching online and I couldn't find this technique used on a pile-type carpet, always on a woven rug. I wanted something a little more formal, and cheap, so I headed over to my local Wally World and found this.

4 1/2 ft by 5 ft + short pile +  right color = $20 = PERFECT! $20 is the right price for an experiment.

I almost forgot to get a photo of the first step, so ignore the diagonal lines up top. I started by diving my rug vertically into 4 equal sections. How many sections determines how often the pattern will repeat across.

I got a lot of inspiration watching this video on YouTube

Next, I decided how steep I wanted my zig-zags. I measured that distance from the edge of the rug, marked it, and placed the tape diagonally between the next section and the mark. 

Then, using a square and an Exacto knife, I trimmed off the excess tape, creating clean points.

 I then just measured how tall I wanted my stripes to be, marked on the tape, and connected one point to the next.This is how it looked after all my excess tape was trimmed off. I chose to make my colored stripes 6" wide and my neutral stripes 4" wide. I walked all over my tape to make sure it was REALLY stuck well to all the little fibers.

I also covered the binding edge of the rug. I did this for two reasons. 1. I thought a clean edge would look more "store-bought" and 2. It protected my floor from stray paint.

In a separate container I mixed flat, latex paint with textile medium. The medium is supposed to keep the paint from getting stiff. The bottle says mix 2 parts paint: 1 part medium. I bought all 3 bottles they had at the store, but I really could have used more. I ended up using about half a quart of paint and my ratio was more like 4:1.

With your paint- textile medium mixture, use a stiff bristle brush and pounce your brains out. I didn't get a photo of this step because I thought it was pretty self explanatory  Color inside the lines. This step took me a good while, maybe a couple hrs. And my arm felt like it was going to fall off.

I didn't try a foam brush, but I don't think it would have been great in this situation. You REALLY have to work the fibers to get the paint down in the pile and I would be concerned with the foam brush causing paint to ooze under the tape line. I used a semi-dry brush whenever I was close to the tape. 

*WARNING- this will RUIN your brush. Just use a cheapy. I bet a couple chip brushes would do the job. Just make sure to really work the paint 'up and down' and 'back and forth'. Pull off the tape as soon as you finish. I used masking tape instead of painters tape and it worked great! No bleeding at all!

After letting the paint dry 24 hrs it was pretty crunchy. I think even if I used the proper amount of textile medium it would have been better, but still crunchy. I read the suggestion to use an electric sander on it.

Worked like a champ! I used 100 grit and made sure not to press too hard and take off all my hard work. It's still not as soft as the other sections, but not bad.

 Time to roll it out!

If I were to do it again, I would probably do 5 sections instead of 4. I didn't realize until the tape was off that I had just created a huge "W". Oh well, I don't think anyone would see that but me, plus, it's under a coffee table. 

 I SO glad I didn't paint the binding! I think most people would never know this rug had been painted. I LOVE the chevron pattern! It brought just the amount of young-ness the room needed.

I'm not sure about the color yet. It looks okay in the day light, but at night it looks almost baby-blue. I wanted to get close to the wall color without matching it exactly. I was going for more of a "steel" and less "country". I don't know. It coordinates really well with the rest of the room.What do you think? Maybe I'm just being a color baby?

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