Table drama

Who knew that a coffee table could cause such drama in this house?

Trust there was almost a murder here last week.

But let's start from the beginning.

There was a table on craigslist that I just had to have.

It had great bones, but the beige and gold had to go.

Not to mention how bad the top was.

Lesson #1 learned from this table drama

In doing this table I learned that when you have white water stains, they can be removed by a white tshirt laid on top and then a hot iron.

Out like a charm!

I tried to take pictures but they just wouldn't show the results. But trust me it works! It didn't even take of the finish!

Lesson #2

Do NOT use a circular sander to sand a wood top.

Sand WITH the grain!

As a result you will have millions of little scratches all over the top. It will look like little mice just ice skated all over the top of your table.

 Lesson #3

Learn to bring in reinforcements.

At this point I emailed my new friend Christa at Stories of a House. This girl knows her stuff! And Christa was so sweet and kind to walk me through all the steps to get this table to its true beauty.

Lesson #4

Do NOT try to avoid stripping the table when you know it is inevitable.

There was a scratch on this table that I tried my darndest to get out. Unfortunately that meant that I over sanded a part of the wood.

The ONLY cure for this was to strip the table.

 If I just stripped it from the beginning, I would have saved myself a weekend of work.

Once it was stripped and started to stain, it looked beautiful!

Once it was all stained, I put on the Poly. Christa mentioned once the poly has cured for 7 days to do a techique called wet sanding. Which is starting with 400 grit sandpaper wetting it with soapy water and then sanding it down. Then move up to 600 grit paper, then repeat with 800 grit. You can go all the way up to 2000 grit, but I was good with going to 800 grit.

After all the sanding you are to rub on some rubbing compound.

I did this and I couldn't get the top to not look cloudy.

Then last week I got sick.

Which brings me to...

Lesson #5 When divorce isn't an option...Murder could be.

I could barely breathe and felt like crud so I went to bed early.

Mr. Genius thought it to be a nice gesture by seeing what he could do to the table to help it get finished.

I told him to lightly sand with the 800 grit sand paper and make sure to wet it so it wouldn't scratch up the top too much.

After some time I went downstairs to take some medicine and went out to the garage to check on his progress.

The first thing out of Mr. Genius' mouth was "This 80 grit sand paper is really scratching up the top."

Me "Wait, you mean 800 grit...right."

Mr. Genius, "We don't have 800 grit, I used 80 grit."

Yep he really used 80 grit instead of 800.

The picture is blurry, due to my angry shaky hands.

Now for my final lesson.

Lesson #6 God's gifts come in mysterious packages.

Mr. Genius' gift that night was the fact that I couldn't breathe.

You see there is this one thing that you need to do in order to talk...breathe.

When you can't breathe you can't talk.

I am sure you see where I am going with this.

There were many words...that were not Godly, encouraging, or uplifting by any means that were going through my head to say to my husband right then, but I couldn't say a one of them.

Now body language says a lot my friends.

All I did was pick up the 800 grit sand paper...that was right on top of the other sand paper... and proceeded to throw it at him.

See...a gift. My not breathing was a gift.

After this fiasco, we had to restrip the table, then restain it, then repoly it. I say we, but Mr. Genius really did it all. Looking up the table brought up too much anger in me.

Which may be why I painted the next table red.

So with all of that. Here is the table that brought so much drama to our house.

 The top now looks great!

 Here is the before again.

 And now the after.

 I am so glad that this project is over with.

Now to just sell it so I don't have to look at it anymore.

Red accent or entry table

I have heard it said that every room could use a little red.

I love red, well I use to LOVE red.

Everything was red.

It was a little overwhelming. I had a red dining room, red and gold bedroom, heck my boys nursery was (is) red, black, and tan. So I still do LOVE red, but I love it better now when it is just a little punch of red.

A punch of red makes it more special.

I found this table and it was in bad shape. It must have been left out in the rain or maybe they had a 4 year old that like to just pour water all over it periodically throughout the day... everyday for a year or so.

In other words, I will have some tables that will be in this condition in a little while.

So here is what she looked like before.

Just a sad simple table. I had already started sanding down the wavy top.

Then I primed and spray painted with some candy apple spray paint.

Holy Cow that is bright!

Next I got some Ralph Lauren glaze that I already had tinted "tea stain" and put some in a cup and then mixed in some graphite paint with it.

Just mixed it together and then brushed it on then wiped it off.


I have to say I REALLY like how it turned out.

See? Just a perfect punch a red to a room.

The red makes the details on the side pop out. I didn't even notice it before.

I got the handles at Hobby Lobby.

So go forth and make a punch of red in your room. You will love it!

I am posting to these parties.

I am also selling this table for $60 Chicagolanders!

Curly Q Designs Winner!

To find out the winner go to my giveaway page

HERE

How to paint a mirror frame...Impatient style

I can BREATHE!!

Breathing is such a wonderful thing, I didn't realize how much I love it until I couldn't do it.

Thank you all for your sweet comments!

Remember to wear your masks people!

Your sinuses will thank you.


Now I want to show you how this impatient girl paints a mirror frame.

Remember the mirror that came with the bedroom suite I just painted?

When it came time to paint it, I reached for the painters tape and I was just NOT IN THE MOOD to put on painters tape.

I wonder what color that would be on a mood ring?


You know what I mean, you wanna do the project but not the work to actually do it.

I am not only impatient, but I am lazy.

It is a bad combination.

I was just frustrated because when I have painted frames before that I could never get the painters tape just right under the mirror. There would always be a couple of spots where either the tape went up on the frame or was a little too far away from the mirror. Which resulted in paint in the mirror at some point or not on the frame.

Either way, I was frustrated.

So I decided to just paint the mirror!

I made sure that all the frame was painted, even the part that is right next to the mirror.

Then after I glazed it and let it all dry, I got my handy dandy razor blade out.

Then in a lot less time that it would have took to put down painters tape, I scraped that paint away.

And it worked beautifully!

So next time you are going to paint a mirror frame, put away that painters tape and pick up that razor blade!

Turns out I am not invincible

Lately I have been doing a lot of projects.

I have been doing a lot of this.

and this...

and I HAVE NOT been wearing one of these...

As a result today I feel like this...

Have been doing A LOT of this...

and even this...

That would be a Neti Pot people. And usually this has been my lifesaver. I have been able to stop taking allergy medicine because of it.

But today....it is not working for me.

I am so congested that when I poured the neti pot water in one side...NOTHING came out the other. So I have a gallon of water stuck in my head at the moment.

Now don't you feel better knowing that little tidbit about me? :)

So people PLEASE learn from my stupidity.

Wear a mask while sanding and spray painting or you too will have a ocean in your sinus cavity.

***************

Now I also wanted to thank everyone who told me what my junk find cabinet from last week.

Without you guys I would have never known what a barrister/lawyers bookcase.

You all are the bomb!

Thank you!

Since you all are so awesome I have another question for you.

A while back I showed you that I got this desk for free from Craigslist.

I think I am finally ready to do something with this desk. The problem that the top of the middle drawer has been sliced off.

Where there is usually a lip from the cabinet front to the drawer it is flat.

I put my finger there to try and show where it is flat.

Is there something out there that can help me form or mold a lip on this drawer?

Can't wait to hear what you all have for me with this...although I am a little more excited about breathing out of my nose again.

Curly Q Designs Giveaway

To find out about this giveaway go to my giveaway page

HERE

New Bedroom Suite

Remember when I showed you the desk I got off of Craigslist?

Well when I got that desk I also got a dresser, nightstand and mirror. 

Oops I forgot to take a picture before I took off the hardware. 

BAD Blogger, Bad!

I also forgot to take a picture of the mirror too!! 

Here is a picture of the handles AFTER I spray painted them silver.

 

I am losing my blogging-before-pictures MOJO people!!

I decided to go with white, since I have the never ending can of white paint.

Then I glazed the pieces.

TADA!

To me these pieces look pretty girly. Maybe it is because I am itching to do something girly, but I just do not see these pieces in a little boys room. 

And since I have already shown you a sneak peak, you know that I used some pink.

This will be the first time I have bought something pink to do any decorating!

It was a big day people!

I wasn't sure what kind of pink I should go with when I went to the store.

When I went to the spray paint aisle and I saw a pink can called Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea was my dad's nick name for me. 

My decision was made. 

I do believe I got a little emotional about the Sweet Pea cans, cuz I ended up buying 4 cans. 

I used 1 and a half cans.

 I do foresee some pink decorations in my household.

With the pink I spray painted the drawers.

Then I found this wrapping paper that was pink and brown and frenchy. 

PERFECT!

I sprayed down some adhesive, cut the paper to size and now I have a cute liner!

The bottom drawers are actually 2 drawers in one.

Which is perfect to hold all the million sweaters you need up here in the next couple of months!

One of the top drawers has a jewerly holder.

 How cute is that?

I was even able to save the Bassett emblem.

The nightstand is my favorite.

 

This was such a fun project for me and it went really fast! 

For the record, I had every intention of taking the pictures of the finished product outside, since it has been so pretty the past couple of days.

Unfortunately I didn't consult with the weather forecast when I made this decision because it was dark and rainy ALL DAY!

Which is why the pictures are so dark. 

Anyways, all you Chicagolanders I am selling the set for $350. 

Let me know.

I am posting to these parties. 

Have a great weekend!

A winner and my new schedule

To find out about the winner of the giveaway please go to my giveaway page

HERE

Janey Mac Giveaway

To find out about the giveaway go to my giveaway page.

HERE

A redone cabinet and a question

One morning I was out for my morning walk and I noticed that one of the houses have some junk at the end of their driveway for the garbage to pick up.

Yeah, I have no pride. I dig through my neighbors garbage.

Is there a support group for people like me?

Or better yet...one for our husbands?

One of the items in this neighbors pile was this neat little cabinet that just had a door broken off.

I was about a mile from my house.

I seriously contemplated carrying this thing home, for fear some one else would take it.

I actually picked it up and walked down two houses carrying it. Then I decided to leave it.

Actually the weird looks I got from two cars passing by changed my mind.

So I hurried home, stuck the boys in the van with their pjs on and got that cabinet.

All the glass was in tack, but of course I dropped the loose door and the glass shattered.

DANG IT!

Well the good news I got the meet a new neighbor and clean up their driveway. Unfortunately she was in a heated conversation with her husband on the phone, so she didn't see too much humor from my accidentally breaking glass in her driveway.

I will be sure to skip that house on the next neighborhood garage sale.

When I finally got home and pulled the cabinet out of the van. Mr. Genius was all, "you were worried about someone else grabbing this?! I think you would have been safe if you wanted to atleast get the boys dressed."

Whatever Mr. Logic. Where is the fun in that?!

Once the boys went down for their nap I got to have some fun with some hammers and relieve some frusterations.

First I got my rubber mallet and loosened the cabinet to get the other two doors out.

Then I got a regular hammer (thats the techinical name) to break the glass in the doors that I didn't already break.

Aren't you suppose to learn alot about people just from looking at their trash? I guess you can say we eat Spinach, drink vitamin water, and now like to break glass. Sorry we aren't very interesting people.

But it sure is fun to break some glass.

Then I painted the cabinet white.

Once that dried I got the smallest dowl rod that Home Depot offered and and used my gorilla wood glue to glue the rods into the doors.

I put on some beadboard wallpaper on the back and painted it my new fav Halycon green.

Then I glued on some chicken wire in place of the glass.

And WaLa, we have a new cabinet!!

Oh and I spray painted the knobs silver. Remember when I spray painted the side table in my den silver and I hated it? Well the not bright silver works great with this cabinet.

I think it looks like an old almost antique cabinet.

I will be putting this lady onto Craiglist.

But here is my question.

What do I call this thing?

Is it just a cabinet with sliding doors?

A pie safe?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

And as always, any Chicagolanders let me know if you would like it. I am asking $60.

I am linking to these parties.