Round Aqua Table

Shortly after we moved to the Seattle area, a co-worker of my husband’s offered to give us “a table” they were no longer using.  All I knew was that it was FREE, and that definitely caught my interest!  It gave me the courage to drive into Seattle BY MYSELF, and that was a pretty big deal for me!

I have to admit…I wasn’t all that thrilled with it at first sight.  In part that was because in my head, I was expecting a dining table…and it wasn’t that!  Second, it was super big and chunky, and it had some funky white knobs that I didn’t think looked too great against the wood (photo taken after I removed the knobs).

It took me MONTHS to tackle this project—but when I did, I finally fell in love with this little table!

I used some aqua paint leftover from painting my oldest daughter’s room (75% Belize by SW).  Suddenly the table because fun and funky, and the white china knobs (from Japan!) were a perfect fit!

Oh, how I love how paint can transform a piece!  This table has two adjustable side shelves, and then those knobs are on large cupboard doors for hidden storage.

I think round tables are so fun—they are so nice to put in a corner and break up a room of “square,” or this could be such a fun nightstand!

 

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Linking up here:

The Inspiration Exchange	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
Friday Remodelaholic	The Scoop!
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off Miss Mustard Seed
Beyond the Picket Fence	Coastal Charm
Knick of Time	Domestically Speaking
Perfectly Imperfect	No Minimalist Here
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	Mod Vintage Life A Little Knick Knack

Plugging away

It may seem as if my furniture projects have ground to a halt lately, but that’s not exactly true! There are actually a few I’ve been working on, but for various reasons they aren’t quite ready to show off yet. I have slowed down, though—while most of the summer has been unusually mild, the last couple of weeks have been unseasonably HOT! Blechh. I don’t like to sweat! Then I managed to catch a summer cold (that’s got to be an oxymoron), so I’m moving slowly.

One project that went home to a new owner this week was this little table. I’m not certain when this finish was wildly popular, but it wasn’t that long ago!

The owner wanted the dark-top-white-bottom look instead, and I was happy to oblige.

The top was stained with Minwax Antique Walnut stain (3 coats). The base is Behr Ultra paint (color-matched to Sherwin-Williams Creamy), and it is glazed with Minwax Jacobean stain mixed with Martha Stewart glaze.

I really did intend to “stage” the table and take prettier pictures! It turned out getting my hair highlighted (a first for me) took much longer than I anticipated, so there wasn’t time before the owner came to get the table!

So just a couple of shots in my mostly-bare front room.

Thank you

to all of you who have offered constructive ideas for what to do with that bare room! I do think I’m going to attempt the “library-feel” one more time. It probably wasn’t clear that my front door really does open directly into this room—there’s no entry way, and no way to section it off, so a craft room or game room is not an option for me. And I’m afraid knocking out the wall between the front room and our main living area is out of the question—it’s a load-bearing wall, and my construction-minded friends tell me I don’t want to go there!

A couple of you reminded me of the beautiful tiny library space at Maillardville Manor:

…sigh…

I love it. I think this is the kind of look I want to create! I envision the low bookcases and two comfortable chairs on the wall opposite the front door. Next to the front door is the one and only window in the room, and I think a squashy loveseat would be nice there, facing the chairs.

So to begin with, I am scouring the classifieds for a loveseat and chairs! Wish me luck!

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Linking up here.

Pottery-Barn-esque Side Table

I picked up this little side table at Deseret Industries a couple of weeks ago. It is solid wood, but the details on the front and back are what really caught my eye.

See?

I put my right-hand-boy to work sanding the top down to bare wood. I like my children to be useful as well as ornamental!

I pulled out the spray paint for this project...it was just handier. The bottom got coated in Rustoleum's Heirloom White. The top got multiple coats of stain and sealer...first I used Minwax English Chestnut, because although I wanted a darker top, I think walnut on pine wood goes kind of....flat. It's just bleeaaaahhhh! But if I use the English Chestnut first, it seems to warm up the color a little...then I put on a coat of walnut stain. For good measure, I then sealed it with Minwax Polyshades, also in Antique Walnut. It's still not my most-favorite product, but it has its uses, like on this table.

So it's better, right? But obviously it needs a little sumpin' to make those details pop...

...So I glazed it with the Polyshades. Never tried that before, but it worked great!

Look at me now!

Love how the top turned out!

I think it looks very Pottery-Barn-esque...what do you think?