The Table is DONE!

The table is finally complete, well almost...

It is as complete as we need it to be for now:

Those notches you see on the underside are for the extensions we made.  This is the part that is nearly complete, but not quite.  I haven't put the protective coat on the extensions yet - but here is what they will look like....just imagine them a bit shinier and one on each end:

 

And, I couldn't resist decorating the table a bit.  

We need a different rug, and the light fixture needs to be lowered and the center piece will probably change as I have a vision of a vase with white branches and ornaments, and we need curtains and a couple more chairs for the ends and the walls need to be painted and decorated.....but that is all beside the point - WE HAVE A FINISHED TABLE! ONE THAT I AM PRETTY DANG PROUD OF!!! Thanks Collin, for the help building it!

Oh, and I can't forget.  The chairs were a craigslist find, that I painted white.  I would like two more parson chairs for each end of the table - maybe Santa will bring them to me ;)

Speaking of Christmas, I also started decorating a bit early this year.  We will be out of town for Thanksgiving and I'd like the house to be in the Christmas spirit when we return!

That white thing is the top of my parents old pantry doors.  I painted it white and we'll use it to put the Christmas cards on once they start rolling in.  

I love this time of year, and I can't wait to kick off the Holiday Season with Thanksgiving back home this week!

Another Table Update

We have ourselves a completely assembled table, plus two extensions.  

 

It even passed the stability test!

Next up, sanding and then picking the perfect color of stain. 

Table Progress

We purchased the supplies

Reviewed the plans and read directions for new tools

 

Cut all the wood

 

Carved out some notches (who knew that saw dust created "sparkly" photos?)

Started assembling

Sanded the notches for a more accurate fit once the frame was assembled

Played some baseball with the parking tennis balls

 

And ended up with a tabletop that is ready for the legs

Next weekend we will finish the assembly of the table by adding legs and making the extensions. 

Building Day!

Today, my brother and I (and maybe the husband will even help too!) are going to try our hand at my very first building project.  I'm going to build us a new farmhouse style dining room table! 

Here are the plans I created for our custom sized table.  Cross your fingers I did all the math right!

I'll be back in a few days to let you know how it went.

**disclaimer: measurements ended up being off, as the wood measurements were not 1/2" shorter like I had anticipated.  If following these plans, take actual wood measurements vs. store labeled measurements in to consideration. 

Eagles are cool..

When you see them flying through the sky - not when you see them as handles on a dresser. 

(once again, I forgot to take a true before picture.  bottom row from LtoR: doors for the bottom, close up of handles, drawer for the top.)

I transformed that old dirty thing in to this...

 

There isn't a step by step with this one - mostly because I forgot to take pictures every step of the way.  But the gist is that we sanded it down, cleaned it up, redid the doors to have glass in them, did the prime paint and seal routine, added new knobs and brought it upstairs to the dining room.  Now it houses the dishes we got 3 years ago for our wedding that we never had a place to store.  In fact, we didn't take them out of their boxes until earlier this month when we hosted our first large dinner.  

This was the first step to our dining room progress.  As most rooms, the progress in this one will be very slow.  But, my vision looks a little something like this:

Why I love DIY

I was browsing  online today, creating a Christmas wish list, when I came across this table from West Elm

 

It is going for $200!  I made my tree stump table for free - the wood was free and I had the rest of the supplies on hand.  This is why I love DIY projects, I saved myself $200!  

Tree Stump Table

When Dan came home with a truckload of wood, ready to be chopped up in to firewood, he couldn't get out his chainsaw and axe fast enough.  I, on the other hand, made sure he didn't touch any of the big stumps because I wanted one. Went a little something like this:

Dan: Look at all of this firewood, where's my axe? I don't have an axe - I need to go get an axe!
Brittney: don't touch the big pieces, I want one of those
Dan: This is a man's job, you aren't chopping wood, especially not a big piece
Brittney: I want to make a table
Dan: You want what?
Brittney: to make a table
Dan: I need an axe...chopping wood makes me feel manly....a table? really?
Brittney: set aside all the big stumps so I can pick my table
Dan: *chop, chop, chop* gosh I'm manly, I should be a lumber jack
Brittney: I want this stump for my table, don't chop this stump
Dan: I'm such a man
Brittney: will you move this stump to the front of the garage?
Dan: I'm so manly, of course I will, it's what manly men do
Brittney: Thanks, you're so manly. 

Ever want to get your husband to do something faster?  Tell them how manly it is ;) 

Back to the table...here is the play by play.

1. It started out as a normal tree stump, bark and all.  After you determine the height that you need your table and find the correct tree stump - the first step in the process is to allow the stump to dry out completely.  It sat in our garage for about 2 months, before I went to work on it, giving it plenty of time to dry out. 

2. Remove the bark from the stump.  My manly husband wanted to use his axe on this step, using an axe is really manly, after all :)

3. Convince manly husband that an axe is not needed for this step, smaller tools will do just fine.  Continue to remove all of the bark from the stump.

 

 

Supervisor Paige agrees- the claw of a hammer works perfectly

4. (I forgot to take a picture of this step) Once all the bark is removed, using a medium and fine grit sandpaper, sand the entire stump until it is completely smooth. You should be able to run your hand over the surface and not feel any roughness or hairs.

5. Make sure the stump is level.  My stump wasn't completely level, so my manly man of a husband used his grinder to grind it down and level it.  

(apparently manly men wear socks with sandals ;) )

After it was level, I continued to sand the top to make sure it was completely smooth as well.

6. Wipe down the stump to remove all dust and dirt.  I used tack cloth, but you could use a damp rag as well. 

7. Apply the polyurethane.  I used a semi-gloss finish to give it a little gloss, but you can use whatever finish you desire.  I followed the directions on the polyurethane can for drying times and also gave the stump a light sanding between coats.   I applied 6 coats of polyurethane to the top of the table and 4 coats to the sides. 

8.  Bring the table inside and enjoy the looks of a natural element in your home

While I'm enjoying the natural elements this table brings to our bedroom, Dan continues to search online for more free firewood - nothing says man like chopping wood. If some day, he decides he doesn't want to be a salesman anymore, he aspires to be a lumberjack. 

More Stripes

I love stripes, as you can see here, here and here.  So when our basement TV wall was looking awfully empty and I was looking to spruce it up a budget, I decided to turn to what else than some stripes!

Here is what the basement looked like after installing the new carpet, painting the walls & trim and moving our furniture down there. 

 (yes, I often take photos without cleaning up at all)

In previous rooms, I had fabric hangings on both sides of the TV.  But, I wasn't feeling it for the basement for more than one reason 1) the ceilings are lower and the hangings make them look even lower 2) there are outlets/light switches in the way 3) I was growing tired of looking at them.  

Because the ceilings are low, that limited what could be hung around the TV so the wall didn't appear to be an empty wall with just a TV.  Enter the idea of stripes! 

 

It gives the wall enough visual interest that it doesn't appear empty and boring.  But, it isn't overwhelming to look at, either.  

The process was pretty simple.

First, measure the total height of the wall and decide how many stripes you want to determine how thick each stripe will be.  Then I simply measured and marked with pencil, where each stripe would be.

I chose to draw the entire line, because it was my first time painting wall stripes.  Next time, I'd just leave tick marks and let my eye make the taping line straight.  

After the lines are penciled on, tape off the stripes.  

Once the tape is on, using the same color that the wall currently is, paint over the edge of the tape where the stripe will go.  This creates a seal between the tape and wall, so if any color leaks, it is the base wall color.  

Once that paint is dry, paint the stripes.  It took two coats of the stripe color to get even coverage.  After the 2nd coat, when the paint is still wet, remove the tape to reveal your crisp and clean stripes.

Since I was already working on the basement a bit, I went ahead and added some curtains and wall art (things we already had).  It's amazing what a few things on the walls and some curtains can do.  Even though the room is far from complete, it took the room from feeling barely started to nice and cozy/homey.  

Two Tone Dresser

Dan still has his childhood dressers, they are in great shape structurally, but they had a few nicks and scratches.  Usually I am the initiator of projects around the house, but this project Dan started on before I even knew he was thinking about it!  And that's the reason I don't have any good "before" pictures of the dresser.  Here is what I do have:

the dresser after the sanding started:

 

Dan's initial thoughts were to sand the dresser down to the natural wood and re-stain it a darker color, but unfortunately he got crazy with the sander and sanded too deep in a couple spots, removing the natural grains. 

The solution?

A two tone painted dresser!

 

For the top, I used the same glazing technique I used on the bathroom cabinets.   Three coats of glaze and I had the perfect deep dark wood.  The rest of the dresser was painted white.  The whole piece was finished off with three coats of polyurethane for added protection.  

The last step was adding new hardware, we picked an oil rubbed bronze handle because it goes so nicely with the dark wood on the top.  

For now, the dresser is sitting in our upstairs living room.  This room isn't even near complete, and this probably isn't the permanent home for this dresser, but it works for now!

Like my pretty new chairs and rug?  The chairs were an anniversary gift from the hubs (yup, my husband bought my anniversary gift on craigslist!) and the rug was also a part anniversary gift from my parents! 

As for the accessories on top of the dresser, the mirror was a steal at TJ Maxx and the rest of the items were things I had around the house not being used - I love decorating from my own "store" in the basement!