Farmhouse Table Complete

I've been dying to own a rustic farmhouse table for what seems like forever. I love the charm and rustic appeal they bring to a space. Farmhouse tables are not cheap however. I've seen prices from $600 to upwards of a $1000. That is just not in this girl's budget, especially with 3 kids at private school this year. I've been eyeing DIY plans for one over at Ana White's blog for over a year. Why I waited so long to take the plunge is beyond me. I think I was nervous and I wanted to make sure the hubby was on board. After selling off a bunch of kid stuff this summer during the great summer clean out, I finally had enough money to get the lumber.

Let me just say there is nothing like the smell of fresh cut lumber. We purchased the lumber at one of the big box stores and my husband cut the lumber with his table saw. You can have them cut the lumber for you at the store, but I wanted to make sure we were as accurate as possible so we decided to cut the lumber ourselves. The lumber along with screws, a countersink drill bit, wood glue, wood putty, sand paper, stain and a brush was just under $130. Much more budget friendly.

We used the plans found here minus a couple of modifications (like not using a middle stretcher):  http://ana-white.com/2013/04/plans/happier-homemaker-farmhouse-table . The size was perfect for our smallish space while still giving us plenty of room for the 5 of us to spread out. It took about 2 weeks to build. We started with gluing the end stretchers and letting them sit for 48 hours. We only have 2 large clamps so we had to work in sections.

And yes, we built it in the kitchen. Our garage is too full of other "projects" there just isn't enough space. It ended up working out just fine though.

For the top, I picked out the lumber with the most knots and rustic charm I could find. After we built it, we moved it outside so we could sand and stain. I used a stain and poly in one which I hadn't used before. It went on really well and wasn't as runny as a traditional stain. I chose a Dark Walnut color to match with other pieces I have done in the house. It took 3 coats to achieve the color I was going for. The stain dried relatively quickly and I did end up applying 2 additional coats of wipe-on poly to the top just for added protection from my 3 kids.

I also refinished the farmhouse benches that came with our old table. The tops were in bad shape and were not the right color. The cherry colored top just wasn't working. I bought more lumber and built the new tops. Here's a before:

And here's an after (before I painted the bases white):

I love how the bench tops and table tops match now.

This table is everything I had envisioned and more. It will be treasured in this house for years. I'm so glad I finally took the plunge. It looks fabulous in the room...now to redo my kitchen cabinets and the space will be perfect!

Thanks for stopping by!
Shara Pin It

A Storage Chest Make Over

I've been on an organization and purging fest this summer. My kids have way too many toys that never get played with so I narrowed the toys down by over 1/2 and got rid of a ton of things. It feels so good to get out from some of the clutter.

I was on the lookout for some kind of storage solution to help hold games and puzzles. My former neighbor and friend offered me this cedar chest (I had a desk that she wanted so we traded...win-win for us both).

It has a lot of storage space but needed a little face lift. I painted it using ASCP in French Linen and then applied dark wax to seal it. I restained the top using a dark walnut stain to match the hutch I just competed.

Here's the finished chest which is now the coffee table in my family room. It holds puzzles, games, and Littlest Pet Shop toys. A storage table is the perfect solution to help conceal the clutter when you have kids with toys.

I love how it turned out. It's a great piece and will be useful even when the kids are out of the toy phase.

Shara Pin It

A Perfect Accident...A Bench Make Over-

My husband would say I'm a hoarder and I have to admit I probably am when it comes to furniture. But when I find that awesome deal on something, it's really hard for me to say no. Our garage is chalk full of projects waiting to be transformed. Trust me, you don't want to know (just ask my neighbors). So when I came across this porch bench for a steal of a deal, I couldn't pass it up even though I knew I had no room for it in the garage.

One sunny April day came through the Pacific NW and I was itching to paint. So I gave this bench a good sanding and spray painted it a lovely leafy green. I wish I would have taken pictures of it. It turned out good and I was happy. And then the rain came back and my garage was full so there it sat, outside on my back patio for the rest of the spring. April showers can bring May flowers but around here April showers usually just bring May showers, too.

When the weather finally cleared up and I got back around to it, the paint had chipped a lot and there were aged spots. I sanded off the chippy paint and discovered just how awesome it became. The aged patina and the perfection of the chippy-ness really made the piece. The character was something that you can not duplicate by hand. I was stoked! I finished it off with a dark wax to seal it and add to the character. I love it so much more now!

And yes, I decided to keep it. After all, I'm a hoarder.

Shara Pin It

New Life for a Sweet Little Hutch

I had been looking for a smaller sized hutch for months now to fit in a space off of my breakfast area. The space is only 42 inches so finding a hutch that A) Fit and B) Had a farmhouse feel C) Was a reasonable price was proving difficult. I finally stumbled upon one on a local FB buy/sell group and I pounced on it. I knew it had everything I was looking for but needed some TLC.

Here she is before:

It's hard to tell from the picture but there were a ton of scratches and the knots from the pine wood were showing through plus it was a terrible overall paint job. So I set to work. I started by stripping off the paint on the lower cabinet base. I wanted a stained wood top. I got the paint off and finished it with a nice sanding. I then stained it using a dark walnut stain and applied 3 coats to get the color I was going for. I love how rustic the pine wood makes the top look. Fits perfectly with the farmhouse style I was hoping to achieve.

Next I started painting. I decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite and set to work. (The picture is after the first coat)

Then I painted the inside of the base using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Cream. I love fun pops of color inside cabinet doors. Don't mind my pile of laundry! ;)

And this is where I hit a snag. I ran out of graphite after 1/2 through the top piece. I contacted my local stockist and of course it was out of stock and on back order. Instead of waiting a week or 2 to get more, I decided to change things up all together and I repainted the whole thing using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Gray. And you know what, I loved it even more. The lighter gray really made the wood top stand out even more. Sometimes, second choices just work out better.  See isn't she perfection!

And here she is all finished and ready to party:

 I changed out her knobs with some black with bronze knobs to tie in to her bronze hinges. I also distressed it slightly and the graphite color came through which I love.

I painted the back of the inside with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg. I wanted my milk glass collection to really pop.

I also used chicken wire instead of the original glass to add the the farmhouse charm of the piece.

I'm absolutely in love. I cannot wait to build my farmhouse table and refinish my kitchen cabinets to tie the whole space together. So, what do you think?

Hope you have a crafty week,

Shara Pin It

A Dining Table Gets A Face Lift

I've had this table sitting in my garage for months. I been toying with several ideas of what I wanted it to look like and finally decided to give it a go.

I love this table because it has a hidden leaf that stores under the table when not in use. this is so handy because you don't have to find a space in the garage or under a bed to store the extra leaf. I originally had a couple of ideas in mind. Plan A and B involved stenciling the top similar to my previous dining table make over but that ended up not working due to the size of the hidden leaf. Working around that I set off to work on Plan C which was to paint the legs and top in two different colors. I wanted the top to be all white while the legs and base stayed a different color.

Well, Plan C eventually evolved into Plan D as the edges of the table had a bit of water damage and the discoloration was showing through even after using primer. So, to remedy that problem, I brought the darker color up onto the top. I seriously love how this turned out. It looks even better than what I had imagined. It feels so retro chic! I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and Duck Egg Blue for this make over.

I was originally going to sell this piece but I think it's a keeper (for now anyway). I can't wait to redo my dining benches and get a couple of industrial chairs to make this the perfect piece for my kitchen. I love when things all come together in an unexpected way.

Happy Crafting,

Shara Pin It

New Craft Counter

My craft room/computer room/loft has been in dire need of a more useful space for storage and a dedicated space for working on projects instead of using the kitchen table. My craft projects have taken over and I needed to find a solution.

Here's my utterly messy craft space before:

I couldn't find anything. My craft cabinet and craft table where packed full. This area isn't very big so I need to pack a punch. Enter Pinterest. I saw this pin a while back and it got the wheels turning. I decided to start hunting down 2 drawer file cabinets. Couldn't be that hard, right? Well, lets just say that I hit up every thrift store in a 10 mile radius with no luck. I finally found a large lot on CL and jumped in. 

I started by spray painting the fronts and the sides that would be visible with Rustoleum Aqua spray paint (my most favorite color). I then took a lot of measurements and hit up the Depot for some plywood. I had the guys in the orange aprons cut down the wood to my specifications and the hubster loaded it in the car for me. We got it home and started by attaching the casters to the base piece. I used 8 casters. They were not very cheap so it kind of defeated the thriftiness of the project but I wanted the added height to the counter so I could stand or sit at a bar stool to work. 

The casters are totally awesome so I guess I shouldn't complain about their cost! Anyway, all the file cabinets that I found were varying heights and lengths.  So we had to build up each of the shorter ones to match the tallest one. We did this by cutting extra plywood and screwing it into the base piece. 

Here's the hubs helping me build the bases. 

Once they were all level, the next step was to stain the top.

We used a maple/birch veneered plywood. It had a gorgeous grain to it. I used my favorite dark walnut stain and set to work. 

Here it is all ready to be poly'd. It took the stain great. I did 3 coats to achieve the desired color. 

 After that my hubby cut down the trim pieces and we attached it with out nail gun. The final step was painting and cutting the base molding to hide the varying layers of plywood under the cabinets.

Here is the finished product. I love the size and the amount of storage. I can spread out and work on crafts without having to clean up every time we need to use the kitchen table. What do you think? In total, this project cost just under $200 for all the supplies. If I hadn't have gotten the casters, I could have saved over $50 dollars. Not too bad for a custom built craft cabinet.

Now I just need to work on a gallery wall for above it and this 1/2 of the craft room will be complete. Then I need to do something to the other half. Stay tuned for that project!

Happy Crafting,

Shara

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Dresser Make Over

This dresser was a fun project. I love bright and fun colors so when my friend Heather asked me to redo a dresser for her daughter, I knew this was the project for me.

This dresser had been painted black years before and it was time for a fun face lift. Here it is after I stripped the paint off the drawer fronts and sanded the base:

And here she is after:

I love the fun hot pink drawer fronts. The pop of color this piece will add to a room is fabulous.

Shara Pin It