table & spindle chairs

So, my life has more tables & chairs in it today :)  This lovely set is a perfect marriage of chairs who needed almost no work at all, and a table who was almost the death of me.  I guess it all comes out in the wash.

I said goodbye to a wonderful table & chairs tonight, but was so happy to see them go to one of my new favorite clients.  Hi Rebecca!  It makes the parting easier if you love the person who is 'adopting' the piece, don't you think?

Onto the table.  And, no, the stereo isn't finished yet.  Sorry!  My car battery died & it really put a wrench in my day.  You know how people always say that things happen at the worst times?  Because they almost always do?  Well, I'll tell you... I could have been stranded at Costco, or at the Goodwill, with a dead battery.  Instead, do you know where it died?  In my driveway.  And my dad was there.  He jumped it for me, and followed me to the dealership to drop it off.  And my kids, who were waiting for me in the carpool line at school?  My mom walked over & picked them up.  Easy peasy.  By the time we got the kids home, the car was ready & my dad dropped us off to pick it up.  I am so very grateful that I didn't have any children out & about with me when my battery died.  So grateful that if the battery had to die, it did so the way that it did.  Happiness!

Onto the table.  This table is old.  It needed a lot- and I mean a lot- of work.  Here is the before...

There was no getting around using stripper on this piece.  The layers of paint & grime were just too thick.

Ewwww.  I have a migraine just looking at this picture.

The stuff came off surprisingly easily.  But I did have to go through the whole process twice.  Strip, wait, scrape, steel wool... and repeat.

The pretty wood underneath is all the encouragement you need to keep going.

This is my tub-o-toxic-sludge.  Just ridiculously gross.

Second coat of stripper.

Now ready for sanding!  Did I mention this was a lot of work?

I painted the bottom, because the dark stain just wasn't doing these gorgeous legs justice.

See what I mean?  You could hardly see these beauties before.

Walnut stain.  I took the brass feet off & painted them in ORB.  Somehow didn't get a picture of this step, but you can see them in the 'after' pictures.  They look great.

The chairs were in such great shape, in terms of the wood, that I left them as-is.  My dad helped me use a paintbrush to get wood glue in all the nooks & crannies and then we used all sorts of clamps & such to hold the pieces tight while they dried.  There were lots of loose joints.

My dad owns at least 6 different types of clamps.  Who knew?

This photo is awful ~ can't figure out what the dusty dots are.  Sorry!

I love the finished pieces!  This table is so versatile, because you can use it as a console/buffet with the leaves dropped... or as a small table with the center leaf in, and the outer leaves dropped... or as a huge table with the outer leaves up & the center leaf in (last picture shown).  It would seat 8 no problem, and probably even 10.  And the chairs are so yummy.  Isn't the fabric gorgeous?  (Thank you, Budget Upholstery!)

Hopefully, I'll have a stereo cabinet for you tomorrow :)  In the meantime, because I don't want anyone to miss it, here are the details about the giveaway going on NOW!


My friend Becky has a new blog called Kings Down Road & a new Etsy store (also called Kings Down Road), both celebrating her love of all things vintage.  She has so generously offered to give the lucky winner $50 credit at her etsy store!!  Thank you, Becky!

In addition, I'm adding something to the package... a $50 visa card.  So, the lucky winner will get $50 in awesome vintage goodies AND $50 to play with (my mother-in-law calls it "mad money" and I love that).


What do you have to do to win?  There are several ways to get yourself entered into the giveaway (sorry for the terrible grammar, Betsy B!)...

*Become a follower of the blog!  If you're a follower, you automatically get one entry.  Thats one chance out of 209 at this moment.

*For an EXTRA entry, go to Becky's etsy shop & let me know what your favorite piece is by leaving me a comment here.  Make sure to check out the incredible Gucci salt & pepper shakers :)

*For a THIRD entry, go to Becky's blog and leave her a comment that you've come visiting from A Few Good Pieces.

Phew!  I'll leave the Giveaway up until Friday of this week, October 15, at midnight.  And I'll try to remind you as we go through the week!


Thanks, y'all!!
Kathie


Linking to:
Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party
Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday

a temporary lapse in sanity

The purchase I made today may fall under the "what was I thinking?" umbrella.  It remains to be seen.  My dad & I spent close to 2 hours doing true demolition work on it.  I'll admit- I enjoyed it.  The sledgehammer, the crowbar, the hammer.... good times!  So we'll see how it all turns out.

A warning, though.  There is no fabulous 'after' picture of this piece at the end of the post.  Not yet.  Sorry.

Want to see the object of my affections/disdain (depending on the moment)?

It's a stereo cabinet.  Maybe someone could give me an idea of the era?  Before my time is all I know for sure.  Here is what we spent 2 hours doing...

It had huge speakers like this on either side.

Pieces like this were everywhere.  They were in there so good, it was as if the manufacturers thought people would be shaking the piece upside down on a daily basis.  There were screws (long & short), bolts, allen wrench thingies, staples, and glue... oh, the glue.  

The record player was the most stubborn part.  It brought blood (my dad's), sore arms (mine) & lots of sweat (both of us) but it didn't beat us.  No, sir.  We got it out.

Here, my dad is saying something like "Why don't you put that camera down and start helping *me* with this huge mess that *you* have made?"  Sorry, Dad.

He is also showing me here what this saw can do.  A reciprocating saw, I believe it is?  This was a last resort, after removing 7,213 screws and pounding on the insides with previously mentioned tools didn't quite do the job.

But the record player is out, see?

The previous owner was a winner with someone, apparently.  Found this deep inside the piece.

"Made in England"  I've never seen this label before except on china.  

Ta-Da!  Believe it or not, this is what we were going for.  Now, I just have to get started painting, replacing the bottom & back, and building a new top for the buffet/chest that I have in mind :)

So picture this... 

With a hinged top, raised up a bit on casters, painted in white with the hardware painted... black?  ORB?  What do you think?  

I am happy today to have saved this piece from the landfill.  If it turns out well, maybe someone else will be inspired to do the same!  It was a lot of work.  Really, really a lot.  In fact, my neighbor/scouter brought home a similar piece for herself just last week and she even told me how many hours she spent getting all the 'guts' out of it.   Did I believe her?  Yes, I did.  But did I get it?  Not too much.  But now I do.

Here's to hoping it is fabulous in a couple of days!

A reminder about the giveaway... I don't want anyone to miss it!!

My friend Becky has a new blog called Kings Down Road & a new Etsy store (also called Kings Down Road), both celebrating her love of all things vintage.  She has so generously offered to give the lucky winner $50 credit at her etsy store!!  Thank you, Becky!

In addition, I'm adding something to the package... a $50 visa card.  So, the lucky winner will get $50 in awesome vintage goodies AND $50 to play with (my mother-in-law calls it "mad money" and I love that).


What do you have to do to win?  There are several ways to get yourself entered into the giveaway (sorry for the terrible grammar, Betsy B!)...

*Become a follower of the blog!  If you're a follower, you automatically get one entry.  Thats one chance out of 209 at this moment.

*For an EXTRA entry, go to Becky's etsy shop & let me know what your favorite piece is by leaving me a comment here.  Make sure to check out the incredible Gucci salt & pepper shakers :)

*For a THIRD entry, go to Becky's blog and leave her a comment that you've come visiting from A Few Good Pieces.

Phew!  I'll leave the Giveaway up until Friday of this week, October 15, at midnight.  And I'll try to remind you as we go through the week!

Thanks for coming by!!  I appreciate you ~ all 231 of you, can you believe it?!

Kathie

A Give-Away! I appreciate y'all!

WOW!  Just WOW!

I was thinking the blog would get to 200 followers sometime in the next couple of weeks.  And I've been just tickled to death over it.  However, this morning while we were at church, we went from 197 followers to 206.  Y'all!  I can hardly believe it!

Last I checked, we were at 209.  Amazing.

I really can't express how thankful I am for all of you.  For joining me on this crazy journey, for your support, your input & feedback, and especially for your "funnies" (that's what we call them at our house).  I have gotten so much happiness out of this blog & the whole blog community.

Since I had SO much fun doing the last giveaway, I was super excited to do it again, and do I have something great for you!

My friend Becky has a new blog called Kings Down Road & a new Etsy store (also called Kings Down Road), both celebrating her love of all things vintage.  She has so generously offered to give the lucky winner $50 credit at her etsy store!!  Thank you, Becky!

In addition, I'm adding something to the package... a $50 visa card.  So, the lucky winner will get $50 in awesome vintage goodies AND $50 to play with (my mother-in-law calls it "mad money" and I love that).


What do you have to do to win?  There are several ways to get yourself entered into the giveaway (sorry for the terrible grammar, Betsy B!)...

*Become a follower of the blog!  If you're a follower, you automatically get one entry.  Thats one chance out of 209 at this moment.

*For an EXTRA entry, go to Becky's etsy shop & let me know what your favorite piece is by leaving me a comment here.  Make sure to check out the incredible Gucci salt & pepper shakers :)

*For a THIRD entry, go to Becky's blog and leave her a comment that you've come visiting from A Few Good Pieces.

Phew!  I'll leave the Giveaway up until Friday of this week, October 15, at midnight.  And I'll try to remind you as we go through the week!

As I've said before, what's a good blog post without a furniture before & after?

A sneak peek...

You'll probably remember these pieces from my finds last week...

Four of these chairs (only one with arms... or 'arm' I should say!).  I repaired it, don't worry.

And this table.

I painted the chairs & the base of the table in Heirloom White.  I sprayed them.  Don't hate me.  But chairs are SO hard to paint with a brush and Rustoleum's spray paint is just too good to resist sometimes.  And it just didn't seem worth it to get out the compressor & sprayer for such a small job.  Do y'all have that problem?  Clean-up is a bear with the sprayer!

 They got a good coat of Kilz Complete (brown label) primer first and then the paint.

I sanded the top down to the bare wood and stained it dark walnut.  I also redid the chair seats, starting with new foam & then new upholstery (it might look familiar if you've seen my dining room curtains).

That's my 8 year old using the power sander.  Only for a second, or I would have made him wear glasses, ear plugs & a mask!

After the first coat of stain.

Chairs being primed & painted.

Table is just about there now.

And...

Trust me, I know the seats clash with the curtains.  It pained me to have them there even for just a few minutes :)  But they are safely in a more neutral place now!

Many, many thanks to Amanda at The Hand Me Down House for featuring me & A Few Good Pieces today.  Amanda has a great thing going over at her blog ~ lots of home improvement, creativity & more so go visit her and check it out!!  Her story is also so special - there is a hint of it in the name of her blog.  Welcome to all of you coming here from Amanda's blog :)

Now y'all, get going on the give-away!  Thanks for coming by!
Kathie

Linking to:
Stories of a House Project Diaries
Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party
Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday

a few things...

I hope you're enjoying this gorgeous weekend.  It is beautiful here in Atlanta.  We have loved having Homecoming weekend both at the kids school & at Georgia Tech, where we spent the afternoon today visiting with old friends while tailgating.  Bliss!

I wanted to share a few things:

*Many thanks to Amanda for the link from Home & Garden Crafters!  She linked to my 'moonshine lamp' as part of a post about making lamps from unique items.  Check it out here.  And check out the blog while you're there, they have tons of fun stuff!

*About comment moderation- I detest the word verification thingie.  All this time (well, all 3 months that I've had this little blog) I thought mine was turned off because when I left a comment (for someone who doesn't have an email address associated with their profile), I wasn't asked to do the 'captcha' code.  Turns out, it doesn't ask the blog author to do it.  I am SO sorry you've all been filling in that silly little box!  I may end up with some spam since I took it down, but I think it is worth it to make the commenting process easier.  And don't get me wrong- I understand there are instances where people need to use the word verification and if spam becomes a huge problem here, I may have to go back to it.

*The GIVEAWAY is just 3 followers away!!  Right now, the blog is at 197 followers.   I've gotten some good feedback about *what* I should give away, but if you have a great idea, let me know because I'd love to hear it!

*Finally, something heartbreaking.  A sweet little Georgia girl named Mary Evelyn died yesterday from an awful childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma.  I don't know this child personally ~ but her story touched my heart and I've followed her family via Caringbridge for quite some time.  I cannot imagine the loss of a child. Will you pray for this family?  You can visit them at their Caringbridge page here.  One of my dear friends has a child who miraculously survived a malignant brain tumor.  That friendship has made me all too aware of childhood cancer & the toll it takes on everyone it touches.  Because of our dear friend Julia, and in honor of her, I donate 10% of my profits to CURE Childhood Cancer.  Visit this amazing organization by clicking here.  You can also find them on Facebook.

That's all I've got, friends.  Be grateful for your blessings and rejoice in each day :)
LOTS of furniture coming this week ~ we are having trouble getting through our garage due to all of the 'good pieces'!

kathie

my repurposed life

If you don't already visit her on a regular basis, you've got to take a minute and go visit Gail over at My Repurposed Life.

She is a genius at taking something like an old door, shutters, or just plain old wood scraps and turning them into something fabulous.  Genius, I tell you.

Her latest post shows how she took some old bi-folding doors and turned them into a children's or doll's bench.  Adorable.

She has a link party on Fridays called 'Catch As Catch Can'.  Click on the button below to get there.



Gail was the inspiration for our headboard benches that you can see here and here.  We actually took our laptop to the basement shop & followed along on her tutorial to build them.

Enjoy!
Kathie

Nutmeg

This piece was a fairly straightforward makeover.  I loved it the minute I saw it, but those darn double-knobs (rather than a handle) drove me nuts from the get-go.  Does that bug anyone else?!

I had intended to stain the top and paint the bottom, but after sanding the top I discovered that the wood veneer was a mess.  So I ended up patching the veneer with wood putty and painting the whole thing.

A peek...

But here is how this piece started...

See what I mean about the double knobs?  So instead of having 8 pulls, this piece had 16 knobs.  Makes no sense to me.

I used the drawers to hold down the corners of the plastic.  It was windy this morning.  And PS ~ after I finished with this plastic, I went out & bought two 9 X 12 sturdy canvas drop cloths.  Happiness!

Primed & ready.  And yes, it is still a little dark outside at this point.

Love the color- Nutmeg by Rustoleum.  This picture really doesn't capture the true color.  It is much less mustardy in real life.

As I said, I had the whole piece done and sanded the top, only to find junk underneath the layers of finish.  So I filled in the wood, primed & painted.

It was hard to get a good picture, since this piece is still in my garage.  I'll post a good shot when I have one.  In the meantime, please feel free to drool over this fabulous hardware.

Next Up...

A table...

4 of these chairs (I know, the arm is missing).  

And 3 of these.

Eeeeewwwwww.... have I mentioned my paranoia about bed bugs?  ALL of this will be replaced.

Don't forget about the giveaway coming up when the blog reaches 200 followers (only 16 more to go)!  I've gotten some good suggestions about what to give away, so keep them coming!  All you have to do to enter is become a follower of the blog.

Thanks for coming by!  Happy Thursday!
Kathie

Linking to...
Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday