out with the old, in with... a different old

I sometimes wonder if I'm a special kind of crazy. I did this project in my only down time (evenings) and during naps (not down time, chore time - I postponed chores, which sent my type-A personality into a tailspin). Just this evening I read a devotional on outlining your talents... can my special kind of crazy be my talent? :) I think I say yes, if I get to have such a pretty (and CHEAP!) new dining room set!

For a while now, I've asked Austin for a new kitchen table. We have only bought brand-new furniture from IKEA/Target/Amazon because we can't stand the idea of paying thousands for furniture - EVERYTHING else has come from Craigslist, or other resale sites. While we know furniture is a worthy investment, it definitely puts a dent in the pocketbook, which is rough when you just paid off a car and a bathroom. Ouch.

We have had this kitchen table and chairs for a long time: it survived Austin and his roommate in college (his mom no longer needed it so he inherited it - a VERY nice table for a guy in college!) and we kept it through our early (3.5) years of marriage - until Sunday. We had a garage sale Saturday, sold off a few things, and sold our old table through Craigslist the next day. Since our dining room is Ethan's play room, this table is too large for the breakfast nook.

I think the flowers really sold the table!

I found a set of 6 chairs, which were black, through OfferUp. Austin picked them up and warned me that they might need work, but I didn't realize that meant I'd have to totally re-paint them!

I sanded down some scratches and spray painted them - I used 3 cans and 3 layers on each chair. I then took a piece of sandpaper (150, if you want to know the grit) to attempt to copy the classic Pottery Barn black finish. I rubbed the sandpaper on the edges - careful not to scratch the finish elsewhere - to give it that worn look.

I'm so artsy!

BEFORE: I added wood filler where a cat or dog dug into a seat 

Layer 1

Layer 2 + sanded edges. Hard to see here, but the edges of the top and the front of the seat
have been sanded.

As for the table: we picked it up Sunday, and I doubted my ability to sand and refinish the table from the minute I realized it wasn't an easy patch job. I skulked about it and eventually was persuaded by my parents to attempt the refinishing. We started the sanding process on Monday night with the sander Austin's Grammie gave us (it's a Black & Decker Mouse. We used 100-120 grit), and I finished it on Tuesday with a more heavy-duty one my dad has. Without the electric sanders, it would've been a much harder job!

Top shot! Scratches are worse than they look in this picture

Another "before" angle

This sanding just took a few minutes, but we were getting used to the Mouse

Austin pitched in for the sanding!

Where we paused Monday night

Finished sanding! And my dad's awesome sander.

I cleaned it off with tack cloths (also provided by my dad!) to get all the sawdust off the table, and I swept it off the floor as well. I really didn't want any sawdust to get disturbed and end up on my table. I immediately applied one coat of the stain to the table top, and I wiped as I went (though the instructions said I could leave it on for 15 minutes each time) because it knew it was going to be uneven if I didn't. I let it dry as long as the instructions called for (8 hours, I believe). At this point, you can add more layers of stain every 8 hours, until you like the color. I liked it a lot after the first layer, and Austin agreed, so I started the polyurethane coating today. We kept the garage door cracked for ventilation and to aid in the drying process.

The table - stain only

I painted on one coat of the polyurethane during Ethan's nap on Wednesday, and when Austin got home, I lightly sanded it  the table (220 grit, per the instructions) and applied another coat. Two to three coats are suggested, but I thought my second coat was generous enough that a third would be overkill.

Finished & drying! You can see a  little bit of a shine.

COSTS:

Table: $60

Chairs: $75

Spray Paint: $10

Wood filler: (already had)

Sandpaper: $15

Stain: $5

Polyurethane: $7

Total cost to us: $172

I'm in love!

MAJOR shout out to my 'rents. We used their truck to get the table, we used their sander, they watched our kid. If you want to see service, look at them! THREE of their kids are living with them (Meghan is totally one of us) and they still offer to serve us because I'm crazy and take on big projects on a whim. I also took their advice on refinishing the table, which looks awesome.

I can't wait for Ethan to splatter some yogurt on this bad boy tomorrow morning.

xo

The Neverending Tile Project

When we moved into this house, we knew we would one day have to replace the white tile. The primary reason was because it was hideous and hard to clean (which made it more hideous). It had a shiny top that liked to keep debris despite my desperate Swiffering, sweeping, and scrubbing.

The design on the tile was textured, which is also awesome for retaining dirt and crumbs.

Not to mention that two pieces were broken, and that dark grout from the '80s was thick. For a while, this tile was the subconscious bane of my existence (now that title has been granted to the Master Bath, since this tile is dead).

The breaking point came when the two tiles that were broken (right in front of that trash compactor that we don't use) shattered. They started splintering into tiny pieces. Shattered tile + brand new baby = bad idea. I mean, he won't crawl for lots of months, but who wants to redo tile with an infant anyway? So the new tile was picked out, scheduled, paid for, and installed. (The "paid for" part was painful.)

Fast-forward to two weeks ago:

So fresh and so clean, clean.

However, we weren't thinking straight and didn't remove the trash compactor before they tiled (they told us we didn't need to. Don't listen to "them"). So the tile somehow ended up not-so-straight right where the broken tile used to be. We have the tile-man in our house right now fixing that problem...

If you look closely, you can kind of see where the cut tile is crooked.

And my awesome husband pulled out the trash compactor! It's definitely going to be in the charity garage sale (for anti-human trafficking) at our house next week. I'd rather have a hole there than have a nasty trash compactor that we don't use! I was honestly too grossed out to open it.

We were also disappointed that our grout didn't match the tile like we wanted it to. The grout is about 16 shades lighter than what we picked, and a totally different hue. The name of the grout was correct, but could someone please tell me why grout companies don't just give you a legitimate sample color?

Light grout is pretty much the worst since it stains so easily, and we did not want that. We did opt for the super-sealed grout (which supposedly will never stain). I'm still confused by how they are adding a grout stain to a grout that won't ever stain? Riddle me that.

If you look closely, you will see that the white grout disappears! That's where they've added the stain. I am so excited to go home and see the finished result! Sometimes, it's the little things...

Love,