New to Us End Tables

As we are trying to get back into the DIY spirit after vacation I did a quick-ish project two weekends ago staining our "new" end tables. 

In preparation for our bedroom re-do I started looking for new end tables the end of last summer at garage sales. I found one for $5 which I posted about here. I never found another one but then my mom gave me a table that someone gave her? Or she got out of the trash? It was not as stylish as the one I already had but after not finding anything else I thought some matching stain might bring the two tables together. 

The $5 table was wood veneer that was already stained and the free table was solid unfinished wood. I decided to try a new (to me) product: Poly-Shades by Minwax. It is different than regular stain in that it includes your protective polycrylic finish and you can use it over existing stain. Soo you don't have to sand or strip away the previous finish. Which is great news for me since I hate doing both of those things. 

I wanted a dark stain to match our dresser in the bedroom.  I didn't go so far as to bring a drawer with me to Lowes but I did bring a picture of the dresser. The stain on the sample wood pieces looked different then the color on the can so that helped with my decision. 

The directions say to lightly sand before starting and then to sand with fine steel wool between coats. I did it inside with a window open because I like to watch TV...but it was smelly and would be better done outside. 

The Poly-Shades was definitely thicker than regular stain. I had to stir it a lot and it was all goopy at the bottom at first. 

The transformation with the stain was amazing. After just one coat the tables already looked so much better. 

I thought that the free table may need more coats than the other table due to being lighter. After one coat they did look different but with a second coat on each they were much closer. I thought about doing a third coat only on the free table but Pascal said to leave well enough alone.

FIRST COAT

SECOND COAT

The unfinished free table definitely took the stain better. I think I was probably supposed to sand the pre-stained table more. The stain went on the pre-finished table more like paint instead of soaking in like stain. You can also see in the corners where it is darker because I got too much stain there. With regular stain you would wipe up any access with a rag but with this kind you brushed it on and then went back over right away with a dry brush to get any excess off. It seemed to get stuck in the corners though. Oh well I don't mind and Pascal doesn't care because this table is mine. It was good to try a new product though and I am trying to not just paint ALL THE THINGS. 

Instead of re-using the blah wood handle on the free table I bought an antique brass knob for $1.50 to match the existing handle on the $5 table . It really kinda just looks silver but it is good for now. 

Beautiful!

Our old tables had two huge drawers that we could fill with very important...junk. Since these only had one I bought some boxes at Target to add more storage. 

Pascal's box is cooler...Jealous. Clearance of course.

I am very pleased with how it turned out! Total project makeover cost $12 Poly-Shades + $1.50 knob + $5 table + free table = $18.50. When I tried to find new tables online I couldn't find any I liked for under $50 for one. So I think these were definitely a good deal, plus they are unique.

Mid Century Garage Sale Find

Our master bedroom "redo" has officially started in that we now no longer have any of our furniture. We passed it on and we have just been staying in the guest bedroom. Its like being on vacation...in the upstairs of our house. Which incidentally is warmer, so maybe we should sleep up there all winter? Anyway. Part of replacing our bedroom furniture involves replacing the great big dresser that we used to have. I didn't really have any ideas of what type to get or where to get it. And then I remembered that we already have a dresser...upstairs in our spare room.

I bought said dresser last May at a garage sale. I had been out that morning with my grandmother at garage sales and then convinced Pascal to go with me to one around the corner at about 1 pm. It was one of the few times that he has actually gone with me. The garage sale was at an older couples house who was moving. They asked if we were interested in any furniture and said that they were really trying to get rid of it since it was the end of the day. The furniture was inside so we also got to see the house which is always fun.I am so nosy, I love to see what other people in the area have done to their houses since we all live in basically the same house.

They had what looked like a 9 drawer dresser but was actually a hutch. It had two bookcase looking pieces that went on top of the dresser part but were not currently attached. I didn't really need the dresser but it was beautiful and seemed like it was in good shape. It was a vintage Lane Furniture piece with dovetailed joints. I told them that I only wanted the dresser part not the top "hutch" part and the women said $25. I couldn't even negotiate with that fantastic price. She even said she would have her son drop it off since we lived around the corner and it was too big for my car. Sold. I decided that I would save it for when we one day have a nursery.

After I got home I did some research and learned that we really had gotten a great piece. I found a similar Lane dresser for sale online for $700! Here is another one that looks exactly the same as ours but smaller for $500! So all this time I have had this fabulous dresser just collecting dust. So it made sense to move it downstairs to our master bedroom where it would really fit much better than in a nursery.

The dresser did have some nicks and scratches on it but was overall in good condition. I cleaned it and used a magic eraser on some of the scuffs. I then bought Howard's Restor-A-Finish and Feed-N-Wax to polish the dresser. I read good reviews about it online and it was $17 for both products. I heardly used any of it so I will be able to use this on many other projects.

 

I used the Restor-A-Finish first and wiped it on with an old rag. After a half hour I wiped off any access. It already looked great but I then added the Feed-N-Wax once it was completely dry. The best part about that was the great orangey smell. Now I think the dresser looks basically new.

Before

After

Left Polished/Right Unpolished

Ikea Hack- Upbeat Aztec Stool

Stools are a requirement in my house. Due to the fact that I can't reach anything. We have two cheap Ikea stools, one in the master bedroom closet and one in the kitchen. The one that was in the closet is the Ikea Bekvam stool which is solid wood and only $17! Besides the great price and sturdy structure, this stool is great because it is a blank canvas that you can make it your own. Ours sat untouched for two years but I finally got around to it this last week. I also decided that once I painted it I would move it to the kitchen instead of hiding it in the bedroom.

I didn't really have any plan at the beginning. At first I just picked one color. I did not buy any paint for this- just picked from our paint sample collection. I decided to use Valspar's Pitch Cobalt in Satin which we bought to test out on our shed (In process! The weather sorta halted the painting process though...). 

I lightly sanded the stool and then just painted it with a small brush. Normally I use oil based primer first on my wood projects. However...this is a stool. So I didn't care that much. And the raw wood soaked up the paint fine. It only took two coats for complete coverage and there was no bleed through from the wood. 

I thought the stool looked good as is but I wanted to add something else. Some type of stencil. I thought about it for a couple of days. I thought about just doing stripes or tracing a stencil like I did with this dresser. Finally, I remembered a side table that the amazing Emily Henderson had posted. I love the Aztec style and the simplicity of the triangles. I figured that was something I could manage! 

I taped off a pattern on the top with triangles. I did not measure or anything since it doesn't have to be perfect. I then taped off random triangles on the rest of the stool. 

I picked three other colors from my paint stash that coordinated. All Valspar in Satin. The dark blue-gray is Cobalt Cannon (another shed option). The gray is Wet Cement which I used in our office and on our credenza (and also in the upstairs bathroom, almost done!). Finally, the light blue/gray is Barely Blue from the upstairs bathroom-almost done with that project! 

I rotated colors and did two coats of each. Once I was done the second coat, I pulled the tape off right away. I always want to let the paint dry first but then the lines are not as crisp...

After painting, I added two coats of Polycrylic in semi-gloss to protect my stencil. I only did it on the two steps. I worried that this would make the stool too slippery but it feels fine and I want the paint to last. But if this stool was for actual children and not just a child sized adult then I probably would skip that step. 

I am so happy with the finished product! It is much better than the plastic stool that I have now moved into the bedroom. Hmm, I may have to replace that one as well. 

Now we just need to replace those floors so my stool will look better on them. :)

Laundry Room Storage

My mom has 13 children...12 of which mostly live at home. So she does a lot of laundry. Like all day every day. According to my dad, 30-35 loads a week. So naturally she always needs storage and laundry room organization. She emailed me pictures of two laundry storage options that she found on Pinterest from BeingBrook and Infarrantly Creative and asked if Pascal could make them and he so nicely did. She wanted 2 that were 5 shelves high. Pascal did not read any tutorials but just from looking at the picture she sent could tell how to make them. Its basically just a big box so its not too hard. My mom also gave us a laundry basket that she already had to measure how big the shelves should be. 

Pascal bought 3 pieces of 3/4 inch plywood which cost a total of $110 which was the only cost for this project. Plywood was more money that I thought but still cheaper than other options and $110 doesn't seem too bad for 2 gigantic shelves. 

Pascal worked on this in our "garage" (note the carpet haha). Below are the cut pieces ready to go. Pascal also sanded the wood with an electric sander to help improve the plywood somewhat.

 Pascal used Liquid Nails (I have been calling it Hard as Nails but I think that's a nail-polish...) Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive to glue the pieces together and then followed it up with a finishing nail gun. He also added some screws to be extra safe since this will be living with 12 children. Screws can split plywood since it has layers so he carefully pre-drilled the hole first and then put the screws in.

Make sure that your angle is right and your wood is level!

Gigantic. 6 feet tall.

Once assembled Pascal also decided to add some extra pressure treated wood to the bottom just for some extra waterproofing since it was going in a laundry room. To make the basket supports, he used some 1x4's that we already had and cut them down the middle. He attached them with Liquid Nails and screws. Pascal then primed the shelves with our oil based primer that we already had. So they are ready to be painted if my mom wants to but I also think they look fine with just the primer. I like how you can see the wood grain still.

I am happy that my mom likes them and big thanks to my husband. My mom was planning on ordering matching baskets from Amazon but she found enough around the house for now.

The model.

Elephant Trunk Flea Market

Woohoo post #50!

Soo this past weekend my husband and I decided to take a road trip...to a flea market...in Connecticut. I am a big fan of Flea Market Flips on HGTV and the places they go in the show always look fantastic. The main place they go is the Rose Bowl in California (want.to.go.so.bad.) but there was also a show that they did at the Elephant Trunk Flea Market in Connecticut. And I thought, hey Connecticut isn't that far. Well my sense of geography is not that great (#homeschooled) but oh well. So I cashed out my credit card points which paid for everything and we drove up on Saturday. We stayed in a small hotel and were at the Elephant Trunk bright and early around 7 am Sunday. We were so lucky  that we had great weather since it rained all last week!

EXCITED

http://www.etflea.com/_/Home.html

It was $2 to get in the gate but you could also pay $20 to get in at 5:45 am. We got there a bit after 7 am when it officially opened and there were already a ton of people there. According to the Elephant Trunk they have 1,000 parking spaces and 300 vendor spaces. People were parked everywhere by half way through the day. The event ends at 2 pm and we stayed till 11 am. Yes we were there for 4 hours. I have a great husband. 

I was so excited when we walked in. There were rows and rows of tables everywhere. I didn't even know where to start. We decided to walk through the whole thing once just looking at everything and then we walked through a second time actually stopping at the individual vendors. I think you definitely have to do this because I saw a lot of stuff the second time that I missed before and some vendors were still putting stuff out. And then we sorta walked through a third time to check out some specific spaces that we had in mind.

So I actually ended up selling our black end tables from Target a couple weeks ago on Craigslist for $80 (which is almost what I bought them for since I got them on sale). They were in perfect condition but I wanted something a little more unique. I have been looking all summer for end tables at yard sales but haven't found any so I brought the $80 from the old tables to look for some new ones. Besides that we weren't really looking for anything in particular- just there for the experience. 

There was a lot of crazy stuff there. Mostly antique/vintage stuff with some new and crafty items. If you were looking for antique wood crates or vintage dishes/glassware there was a ton of that. There were lots of little knick knacks and unique items. There was a good amount of furniture although not a ton. I tried to take a lot of pictures of all the fun stuff. 

I liked this super long bench. It would not fit in my car. It made me think of my mom's house.

Soldier anyone?

I liked these tiny kid chairs!

Great accent for your wall

There were lots of vintage toys. Lead paint anyone?

Lots of tarnished silver. Those trays were $10

I thought these would be cool to make something with. Note creepy baby heads in the back. 

Calf Livers?

Crafted by a local welder

I liked the metal table and stools

You could do some cool things with all these clock pieces

This was terrifying and scared me both times I walked by it

These coffee tables were awesome

We saw several pairs of snowshoes  

I was really tempted to get these and I was surprised no one did by the time we left. Only $25 for all 4 chairs but I don't really need them right now. 

Beautiful coffee table for $150

I thought these were cool and anyone could make them.
They would be cool to change out the letters depending on the season. 

I took a picture of this because it looks just like our dining room chairs and it was $40. Ours were free...Thanks Geama!

Despite all of the great unique stuff that we saw we actually only bought two things. Our end tables and a fun souvenir. After walking through the first time we only noticed a couple tables. I was open to getting mismatched tables but nothing was really exciting me. But on our second time around we saw two matching round wood tables. They opened up for storage (uh oh room for me to hide things) and were in perfect condition. Some lamps were sitting on top of them that were $70 EACH so I was nervous to ask how much the tables were. The woman said that they were $120 for both but she could do $80. I double checked to make sure I heard right, $80 for BOTH. The exact amount of my budget for the tables. Pascal and I stood awkwardly trying to communicate with our minds and finally walked away saying we would think about it. She then said that she would do $75. After about 3 minutes we came back and got them. So that is my negotiating strategy...appear uninterested. I am scared of negotiating! The woman was very nice and was excited we were going to get them. She said they "suited us". She told us about how an elderly couple had them for years in their bedroom and then she used them in her livingroom. We left the tables there and then picked them up later. 

I was very proud of myself for caring one to the car all by myself. It was worse though when we couldn't even find the car...

Here are the tables with Pascal trying to find the car.

I made him take this picture while he was up there to show how many people were there. 

I sat with the tables and waited while he went to find the car.

He came back for me.

They fit perfectly and we didn't even have to put the back seat down. Pascal buckled them in for safety :). He is going to be great dad one day. 

And they made it home. 

The other thing that we bought was this fun mailbox door for $4.

He had 5 different ones but only 2 with numbers on them. He originally said $5 but then went down to $4 when we just kept standing there looking at them. He said the metal is worth almost that much at the scrap yard haha. He showed us how to re-open them when closed and showed us the dates engraved on the back. Ours is from 1961! It is a fun little souvenir and we shall see what we do with it. Make a box to attach it to as the front? Or my thought was that it would make a really cool door for a future dollhouse. When I walked by his table the third time all of the doors were gone. 

Overall it was a good trip and the flea market was great. The amount of vendors and stuff did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend it...maybe if you were in area anyway.