Start at Home: January 2015

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

My Daughters Dresser

I am so excited to have this dresser done, not only to share it with you but for my sanity as well, you will see why below........

The Story Behind My Chandelier

As I have surfed blogs and flipped through magazines chandeliers always have caught my attention. Maybe because in the back of my mind I knew the chandelier I really wanted would be hard to find and if I found it I probably couldn't afford it. Because of course it had to be vintage and have real crystals.

So you can imagine how happy and excited I was when my neighbor walked across the street with a vintage, brass, crystal chandelier and asked if I wanted it. Yes, she just gave it to me and wouldn't accept any sort of payment. WOW, I am still speechless. She found it in her Mother's storage shed and they had no use for it anymore.

Once we got it hung I used a little brasso and hot water to shine her right up, now she just sparkles!

The details on this chandelier are so beautiful and fit the style of my house perfectly. I still can get over the fact that it was free, these are the kind of things I dream about!

TTFN

Brooke

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Oak TV Stand

Geez, I don't know what it is about January, but every year I have a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I am sure the cold weather doesn't help and my kids all seem to be passing around colds and coughs. It felt good to get out in the garage and finish up this Oak TV Stand. I am sure many of you remember these, and would agree they are a bit dated. But with a little paint, chicken wire and wood we can fix that..........

And here she is all dolled up!

I really want to change this piece up. You may have heard me talk about Dave from Liberty Remodeling before, he showed me how to use a router to get the inside panel of the doors out. It worked pretty slick. Once the panels were out I nailed chicken wire to the inside of the doors.

To fill in the hole were the VCR would have gone and to add storage I made a crate box to slide in and out. To add a little color and personality to this piece I Mod Podged napkins on to the front of the crate.

This piece was so fun to refinish. I love taking an old warn out piece and bringing it back to life!

I do not have a paint color of this piece :(

TTFN

Brooke

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Handy Man, Craft Woman

Thursday:

Friday

French Country Cottage

Anything Blue
Miss Mustard Seed
Redoux Interiors

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

My Tables Debut....

I am so excited to show off this table. After all it has been 2 years in the making. Once I got this table home and assessed it I realized it was in pretty bad shape, worse than I thought. The trim on the table top was falling off, there were very deep scratches on the top.

But I just loved the caster wheels and the oval shape it apparently blinded me to any other detail.

The original plan was to give it a good sanding and paint the whole thing until....I realized the table top was Tiger Oak. I was lucky enough to sand most of the scratches out without going through the veneer, there are a few scratches left...but they are worth it.

Are you ready to see there after??

Here she is all dolled up! I am in Love with this table, she was well worth the wait.

Once I decided to keep this table the hunt for chairs began. I was hoping to have 6 chairs, as this table is 6 1/2 feet long, but I couldn't pass these chairs up, I loved the french style.

These chairs originally had upholstered seats filled with horse hair....EEK!! Since upholstery and children don't always mix too well, we made a wood top for them (tutorial to come)

And if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you may notice my new, free chandelier is hung! (more to come on this beauty as well)

See that beautiful grain? Isn't it just wonderful, oh I LOVE it!

The top of the table is stained with Miniwaxes Dark Walnut and sealed with a Spar Urathane. I like to use spar urethanes when I can as they are a little more durable, however they do yellow so use caution.

The bottom of the table is painted in a custom color latex and I used a brown oil based glaze to add some depth.