Dining Room & A Feature!

I want to thank Maryann from Domestically Speaking for spotlighting the mirror I painted last week at her Power of Paint Party -THANK YOU!!!  I've followed her blog for a while now and love her philosophy towards life & decorating!  I love link parties - the creativity shown by everyone is truly inspiring and I appreciate all of the gracious ladies who host them!

Ok, now let me ask you this...how confused does your husband stay?  I keep mine pretty confused and guessing when it comes to my musical furniture shenanigans..here's the latest.

I bought this Ethan Allen dining set a couple of years ago from a consignment store. It's a well made maple set and it was a steal. I knew it was going to need some work but rarely do I buy anything that isn't a project. 

The first thing I did was paint the chairs black.  Let me just say that painting these chairs was a royal pain! There are so many details about them with the spindles, curves..gotta get every angle covered..it took me about a week to get them finished working around my job, weather & the fam.

It looked better but I still had some work to do. 

(This looks so yucky to me now..but it was a start)

 Next the table top....

  I sanded the tabletop down to reveal GORGEOUS wood and sealed it with tung oil. 

Then I pulled some things out of the room, so it wouldn't feel so busy and Brian hung the chandelier. But it just didn't look right to me (this is where the husband confusion comes in because when I told him the chairs just didn't look right, I got a resounding "WHAT!?!" back). Well, you gotta do what ya gotta do, so I 'sat on it' for a while and waited...patience grasshopper..THENNN

I found THESE at Goodwill:

Nice details & very simple.

I love this mid-century look - clean lines & just a smidge wide..perfect!  So while I loved the shape, I did not love the fabric and they needed a paint touch-up.

Presto-Change-O

(I think I have a crush on this fabric...)

I recovered them in a woven houndstooth and added a fresh coat of paint. (like my chair model?)

Here's the dining room now:

I'm super happy with the change!
These white chairs & the chairs that I slipcovered a while back are just the look I was after.

The only thing left in the dining room is to restore our mahogany buffet...and then I'll be ready to repaint the whole room, I'm sure.  And just in case all the husbands haven't figured it out yet, we'll never be finished!

I'm linking to SNS @ Funky Junk & Under The Table and Dreaming.


I'm going junking now - have a good Saturday!

Table Top Revived!

I love wood!!  

(That's what she said) 

*giggle* 

Seriously though, after digging out of the festive rubble that was my Christmas decor,  I rearranged a couple of pieces in the living room.  I had this piece here and this one here.

After moving them around I decided to improve their looks as well.  I finished one of them today and while it is a small change I think it is a nice improvement.

Here's a close up of the problem...

These black marks didn't bother me when I first brought it home.  It was kinda tucked in a corner but after moving it I had to get rid of them.

 I used 50 then 120 then 220 grit. Now it's all smoooth! Sanding it also brought out all the beauty of the wood and it's variations of color that those nasty black marks were hiding.

And here's the after....
 

 I used my favorite wax, Walnut Minwax.  

It adds color, a satin lustre and it protects the surface..great combo!

I think it looks much nicer now!

The cabinet I mentioned at the top of this post is in the middle of my living room ready for glaze. I'm going to catch up on my TiVo'd shows and finish it!

One more picture to show you...

Bedtime at my house....

(a rare moment when one of them isn't tearing something up)

I'm joining Miss Mustard Seed's FFF - c'mon over!

Take care -