Showing posts with label furniture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label furniture. Show all posts

Monday, July 24, 2017

Make something Monday: All the random Projects

This summer for make something Mondays we have not really made anything much, mostly just fixed up things that we already had! There really has not been any rhyme or reason to the fixing either, just getting caught up on much needed projects!

I finally  painted the front door! I bought paint for this sad grey door like 4 years ago and it has been just sitting in the basement. When we were at Canton I decided that we needed a red front door for some reason. My mom in law told me that you are supposed to paint your front door red when have paid it off. Well, that has NOT happened, but it sure looks cute!

I prepped the door and wiped it down and started slapping on that 4 year old paint. Kellen lost his mind and was hysterically crying because he thought I was painting all of the doors red and he wanted his to stay white. It turned out that, oh, so fun red paint was not so fun or so red, it was more like a pinky weird raspberry color. Which could have been pretty, but I was not down with seeing it through. So to Lowes we went to choose a new color. We finally decided on Valspar Heirloom red in an exterior semi gloss. Usually I am satin kind of girl, but I figured with it being exposed to the sun and such that I should probably use the good stuff.

Back at home, I painted and painted and then painted 2 more times. 4 coats. Whew! I always think that I love red and then I forget how hard it is to get good coverage. But now it's done and I have a super snazzy red door!

The week after that I attempted to refinish the little bench/shelf that is right below the window in the living room.

It was in wretched shape from my precious pup clawing it to get the squirrels in the front yard and standing in front of it to drool on and from Kellen taking a real hammer to it when he was little. It has taken a beating the last 5 years.


I wish I had taken a before picture, but no such luck. I had big plans to sand it down, repaint it and put a coat of poly on. I sanded my arms off that afternoon and I loved how it looked all sanded down.


 After consulting my interior designer/mother in law. She raised an interesting point, that if I buffed out the scratches and repainted and then sealed it up, it was highly likely that I would be refinishing it all over again in the event that Jake should attack it. So unfinished and shabby it was! I love how it came out and all the scratches and non sense just look like they are supposed to be there.
Ahh, so much better!

And it has so much polyurethane on it that anything can just be wiped off!
That's it for completed projects for now. I am currently working on my chairs for the kitchen and I am not gonna lie, it is an absolute nightmare. Who new all that detail work would be the hardest thing to get that red paint off. I am maybe a little bit regretting not just getting new already finished chairs that we can just use already! Hopefully I will have them finished by the time school is back in, check back on that one!


Thursday, June 22, 2017

More Adventures in Texas Part One

The first week of summer we got off to rip roaring start with a quick trip to Texas! It was glorious and here's why, it was just the girls and just for shopping, and just what we needed!

We left at the crack of dawn on Thursday, like 4 in the morning...
First stop: Coffee!
The rest of the drive was so long... You know that feeling when you are making great time and you think, "Yeah. I am speed racer. Getting places efficiently." I mean, we had crossed over into Texas by 9 am. But then I forgot just how big Texas is. Long story short we arrived about 7:30 pm. Thanks Metroplex traffic and random rain storms.

After a loooonnnnggg day in the car, we were whipped for the night, we needed our beauty rest for shopping the next day.

The main purpose of the trip was to take my mother in law on her first trip to Texas and visit Canton. You see, Canton is perhaps the most glorious shopping experience of all times. It's a once a month flea market. But not just any flea market, the biggest one in the whole state. Texas is big, so that's saying a lot!


It's miles and miles of anything that you could possible imagine buying. If you can't find it at Canton, it might not exist!

Giant metal T-Rex for your yard? Canton has you covered.
We actually ended up seeing this in someones truck when we were driving down the interstate back to Kilgore!

We had a BOLO (be on the look out) list as long as my arm and we were determined. We were looking for furniture and fun things to re-do or re-purpose. Most of the shops are inside pavilions, but the real treasures are outside, in tents. That's where you can find all the stuff that's unfinished so you can make it look like the stuff in the pavilions and not pay a fortune!

Plus, I was crazy inspired for a bunch of new projects I want to try. Or rather that I want Brien to try. I think he might not like me or Canton too much, because I am full of new ideas! 
I can totally make this!

And also this!

Add this to the list!

This is just old fence pickets. We got some laying around, I know it!

This is just old shutters, $300? No thank you. I have a husband with a saw!
Here is what I actually bought...

I thought this unfinished little monogram laurel would look oh-so-cute on my front door. P.S I am totally painting my front door red!

A set of four of these hideously painted chairs that I scored for $80!

And this 100 year old 5 panel door, for $30!
Here's what I am going to do with them...

I found these identical chairs at an inside pavilion with a table of course, but this set was $800. Umm I will get a can of paint and fix that right up for!
So big plans to white wash with chalk paint and then stain those super cute little nooks and crannies on the back. I am pretty excited to get started on them!
Annnddd...
I am going to turn my door into a head board. Since my fella threw away all of my pallets, I think I might just use this instead. It needs to be sanded and sealed, some crown molding and done, new bed.Or maybe a coffee table. I haven't decided yet!
Do you see why I am torn? I should have bought a few more doors!

Things I should have bought, that are on my list to keep my peepers out for are...
A dough bowl. How cute would this be with some pine cones in it or some Christmas ornaments during December?!?

A cotton boll wreath. Cotton was ALL the rage at Canton. I bet Joanna Gaines uses it a bunch in her houses (I actually heard she shops at Canton for things for her store!) I didn't want to pay a fortune, they were like $80, I am thinking I can re-create this somehow!

Back to Canton... After a crazy rainstorm and a quick rest,

We collected our treasures and headed back to town. That night we went out to eat and went to see Wonder Woman, which really was so wonderful. Callie loved it and decided that she now would like to be in the military or maybe a super hero. I believe she could certainly do both! 

 After we had shopped til we dropped, we settled in and showed Grandma Denise how great Texas really is! More on the rest of the trip later!