Consistency...It's Not For Me

Wow... I don't even want to know the last date I was on Blogger!  I've just finished up spring semester of grad school year 1.  I have a week off then back to class for May/June session.  I'll be gone this summer to work at Double H Ranch, so plan for more inconsistency.

So Greer and I have worked on a handful of projects since I was last on.  I'm not sure if I posted the near-finished antique record cabinet (still needs hardware), so I'll just go ahead and show you a picture of its current state.

Did you spot two other new things?
- We finally got around to hanging one of our wedding gifts- a photo taken by one of Greer's good friends.  The friend didn't know the colors of our living room, but it matches perfectly!  Greer built the frame from scrap molding, spray painted it brown, then sanded to give it a rougher look.  So nice to have something on that wall!!

- My dad picked up an old record cabinet at a thrift store, which Greer repainted and is now using as our tv stand/record storage.  I'm glad he has a place to keep his favorites in our living room (other than the floor...).

I think it could use some new hardware but, you know, that's lower priority right now.  Here's an open-door view.

The suitcase table is now then end table, and the end table is upstairs.  Here's the suitcase table in it's new home:

My in-laws are moving and downsizing all they own, so Greer and I got lucky and inherited their antique buffet.

I'm super excited about that guy.  I kind of want to paint it but I'm leaving it alone for now.  Excuse the animal bowls.. I got lazy about moving things to take pictures.

The little roll-top desk that was in that corner is hanging out on another wall for now...

I can't remember if I posted the semi-finished bookcase I was working on, so I'll show that (again?) too.  This was a old Hoosier cabinet top my dad pulled out of the dump.  It needed loads of love- like replacing some of the plywood frame.  Here it is in our upstairs hallway landing, looking so much better!

Remember what that used to look like when it came out of the dump? No? Oh.. here:

It only had a few of the doors, so I'm playing with how I want to use those.  I'm also messing around with some ideas for the tall cabinet on the left.  I might hang some hooks in there for scarves on top.  Only time will tell.  I also still have no home for the little shelf sitting on the floor.  Oh, I should probably return that red clamp to my dad.

My goal for this little week break is to choose a color for the front door and finally PAINT IT.  It's, what, a year later?  Something like that...

Well, that's a little update about our life in this clearing in the woods.  I'll try to post a little more this month, but not guarantees!


Participating in Link Parties at:
http://tatertotsandjello.com - Tatertots and Jello

Antique Record Cabinet: Repainted

The antique record cabinet is almost done!  Let's take a look at the before so you can truly appreciate this upgrade for us:

Greer painted it to match the one kitchen wall, which nicely accents the orange living room.  All that is left is to pick out and attach the hardware. We've found a nice pair for the bottom doors that we are waiting to attach.  We'd like to have both top and bottom sets picked out before we start screwing anything in, so that we know they will look good together.

So much better!


Greer was able to fit the receiver and his record player safely in the top part of the cabinet.


The bottom shelves house his favorite, most frequently enjoyed records, our current Netflix rentals, and my Zumba instructor DVDs.

The log table that used to house all of the living room entertainment systems is now in my studio/guestroom.
I actually like it in the guestroom more than I thought I would.  I'd be happy to leave it there for awhile.  I really like that it brings my niece's dollhouse off the floor!

New Front Door

A few weeks ago my parents took Greer and me out to dinner, first insisting that we needed to stop by Lowes.  I'm always up for a trip to a home improvement store, so there was no argument from me.  Once we arrived, the truth came out- they were surprising us with a new front door!

The old door:

Greer knew about it ahead of time but it was a surprise for me.  So we spent an hour or so picking out a door we love and all the little details about it.  We ask for it primed but not painted so we could pick our own custom color.  It was due to arrive in about 4 weeks, but it came within 2!

 

So last Saturday we spent some time pulling out the old door and replacing it with the new, gorgeous, window-y one.  And by "we" I mean Greer and Dad.  

 

The light makes such a difference in the living room and stairway corner.  

A little blurry but you get the idea.

Oh by the way, the antique record cabinet is nearly finished.  Post coming soon!



 

 

I love walking downstairs in the morning to a bright sunrise, or turning on the porch lights at night for the home-y glow to float in.

I am completely undecided on a front door color.  I would love a bold, Mediterranean blue door...

from Travel Adventures

Or how about some of these.....

from A Punch of Color

from Fresh Home Ideas

from Tobi's Blog

from Steve Tollner Painting

I dig the rosey pink but I'm not sure sure Greer will appreciate it.  I hadn't thought of lime green until my Google search for "colorful front door" but I do really like it!  It's a nice change from yellow, which I love but everyone is doing.  My challenge is figuring how to balance a bright, colorful door with a gray house with brick-colored shutters.  I wish I could wave a wand and change all the colors!

You'll have to come back to see what color we choose!

Daisy Girl Finds a Home

You may have read about a poor, homeless, giant painting of Daisy Girl (as we affectionately call her).  Greer picked her up at a thrift store with me in mind.  Daisies are a recurrent theme in my family as they were my grandmother's favorite flower and they were the flowers for my wedding. 

I thought the whole painting and frame were too dark to hang; I wanted something lighter.  Greer didn't want to paint the frame because a) he didn't know if it was antique and b) it would be a pain to get the painting out.

Finally, after sitting in various rooms in the house, we agreed on painting the frame. 

What a difference a light frame makes!

Participating in:

Weekend Wrap-up Party @ Tatertots and Jello

What I've Been Up To

So I have been absent from projects lately, which I am super sad about.  Where have I been?  Locked away in libraries and my studio/office/guest room studying Anatomy!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the most time consuming semester, because our Anatomy course is 8 weeks, but still covers a full semester's amount of material.  What does that equal?  Incredibly stressed out OT students.

I thought I'd share a glimpse into my studying just for fun....

Drawing/mapping out arterial systems on my giant mirrors (didn't know they'd be so useful...)

Going a little crazy because of it.

Oh and this was the night my sister in NYC was seeing Pitbull in concert with my favorite Zumba peeps, Beto, Tanya & Gina.... jealous.

Group study sessions in the library with lots of caffeine.  Here we were racing to keep the exact same level of liquid.  Just for fun.

But today I took my Anatomy finals (both of them).  Let's hope I get some time back...even though we're moving on to Neuro....

Bedside Table is DONE!

Finally!  I found the time to finish the bedside table I started in August.

Okay, well I didn't "find" the time.  I ignored my studying to finish the daggone table.  Look, it had to be done.  It's been driving me crazy sitting unfinished in the living room.

Would you like to see??

Before I made this table, I was using the little guy I re-did as a bedside table.  It was crammed with everything I tried to fit on there.  I certainly needed more space.

I used Ana White's plans for Farmhouse Bedside Table and followed her plans pretty closely, making only minor adjustments suggested by my father (master carpenter extraordinaire).  You can read about my progress while making it here.

Now I have way more space and a drawer!

I love, love, love it!  I'm still deciding what to put on the bottom shelf.  Maybe some books and a decorative vase?  Or possibly baskets to hold cabooshes of things? (I just made that word up).

The hardware is antique and very pretty.  I like that it adds some curve and elegance to the otherwise box-y style of the table.  It was also free from my dad's drawer of metal drawer pulls that he stumbles across while taking down houses or dumpster diving ;)

One last shot in place....



Since Greer's side of the bed is much narrower, I plan to make the same table but half the length.  However, Greer has requested that first I make a tv console so that we can get the antique record player out of his shop (it's finished!).


Participating in:
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Masterpiece Mondays @  Boogie Board Cottage
Amaze Me Mondays @ Dittle Dattle
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Hoosier Cabinet Top: Strippin'

So I've inherited a Hoosier Cabinet top from my dad who was going to throw it in the dump.

Excuse me?

Thank you, Greer, for telling him to see if I wanted it first.

Is it even a question?

Anyway, I'm pretty excited to start the process of refinishing this baby.  She's not in the best shape but believe you me she is gonna look goooood by the time I'm done with her.


If you want to read about how I strip......read on ...
So the process begins (while the paint and stain dry on my Farmhouse Bedside Table) with stripping!

I was so scared of using the stripping agent the first time simply because my dad said, "If you get it on your skin, it's gonna burn like hell."  Remember that note?  Well, I was wonderfully safe about it because I still haven't had any burns and hope that good streak continues.

...haha...listen to me...stripping and streak....

Anyway.

I started with the doors figuring it's always nice to start with the smaller stuff so I can feel accomplished before tackling the bigger chunk. 

Before using the stripping agent, I used a paint scraper to scrape off any loose paint flakes.  You'll know when there are no more loose paint flakes because the scraper will sound like it's running across a glass plate (i.e. you will shudder).

When all/most/some of the loose stuff is off (or you can't take the noise anymore = me), don those rubber gloves and get ready for some fun!

Use a crummy old paint brush and old container (coffee can, unusable Tupperware) you can dedicate to furniture stripping.  Dump some of the stripping agent into the container and slosh the paint brush around in it. --- I prefer to err on the side of using less because I am not about to try to get the unused stripping agent back into the original tub. ---

Using the paint brush, slap the stripper onto the wood everywhere you wish to take off paint.

Give the stripping agent a few minutes for the chemicals to eat away at the paint.
Pick your paint scraper back up and just scrape away the layers of paint.  It may take a few rounds of applying the stripper and scraping to get off all of the paint.

When most of the paint is off, sand the entire thing.  I start with lower grit paper, then finish with higher grit like 300 or so to smooth everything out.

You're ready to paint!

***This should also be used with furniture that is stained because most likely it has a wax finish.  You'll need the chemicals of the stripping agent to eat away at the wax finish because paint will not stick to the wax.