Dining do-overs... ready to strip!

            Had a busy weekend, but managed to get the dining room table and chairs stripped and the chair seats recovered. Here is one chair after I stripped it and one before. I want a lighter finish on the set. It still had the original seats on it.

            I put more padding on the seats and recovered them. They are just sitting on the bases currently. Once I get the chairs polyurethaned I will attache them permanently. 

 

        Here is a shot of the table all stripped and ready to be refinished. I had to strip the top of the table 6 times!! It has some water spots in the old finish I wasn't sure was going to come out. In the end they did. I am so please with the way it looks stripped.

      A better view of just the top of the table. The center piece folds in half and hides under the table when it is pushed together. I will most likely keep it opened all the time for the bigger size. The person I purchased it from had an old set of table pads for it they gave me. Not pretty to look at but they will be under a tablecloth when we use the table so who cares?

      Another view of the table. Those legs were a bear to strip! Glad that is done.

       I have to wait a few days after stripping the set before I can apply the polyurethane. Hope to get to it this coming weekend. I use my garage as a work area which is why the table is back in the dining room until I can work on it again.  Can't wait to get this set finished and use it.

Let them eat....sitting down!

 

         The bathroom project was such a huge success it inspired me to dive right into the dining room table and chairs project. I found this table and chairs on Craigs List. We had to drive about an hour to pick it up but the price was right. (I got the whole set for $150.00!!)  It wasn't in too bad of shape, just needed refinishing and some tightening up in spots.

I love antiques but I am not one of those people that feel it detracts from the value if you refinish. I buy the pieces I do because I love them and they fit what I am searching for, not for the investment value.

Here is what it currently looks like:

The lighter table in the background is the table my husbands ex left behind. Just not my style, so it has been sold on Craigs List. ( My daughters say I am a CL junkie! Ha!) Just waiting for the people to come pick it up. I plan on starting on this project this weekend so hope to have more to post on Monday.

Remodeling, reusing, renewing, rewarding!

Never thought about blogging about all the things I have done around the house until I read about The Pintester Movement .

Soooo, since we have been in the house together I have been slowly remodeling each room to reflect my (our) tastes as opposed to his ex's. Not hard to do as they didn't do much of anything but paint a few rooms. Our latest endeavor was the boys/guest bathroom. I got the idea for the walls from this pin on Pinterest: FabulousHomeBlog

Then it was just getting my husband motivated to help me with it.....

This is how the bathroom looked when we started:

 

First thing was to get rid of the ugly green/brown ceramic tile! Good way to get out your frustrations....

What a job!

 New under-layment going down....

In the original post showing these walls, they didn't put wood on the walls, just the strips. We wanted a more finished look so we choose to put 1/4" luan board on the walls. We used a height of 5 ft.

Below we have the walls done and the strips added. We also have the new flooring in. It

is a laminate whitewashed wood. The strips are 3/16" hardboard.

 Here is a view from the tub...

All painted! It took one coat of primer and two coats of white paint. Notice we added a rail along the top.

For the vanity I found an old (inexpensive) dresser at an antique store. Don't you love those drawer pulls?

They reminded me of boobs and butts. :)

 I stripped it and painted it white.

 I also found an antique mirror and did the same thing. This was for a dresser top so the two sides fold in.

The dresser/vanity and mirror installed. I had to use a bar sink in order to fit the dresser top, but I like it as it is deeper than a regular bathroom sink. I thought I would lose a lot of the drawer space but my husband found a way to modify the drawers so that every one of them are useable! The mirror is hung using a French cleat system. The only thing we didn't replace is the light fixture.

another view...

The artwork  I chose for the boys. The prints I found online, the frames at Michaels....

Boris, Norris & Horace

The final result:

I found the rug, which is made from old blue jeans at the same antique store I found the dresser. I still need to find something to put on the back of the toilet. The principle users of this bath are 9 & 11 yr old boys so it has to be somewhat kid friendly.  Total cost of the materials, including the dresser, mirror, artwork, new shower curtain, rug & towels was around $750.00.

Next project is a dining room table and chairs I found on Craigs List that needs to be refinished. Stay tuned....

As time goes by...

Holy moly! It's been, once again, over a year since I've updated this blog. As you can see I really suck at the blog thing. Life is so full and busy! I love it. I, however, signed up to do this Pintester Movement thing ( http://archive.aweber.com/pintesterweekly/6IODU/h/Pintester_Weekly.htm ) about a project whose conception arose from a Pin I saw on Pinterest so figured I should update this before that all comes down the pipe.

A lot has happened in the past year. Dan and I got married on July 21st. We kept it a secret from practically everyone, our kids, our siblings, even our mothers! It was perfect. He proposed to me at my family reunion and we married 5 min. later. My cousin, whose home the reunion was at, was the only one who knew what was going on and was instrumental in helping us get things organized. We married on her beach, barefoot, with our children standing beside us. It was a special reunion, a celebration of the 100th year since my Grandfather came to America. He was supposed to sail on the Titanic but traded tickets with his best friend, who was to sail on an earlier ship. Fate was with my grandfather that day! We were *this close* to not being here!

We have settled into our home, made some changes (the Pinterest boards helping). We have also settled into our married life together. Our bonds with each other and the kids have grown and strengthened. We have knit ourselves into a 'family'. Not that there haven't been speed bumps along the way, as there have been. However, we get them smoothed out and cruise on down the road together.

Dan was offered a new position at work and absolutely LOVES it. Doing what he loves (and at times hates) more than anything in the world. As he says so often during a frustrating moment..."Computers will be the death of me yet".  They can be so fantastically annoying at times, but he is very good at getting them figured out.

A few nights ago we had to deal with a dog that tangled with a skunk....ewwwww. Nasty stuff.  I got the remedy for that from Pinterest and it worked like a charm! My daughters say I am obsessed with Pinterest. They may be correct in that assessment. There are just so many great ideas on that site.

One thing I've learned in the past year is that nothing in our life is guaranteed.Things change in a heartbeat. Family members are diagnosed with cancer, a child finally gets a job using their degree, things come and go, as do friends. What it all boils down to, for me at least, is to learn to cherish each moment you have. Enjoy it , savor it, embrace it, LIVE it. You never know how many more moments you'll have. Don't forget to tell the people you love that you love them. Don't assume they know, tell them anyway, often.

Musings of a year gone by....

Been almost a year since I've posted anything on here. Frankly, I forgot all about it. Funny how life gets in the way of things at times. That's a good thing I feel. As with anyone a lot has happened, changed, improved, disappeared, adjusted....

I lost a cherished member of my family. Death is always more difficult for those of us left behind. In the midst of my grief I was comforted by the fact that he was no longer suffering. I still have moments when I think he is around and it takes a minute for my mind to process the fact that he is in fact gone.

I have settled in quite firmly in my new life. Loving the life I have now. I am truly blessed. I think for the most part the kinks have been ironed out. Dan worries that I will get tired of helping to raise his boys. I find so much joy in spending time with them. Boys are totally different than girls and I feel so lucky to be able to experience that. It certainly is different having young kids around at an age when most of my peers are becoming Grandparents, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. There is something to be said for being an older parent. One doesn't have to 'grow up' with ones children. You realize not to sweat the small stuff because it just doesn't matter all that much in the scheme of things.  At least that is my experience.

Let the good times roll

Been a month of ups and downs. Mostly ups. Spending time with good friends and wonderful family. Just had our annual family reunion. It's always a great time, however it was even better this year because a) more of the extended family came and b) I got to share my family with my *new* family. It can be an adventure introducing new ingredients into an old recipe. But we seem to have created a great new concoction. One I hope stays around for a long, long time.

Oh, it's not been without some aches and pains. Disappointments and regrets. Questioning. But what I have now is worth the effort to work through all those things. Learning to trust. Trying to forget.  We can change the way we feel, just by deciding that we're going to feel differently. Sometimes we can do this instantly. Sometimes, it takes a while to happen. But it happens.

Bittersweet

So many new beginnings, so much to look forward to yet it is tinged with sadness. It's said with every door that closes another one opens. It works in reverse too---with every door that opens one closes. It's bittersweet to lose a friendship through no fault of your own. But sometimes it just can't be saved. Expectations of one or the other just can't be met. While I know it has to go, or end, I can't help but regret the loss. It's the one cloud in my otherwise sunny life at the moment. Perhaps someday the friendship can be revived. If not, I will cherish the memories of what was. Maybe this loss was to make room for a new friendship? I'm staying open to all probabilities...

Moving forward

 Yesterday, I turned in the keys to the apartment I had rented for the past 10 years. The end of a decade. What a decade. Today is the 10 yr. anniversary of my working where I do. It's been 10 years since my marriage of 18 yrs dissolved. Not much changed until this last year and it has been one change after another. Both girls out of high school and into college. Meeting a wonderful man, albeit nothing that I had envisioned. (Younger, has young kids, no money, etc.) Moving into a beautiful house with said wonderful man. A 'family' (his) that I just love and I believe they feel the same about me. A future that looks to be happy, healthy, prosperous, and secure. Who'd a thunk it?

I feel like my life is a flower bud slowly opening up, revealing more and more great things each day. I keep waiting for the *other* shoe to drop. It has been too easy, too comfortable. But,for now, I am just accepting that I get to have time to be happy and content. Let the good times roll....and continue!

Playing in the rain

 So last night, in the midst of some pretty fierce storms, there was a lull in the action for a few hours with just a gentle rain. Charlie wanted me to go out and check on the iris's we transplanted from my place to the house. We took a peek at them and they are fine, ready to bloom. That led to making footprints on the front porch with our bare feet. Max came out to join us and then Dan and the dog. We were all running around in the rain. The boys wanted to go splash in the puddles on the driveway. I decided to join them. Best.Time.Ever! What a great feeling to run and splash in the puddles, throw worms at each other, and just act like a kid again. I need to do that more often. We grow up and forget about the simple pleasures in life. We ended up playing some basketball, throwing a football, Max asked if he could sit in a puddle and I said "Of course!".  The boys are afraid of storms and after we were done playing they said they had a lot of fun and I don't think the rain was as threatening to them. I know *I* had a lot of fun.... been a long time since I played like a kid in the rain. Think I shall do more of it in the future.

The beginning

I used to do blogging before blogging existed. Way back when I got my first computer, running Win 3.0, I would send out daily emails to my friends and family sharing my day. If I didn't send something out I would get emails from people wondering where I was at and what was going on. Funny how you think what you are doing isn't all that important to others but it is.

I don't know if I'll keep up with this or not. I kept a journal for 20+ years and I finally stopped that. I miss it sometimes. Totally different though putting my thoughts down in a private journal and posting them on this blog.... so we shall see.