DIY: Farmhouse Table Up Cycle

Well folks, this project we totally lucked into. We happened into DI for a reason I can't remember. We always take a pass by the furniture in case something catches our eye. Well, something did. We picked up this table for  $50.

I know. It looks terrible. Trust me. It was even worse than the picture shows. We both seriously doubted the potential of this table.

We started sanding and we couldn't believe what we found.

All hard wood. No laminate. We realized what a nice piece of furniture we had after a day of sanding by hand.

Now, I had a vision of what I wanted this table to look like. So we headed off to our favorite DIY store, Home Depot. We bought ebony stain. We took it home and we were so excited to get started. As soon as the little was down for the evening, we went to work. We learned two things this night.

1. NEVER stain in the dark or even kind of dark.
2. ALWAYS test a small piece before you stain the entire thing.

In the morning this is what we found.

A black table. The intent was not to have a black table. Did you know ebony was black? I didn't. So, we went to work sanding again. But, did you know black is even harder to get off? So we had to borrow a sander. We also used paint stripper it was that difficult. Eventually, after much more work sanding than the first time around we got the table looking like a clean cutting board again.

We went back to the DIY headquarters and purchased another stain. This time we got espresso. We stained totally in daylight and we tested a small area firs to make sure it was the desired effect. It was! Thank goodness we didn't have to spend anymore time doing deep sanding.

This photo is from before we sealed it.

Did you know when up cycle a piece of furniture you should really seal it for longevity? This meant more sanding, but thankfully it was light sanding. So yes, you are understanding me correctly. We sanded the table after it was stained. But only after we had applied two coats of polyurethane clear coat. We used 220 sandpaper and lightly stained to take out the brush strokes from applying the seal. We then applied another coat of sealant and then we sanded this table to the last time using a 500 grit sandpaper. PS you can't find 500 at DIY Headquarters. You have to go to an auto store. Then after we sanded using the 500 sandpaper, we brought the table into the house and we applied the final coat of sealant. WAX. We buffed it on and then buffed it off. Now, we have a  beautiful dining set. Don't worry, I have plans to make benches to match!

If you didn't notice a recurring theme with this project it was this, I HATE SANDING. This is the most sanding we have ever done on a project. Mostly because of the error we made. But still, so much sanding. Most of it done by hand. If you decide to up cycle a table and have questions, leave me a comment!

Just Be Kind

I find myself in a weird place in life right now. I see things going on around me in the world. I really don't like what I'm seeing. After a few different incidences have occurred in my life I have come to a new motto:

Just be kind.

You don't know where people are coming from, what they are going through, or what has happened to make them act the way they are acting.  So just be kind.

It seems simple right? But for some reason, its not.

As I have tried to bring this motto to the forefront of my mind, I try to incorporate it in the different encounter I have with people daily. The new motto has really changed the way I look at people. More often than not, when someone is unkind to me, I don't know what happened with them that day to lead them to have a short fuse. So, I'm trying to just be kind. It isn't easy, but I'm still working on it.

What are you working on?

DIY: Reupholstery

Have you ever wanted to reupholster something, but weren't sure you were up for it? Well make sure you are up for it before you start.

Begin by stripping the your piece of furniture. For me, it was a chair. So, begin stripping the chair layer by layer. Examine the item and find the furthermost outer piece of fabric. Then using a screwdriver pull the staple out. 

As you remove each piece of fabric, number it. You will want to number each piece so when you start reapplying the fabric you can put it back on in the order it came off. 

Once you have your chair all stripped you will then be able to measure the pieces to see how much new fabric you will need to buy. Use the pieces you removed as your pattern and keep the patterned numbers also. 

We reused everything from our chair that we could. Buttons, welting, padding, etc. anything that was still in good enough condition to reuse. This helped to cut down the cost. 

There was quite a bit of sewing that went into place to assemble all the pieces back together in the correct way. 

I would say overall then project took 30 hours. 

Supplies you will need:

-Staple gun

-Staples

-Upholstery Fabric

-Muslin or another plain fabric to use for the pulls

-Sewing machine

-Screwdriver 

-Hammer

 Before

During

After

In the during photo you can see the muslin we used for the pulls as well as the chair mostly taken apart. 

Overall, this was a rewarding project, but quite a bit more work than we were expecting. Just make sure to take a lot of pictures and number every piece you take off the chair as you take it off. Happy re-upholstery! 

Moving On

I've been thinking a lot lately about growing up and moving on. It's weird to watch a new school year start and see the happy excited faces of new college freshmen. The weird part is to realize how many of those faces you have seen and come to know that you will never see again. We left our undergraduate haven of Cedar City over a year ago. Since then, many of our friends and contacts have too left that haven. I found myself realizing the other day, chances are I will never see the majority of them ever again. Life goes on, people move on, and unfortunately we grow up.

I used to love the quote about friends being silver and gold. I don't think I understood it before now. I have come to know people and then seen them leave and now I've seen myself leave. It just goes to show nothing stays the same for very long.

Here in Logan, we have made some of the best friends we have ever had in our adult life. We have a hard time believing we have already lived here for a year and have less than a year left. We wish we could shrink our friends and take them with us to Washington. But we know that we cannot.

I like the social media lets you keep a surface relationship with those people you have left behind as you have moved on. But at the same time I hate that it isn't the deep relationship where you knew the everyday joys and heartaches as you once did.

Growing up isn't all its cracked up to be. I wish I could have stayed little longer. But I've moved on. One day I want to look back and realize that while moving on was essential for me, it was also essential to those friends. Our paths in life are all different. That is why we have families to take with us so we aren't truly alone.