The Time I Bought a Teepee...

If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen that last weekend Michael and I met up with some friends at an auction.

Michael LOVEs auctions.  It's a sport to him.  He gets a thrill out of the competition of it all.

I'm more like "eh".  If I like something, I like to know what the price is, decide if I want to own it, buy it and be done.

But what I DO love is hanging out with friends and getting smoking deals for things.  And this auction had all of that.

I swear, every time we turned around we saw somebody else we knew! It was awesome!

Anywho, would you like to see what we brought home with us?...

The title wasn't lyin', we bought a teepee!!

Super cool, huh?!
You might be thinking, "why?!" And my answer, of course, would be.. "Why not?!"

I totally fell in love with it as soon as I saw it! And we almost missed out on the bid, but our friend Scott saved the day! He knew we wanted it and we weren't anywhere to be seen, so he bid on it for us.  $15!! I don't want to jump the gun in saying that it's the best $15 I ever spent but, isn't it?

We can see it in the corner of a kids room someday or in a playroom.  But before all that happens down the road, we just thought it would be a quirky item that our niece and nephew would have fun with now. 

I would have been happy to call the day a success at the teepee - It was absolutely the buy of the day - but we scored even more good stuff that day.

Three Sawhorses for $7.  We could always use more sawhorses. 

And also..

This little side table for $25.  Isn't she sweet?  I really like the interesting lines and the rope like legs.  Kind of nautical feeling which I'm always a fan of! I have plans to give this little gal a coat of paint.  Maybe navy!

We also bought this coffee table! Check out the drawers! I love that it has storage!!  Although, I'll admit, it does need a little work.  It's pretty scratched up and that bottom scroll-y piece is coming off for sure.  But other than that I think it is a really great piece!  I love the scale of it in the room.  I think it's much better compared to what we had before.  I am thinking about refinishing it similar to how I refinished my dining room table - stained top, green antiqued paint on the bottom.  But I'm open to other suggestions if you guys have some ideas!

So that's the gist of what we got at the auction! But more than that we got to hang out with a couple of our friends from small group, some other church friends, work friends, and some other friends we haven't seen in years! It was a Saturday well spent!

But ma recent deals haven't stopped there! The other day I stopped by my favorite local thrift shop called Home Again and found this little number.

 So cute and I love anything caned!  See the fun texture in the picture below? I love it!  I can't remember exactly what I paid for it but I don't think it was much over $20. 

I also have been waiting for these guys to go on sale at Kohls (online it says they are currently unavailable but they had quite a few in stock in the store). 

And it just so happened to work out that we got a 30% off coupon in the mail a week or so ago.  Double score! So we got these storage ottomans for about $50 bucks each... and knowing that you can easily spend more than $100 on one makes this girl feel pretty fantastic!
 
 I love a collected home, one that grows over time.  I'm all about finding furniture that come with stories.  Yes, stories and teepees! :-)

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Painting the Living Room

Slowly but surely I am decorating my way around our newly renovated 1st floor.

I started in the Kitchen.

Then I moved to the dining room. There's a couple of things yet to do in there but plans are on on hold until I receive the rug that I ordered in MAY! It was back ordered at the time I ordered it.  

Benjamin Moore Colors: Palladian Blue (Walls), Lehigh green (Table)

So then we turned our attention to the family room. We had paint sample colors up on the wall for months and we finally decided on a color.  Grant Beige by Benjamin Moore. Let's check out the complete before and after shall we?  Throwin' us all the way back to the very beginning when we bought our home in May of 2013.

Then there is this picture (which if you follow me on instagram you may have seen it). These two pictures were taken a year apart from each other, almost to the day.  It's still hard for me to believe, and I lived it!

The biggest reason it took us forever to paint our living room?  Choosing a color. (or, I guess, it could also be because we tore down all the drywall, redid the floors, replaced windows etc..)

Guys, choosing paint colors is so hard! I mean you literally have every option under the sun at your disposal....and then some.  With sneaky little undertones lurking, ready to jump out at you and say "Boo! I'm more pink than you thought!" or "Tada! I'm a snazzy shade of puke green, and you thought I was a soothing earthy olive."  Jerks.  Paint colors are jerks.

I mean, I like surprises but not ones that cost $40+ dollars a gallon and 5+ hours of work just to find out you have to do it all over again.  So what's a nurse and nerd to do?

Well there are a million tutorial on how to choose the perfect paint colors (here is one of my favorites).  And honestly I don't have a fool-proof process (not sure there is one) but I can tell you what I do and maybe it will help you.

1. Consider your room: What is the feel you want the room to have?  Light and airy?  Fresh and clean? Cozy? Earthy? Formal? Bold? Subtle? There are definitely moods that certain colors evoke so starting here can give you a direction of shades and color families.  For this room?  I wanted inviting and causal.  On the kitchen/dining room side, there are a lot of cool colors going on.  So I thought I would warm things up with a light sandy beige.

2.  Search your options: Once you have an idea of the color family you want, google it.  A good starting point is to google a favorite paint brand, for instance: "Best Valspar Blues" -Or- "Favorite Benjamin Moore Yellows" -Or- "Popular Sherman Williams Greys" etc.. I mean, why not use other people's experiences with paint color to your advantage?  There are lots popular colors and they are popular for a reason.  Why would you not want to take advantage of the colors that have been picked out from the huge crop of colors as some of the best?

 Here are all the shades of beige I considered. Putting them side by side like this helped me compare intensity, and tone. For example, it was pretty easy to eliminate Lenox tan right off the bat.


Then look for as many images using that paint color as possible on google images and/or pinterest (if it's a popular color, this should be easy, if not, you might have very limited pictures to sort through).  Pinning these images helps keep color choices in one neat and tidy place and makes it easy to reference back to.  Now pictures can only help to a certain point, but at least you can see how they look in a real room.  Plus, many times bloggers will explain more about what the color looks like in the room, which is helpful when you are trying to avoid certain undertones.  That being said I should probably tell you about Grant Beige.  There are definitely green and golden undertones that I was not anticipating. Look at how much it changes as you go from left to right.



3. Buy Samples and Consider Lighting:  Once you have a couple different options, pick your top favorites and buy sample pots of the paint.  We tested the Grant Beige and Shaker Beige and found that the Shaker beige had way too much red in it. 

Apply a square to each wall of the room (or paint pieces of cardboard) to see how the lighting changes the look of the paint.  It will look different at different times of the day.  And at different angles.  And with the lights on.  And with the lights off.  And depending what furniture and rugs you have in the room.  And no matter what you do.  Paint colors are jerks.  

But at least by applying it to the wall you can have a heads up in seeing that the largest wall in the room looks all wrong.  Maybe that beautiful beige color you picked out had so much red in it (like we found out with Shaker Beige) that it would make Santa Claus himself would say "ho ho no."

4. Paint and live with it.  As you are painting, don't jump to conclusions about how much you love or hate the color.

Look at those awesome helpers!

It takes time to see the full depth of your relationship with your wall color.  Of course sometimes it takes longer than others, but give it time.  Because maybe the sandy beige you were going for is blatantly golden looking for the half hour that the sun is setting and then the gold is gone and you are back to soft and sandy .  So is that half hour really worth repainting your room? - with no guarantee that the next color won't have some other problem?  Nope! At least not for me!

Additionally, as my mom wisely told me.  No one ever looks at your paint as closely as you do, especially when you just painted it.  So step back.  Live with it. And see how you feel! If it bothers you consistently for at least a month, it is probably safe to go ahead and make a change.  How am I feeling a month later about Grant Beige?  I like it! It reminds me of coffee with creamer... and I love me some coffee with creamer!  There are certain periods throughout the day that it catches my eye and I think hmm... not what I was going for (gold/a bit too green)... but for now, it certainly does not bother me enough to make me want to change it. 

So that has been my strategy for choosing paint colors thus far...it's definitely a learning process.

And now that we have the living room painted, we can move on to other orders of business. 

We moved some dressers to fill the space around the fireplace and add some storage.  You may remember that we will someday be adding some built-in bookshelves.  But for now, these guys will do the job. They are primed right now... so I'm not sure what color I will paint them.  Thoughts?  I am kinda digging the white.  I also think they would look good with bin pulls but I also don't mind their current hardware.

We added some art and accessories - basically just things we had on hand for now.  Some of the artwork are just place holders (like that water color that I have turned the wrong way which is driving Michael crazy!! ;-)

But I am really liking how this sailboat art turned out.  It is a wallpaper sample that I stuck in a frame we found in the attic.  I am planning to paint the mat white.

I have other artwork that I plan to hang up too.  Like this pretty water color painted by my Great Great Aunt -she also painted the little apple painting a couple pictures up.

I also sewed some pillow covers for my old pillows. With zippers! I'm so proud of myself!

We hung the TV above the fireplace.  I tried my darnedest to not have to mount the TV above the fireplace but I am really happy now with how it has brought back some much needed symmetry to this wall. 

So things are coming along in the living room.  I still need to order the fabric for the curtains - just some simple white and airy panels.  I am also considering ideas for the coffee table (paint it? replace it? upholster the top?).  We need some lamps, side tables, a slimmer desk behind the love seat, and a couple storage ottomans for extra seating and storage.  So we'll see! And as always, I'll keep you posted!

Do you have any tricks for picking out paint colors?  I'd love to hear about them!

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Refinishing My Dining Room Table - Staining and Painting

Welcome to a bonus Wednesday Post! There was just too much good stuff to cram it all in on Sunday.

Before we get started, I just want to share with you a little exciting feature this blog o' mine had.  Last month I linked up to a Before and After party over at Thrifty Decor Chick and this month our kitchen was featured! (It was also featured on Oak and Oats last month) How cool is that!? So to all of you who are new, welcome (confetti and balloons for you)!!  And to all of you who have been with us in this process from the very beginning, a ginormous Thank You (Banner Reading: "Most Valuable Readers" to all of you)!!!! As much as I write this blog for my own enjoyment and to keep track of our renovation, I also write it for all of you.  And receiving your encouraging words and hearing about how much you enjoy reading this blog, well, it means so much to me.  You'll probably never understand how much.  So, love to you all - old and new!

___________________________________________________________________________

On Sunday I posted about the weekend I got to spend with my beautiful friend Kelly.  We crafted an American flag out of a pallet.  And it was super easy and super cute - check it out here.  But that day, I started on a craft of my own.  But it wasn't so much a craft, as it was a large project that took me two weeks to finish.  And, finally, I have my dining room back and it is looking better than ever.

Do you remember my inspiration?

Man, I just love it! I love the wood and paint combination.  I love the green color that looks like it's been used for decades.  I love the farmhouse-y feel.

Here is our dining room table before:

Not a bad looking table from this angle. The table's lines are really lovely and the sides fold down which is kind of a fun feature that adds to its character.  My mom and I bought it at an auction of a coffee shop that was going out of business.  Isn't that fantastic? - not the going out of business part, the fact that I got it from an old coffee shop. Think of all the wonderful conversations that have happened, gathered around this table.  I'm glad we get to add to it AND give it some new life aesthetically.

The overall shape was nice but the table top had to be dealt with. It was looking a little rough - like this:

The finish had worn off in a bunch of spots and it was pretty scratched up.

At first, the plan was going to be to paint the whole thing.  But, of course, my better half had his doubts.  He was a bit reluctant to paint the entire dining room table green.  And honestly, the more I thought about it, the more I agreed with him. He's a pretty smart guy.

Plus, there is something about gathering around a wood-stained table and sharing a meal that just seems right! Not sure if you know what I mean....maybe its just me. 

So here was the plan:
1. Paint the bottom with chalk paint and antique it. 
2. Sand down the top, re-stain it, and reseal it.

Painting with Chalk Paint

I have wanted to experiment with chalk paint for a while and figured, why not? Let me just use my dining room table as my guinea pig!

The awesome thing about chalk paint is that the prep work before painting is kept to a minimum.  All you have to do is make sure the surface you are painting is clean and dry.  I used a sample pot of the Benjamin Moore Lehigh Green that I had purchased for this very reason.  There are tons of different recipes that you can use to make your own chalk paint, I got mine here -she also has a really helpful tutorial.  

Note: This is not the same as Chalkboard Paint.  Chalk Paint is a great option for furniture because of the lack of prep work needed before you paint (no sanding or priming required ahead of time) and the fact that, once painted, it sands really nicely if you want to antique or distress your piece.

So I starting painting the legs. I did two coats, but I waited a day in-between coats.  

I let the 2nd coat of paint dry for at least 24hrs before I felt like I could start antiquing.  

In order to antique the chalk paint, I used a 150 grit sandpaper and focused the distressing on places that may naturally get more of a beating (e.g. where a chair might hit it, where the sides fold down, where your feet might knock against it)... and also areas that I wanted to accentuate. 

Once I was done distressing the painted area, I swept it off with my sweeper and used a tack cloth to make sure all the sanding dust was off the legs.

Then it was time to seal the paint.  I used Minwax Finishing Wax to cover all the painted areas and seal it.  I used the Minwax Finishing Wax in Special Dark to give it more dimension and age. I read a lot of people's recommendation to put a coat of the natural wax on first and then add the dark wax after 4ish hours - It makes it easier to wipe up waxed areas, in case you got a little wax happy with the darker wax.  

Apply with cheese cloth or any lint free cloth.

That's that for the bottom half of the table!

The top half is a whole other story.

 

Staining

 

For starters, I had to get the old finish off the top of the table and I did that by using our electric sander with 80 grit sandpaper. Oh and please don't forget to use the proper safety equipment and take a scary picture of yourself.  Its very important.

See the difference?  The sander took the old finish off pretty easily and then I went back over everything again with a 120 grit sandpaper just to smooth it all out - paying close attention to see if there were areas where you could see the sander marks.

. 

I swept the dust off of the table with a shop vac and then dusted it off again with a tack cloth - to get the fine dust. 

Then it was time to stain it.  I just used the left over wood conditioner, stain, and polyurethane that we used to stain our mantel so it was nice to have everything on hand.  I used wood conditioner to allow the wood to absorb the stain more readily and evenly.  I have read that this step is especially important for non-hardwoods. Since I didn't know what kind of wood I was dealing with, I figured it couldn't hurt.  

The directions say to wait until all wood conditioner is dry about 15min before applying the stain.  When applying stain, you'll want to wear gloves to protect your hands from getting stained - I used dish-washing gloves.  I used some old rags, dipped into the stain and wiped with the grain.  I waited several minutes to let the stain sink in and then I wiped it away with another rag.  I wanted the table to be fairly dark so I did three rounds of stain application. Throughout this process, keep the windows open or do this in a well-ventilated area to decrease fume inhalation. 

I waited 24 hours and then applied my first coat of polyurethane.  I like to use foam brushes because they are cheap and I can easily throw them away after each coat.  I'm sure a bristled brush would give a better finish but this worked well enough for me.

I applied a thin coat, being careful to smooth out any drips or heavily applied areas.
Allow to dry 24hrs.
Sand with 220 grit sanding block or sand paper - I like sanding blocks because they are easier to hold and control for this type of job.
Clean off sanding dust -again I swept it off and then wiped it down with a tack cloth.  Sanding between coats is an important step.  If you want a smooth table top, don't skip this step!

Repeat x2. I wanted the table to have 3 coats of polyurethane since, after all, it is our dining room table and it needs to be able to take a beating.

Ok... What do ya think?

 A Close up of the table top.

  

And the legs.

 Here is the finished product compared to the inspiration.

All done and ready to be gathered around.  Come on over for some homemade pizza! Or maybe some pulled pork BBQ and sweet potato fries. - It's our house favorite. 

Thanks again for all your super generous support! I always post on Facebook when I have a new post out. But if you would like to subscribe, you can do so Via Email (sidebar or below) or via Bloglovin (click on the + sign on the sidebar or below).

Both ways to subscribe are great for keeping up with the blog.  I personally subscribe to all the blogs I follow via Bloglovin because it keeps them nicely organized and together.  I use the Bloglovin App and check it daily to see if my favorite blogs have posted.  Bloglovin will also suggest blogs that are similar to the ones you are currently following - nothing better than finding a new blog.   

Here's a list of all the blogs I follow if you are interested:

Young House Love / Young House Life (The first blog I ever followed)
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Bower Power
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Putting Me Together
Hooked on Houses
Nesting Place
Let Me Tell You..
Uncharted Territory
Again We Say Rejoice
House of Hepworth
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True Life of KMK
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Funday Monday, Thrifty Decor Chick July Before and After Party

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