Thursday, April 3, 2014

RECLAIMED COFFEE TABLE

When we tore our old deck down I thought it would such a waste not to reuse the wood that was left.  I finally decided that I wanted to try to make a hybrid coffee table out of an old table I found at the junk store ($10) and the deck wood.  The table had nice legs but a cheap looking top.

This is a picture of the table after I had cleaned it up and given a couple coats of Java gel stain.
The wood was in pretty bad shape but I cleaned it up with a power washer.  If you have never used one of those things let me tell you they are awesome! It took off dirt I didn't even realize was there.  The wood looked great after it had dried.  I wanted an authentic rustic look so I left the nails in the boards and cut them off on the back side.

I used the table as a guide and cut the wood a few inches longer on both ends for an over hang and about an inch on the long sides. I made the cuts so the nails were staggered along each board.
I tried two different stains, Dark Walnut and Java.  I decided I like the Dark Walnut the best.  It is at the top of the wood.
After the stain, I gave the boards three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane.  I should have tried that along with the stain because it is just a bit too shiny for my taste.  My husband helped me attach the boards to the table with wood screws.  

It isn't too bad for something that I just wanted to try out.  I will probably end up using it in the new garage rec room.  


Tuesday, April 1, 2014

SHABBY FOOTSTOOL


I had a drawer left over from my TV stand project. I though I would make a tray out of it but wasn't sure.

I got a new camera for Christmas and I now cannot find the pics of the drawer makeover but it was a simple coat or two of Annie Sloan Old White Chalk paint, a coat of dark wax and some distressing.

  It sat in the basement that way for a while, a looong while, till I decided it would make a great foot stool for my reading nook instead of a tray.



I found some adorable, chunky feet at Lowes and gave them the same treatment as the drawer.
I figured out a general idea of where I wanted to place the legs and made a 2 inch square out of paper to make it easy to mark the area to drill the holes. I placed the square in the corner and made a mark at the corner.  I repeated this all the way around for all four feet.  
The screws on the feet had to be unwound a bit so they would be long enough to fit through the drawer with enough room for a washer and bolt.
That was pretty much it for the stool.  I then went to JoAnns and bought a square of polyfill stuff.  I don't really know how to define it but it was less expensive than foam and had a nice stiffness I thought would be good for a stool.  I had to trim a bit off one side so that it would fit inside the drawer.  It was pretty easy with a pair of large, sharp scissors.
I had some cotton batting on hand so I decided to give it an extra layer of softness.  I draped it over the block and pinned the edges as shown on the left side then trimmed off the excess as shown on the right side. I then took it off and sewed up the corners.
I pressed it, flipped it and put it over the block.  

I repeated the process with some fabric I had left over from some pillows I had previously made.I didn't finish it off on the bottom because I am not sure I want to keep that fabric.  It all got tucked into the drawer and ta da, a cute little foot stool.

How sweet are those chubby little feet?  It not only looks cool but I use it all the time.  In fact my feet are propped up on it right now as I right this blog post!

Hope you have an awesome week!
KIM

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