Visiting!

Happy Saturday!
Today you can find me over at Black Tag Diaries...

With a guest post about this project! 

If you don't know Julia already, you are missing out... she is one of the most well-rounded women I know. Her blog is chock full of inspiration... life, crafts, weddings, design, humor, photography... she's got it all. I'm honored that she asked me to guest post while she's having the time of her life on an Alaskan cruise! (jealous) She's got an awesome line-up in her absence. Check it out!

xo

Lauren

Table Top : Refinished!

I recently refinished the top of the pedestal table we inherited from Matt's parents... it has lived many lives! Here's the transformation!! (Also, check out this post, featured at Bird and Branch Redesign):

Let me start by saying, I consider myself a novice at all things crafty. "Trial and Error" is my mantra. This was definitely the case in my most recent furniture project: refinishing our dining table! Matt’s parents were so kind as to donate a dining room set to his “broke bachelor pad” fund right out of college. These pieces are gems… they were raw oak when he inherited them, and Matt took it upon himself (and a few willing friends), to paint the entire set his favorite color: BLACK. To give credit where credit is due, he did try to spiff them up a bit by rubbing a cherry red stain on the black furniture…that proceeded to come off in boatloads upon every dusting. Apparently, these boys didn’t know about poly…

Moving on… only a few short months after being married and taking 99% control of décor (he still has a Georgia Bulldogs half bath... you can’t win ‘em all, ladies), I took it upon myself to paint the table, chairs, and coordinating hutches a sweet, creamy white. “Antique Lace”, to be exact and it is lovely.

I quickly grew tired of the tabletop, though, and decided to stain it to closely match our new hardwoods. I picked out my stain, bundled up on a chilly-and-45-degree day, and went to work. (I’m a little over-eager at times!)

I started stripping the tabletop with citristrip from Lowe’s.

It really is a miracle worker. It took two coats until I got down to the poly that was on the original oak. Can’t you see it working?? Yeah… me neither.

But it does! It does!

Let me go on a tangent here by saying, with all of my previous furniture redo’s, I have always sanded by hand. I’m stubborn, have quite a collection of sandpaper in a range of grits, and honestly enjoyed the burn it gave my triceps. (Ok, that last one is an exaggeration). I sanded this thing down to the best of my ability, gave it one last coat of stripper “just in case”, and went to town with stain.


Except it wouldn’t get any darker! I waited a day in between each coat, but by the third day and third coat of stain, I was only seeing a medium walnut color. Matt finally convinced me that I needed to sand it down further than I had previously, and then dragged me to Lowe’s to bitterly and reluctantly purchase a palm sander. (Stubborn.)


Let me tell you… I LOVE this sander. Not only is it a power tool (LOVE), it’s MY power tool. And so we sanded that baby clean…

And started over. (Trial and Error, remember?)


I put 4 coats on total of the Minwax stain, and achieved the most beautiful shade of walnut. It was like magic! (Had I only done it right the first time…)

I finished it off with 5 coats of poly (you can never have too much poly), sanding lightly with 220 grit between each coat. I deliberated for quite some time on the best way to truly protect a table that will get as much wear and tear as this, and decided on tried-and-true polycrylic. Water based, water-resistant… I used semi-gloss and it delivered a beautiful sheen.

We’re so pleased!

It was quite a lot of work, but completely worth it in the end... But let's be honest... Isn't that how it always goes?


Head over to Bird and Branch Redesign to see my table featured, and get lost in all of Jessamie's beautiful projects while you're there!




-Lauren

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Guest Post!

Check out my very first guest post over at Bird and Branch Redesign!

Jessamie is a dear friend of my husband's and truly one of my favorite bloggers. She's always got a beautiful project in the works and I absolutely love her "Friday Finds" series. She's got a good eye for treasures! Check out her beautiful home over at her family's blog, too!


Thanks for the opportunity to guest post, Jessamie! It was great fun!


xo, 
Lauren