coffee talk

BEFORE:

Let me just start by saying I got this coffee table for $5 at a yard sale.  I love yard sales.  But, ya know, they just don't make 'em like they used to.  Back in the good ol' days, you could find everything and anything at them!  But now (and, maybe I'm just going to the wrong ones?) it seems they are all and only clothes.  Maybe a stray toddler toy... but clothes clothes clothes!  I don't WANT your clothes!  I want your ugly furniture I can make purty!

I already had the stain on hand from the aquarium transformation (which, was a leftover stain my mom had & wasn't using!)  It's a polyurethane finish & stain all in one, in Antique Pine.  I love the color, and ya just can't beat the price (er, free!)  So, after a quick sanding, especially where there was a watermark and discoloration, I got to work.  I would advise if you are doing a similar project to work from the bottom up.  This way, you don't have to flip the table onto it's newly-stained-top to get to the bottom, nor do you have to work around a wet top trying not to get on your arms as you reach underneath.  Second tip?  Think about the easiest way to stain the wood going with the grain,* especially when you have the planks put together at contrasting angles.  I had difficulty getting the outside, border planks stained without messing up the middle ones!  But, if you find you mess up just get some more stain and start over.  No harm no foul.


*ALWAYS GO WITH THE GRAIN!


AFTER:

I'm so loving this table!  The wood really took on the stain nicely and it has such a great deep color while keeping some golden glow shining through.  Absolutely thrilled!  And, kinda neurotic (read: violent) about keeping this sucker protected from now on... COASTERS, PEOPLE!  Coasters...

I have since got two baskets from Ikea to perfectly fit under, on the lower shelf to hide all the miscellaneous items needed on or in a coffee table- video game controls, remote, magazines, etc etc.

So, whatcha think?  Just tell me it's awesome, please?  It will make me happy.

curtain closed closet

One of the first things I did when moving in was remove some HORRIBLE hanging, accordion closet doors in my master bedroom.  Wasn't difficult... they were already 1/2 falling off!  So, for the better part of a year and a half, this is how my closet presented itself to the world:

Other than being too busy with other projects, I really don't have a reason why I didn't just install new, sliding closet doors...

I was REALLY REALLY busy, ok?*

So, I had some extra window scarves that happened to match my bedspread perfectly.  So, after hanging a $5 curtain rod,** VOILA!

It's a good, interim fix.  The curtains are usually open, as life it just easier that way.  But when company comes, I can close them for a more finished, (though not completely sealed off), look.  Whatcha think?

(Oh, and YHL totally has curtain-closed-closets, too... but theirs were installed and make for something of a dramatic built-in-bed look!  Check it out here)


*Yeah, I don't believe it, either.
**Ok, it wasn't nearly that easy or fast!  It's an awkward angle, and you have to prop a flashlight up to see.  And then I kept hitting something that was NOT drillable*** or hitting NOTHING which meant the screws didn't hold, but ya know what?  NO ONE will see these itty bitty mistakes.  So there.
***Why isn't "drillable" a word?