rusty red revamp

our lovely coffee table joined our family as an outdoor piece of furniture, 

but we really didn't buy the furniture because of the table.

we just liked everything else.
 i looked at it everyday for weeks, trying to envision its place in our living room...

::pros::
great overall size
space to place baskets that can hold my random stuff magazines
character in its legs and wooden slats

::cons::
too tall
needs to be refinished 

so, after a few lonely months in the backyard, it was ready for a new home.

it receives much more daily love and attention in its new spot.

 let me show you how we got to this point...

{1}

the height of the table was a little too tall for the family room, so we sawed off its legs.

poor guy.

{2}

time to sand!

make sure to sand off all the previous stain, and to create a smooth surface

{3}

brush off the excess dust.

wipe it clean with a damp rag.

maybe twice, depending on how much dust you made.

{4}

stain it.

we chose minwax english chestnut,

which we also used to stain our kitchen table here.

i was planning on painting the bottom half rather than staining it.

to prevent wiping up drips that might fall through the cracks I spread out newspaper

on the bottom level.

i actually took the picture of newspaper after staining one coat.

{5}

paint it 

no, i didn't prime it which i was very glad about after just painting one coat of red.

geez, those slats were a pain to paint

can't find my painting pic, but here is a good shot of the legs

 

{7}

decorate it. 

 love it.

go here for some great pointers on how to decorate your coffee table. 

this was my first piece of furniture to redo, and it really boosted my confidence.

start on something rather simple, with a few easy steps.

then you'll feel like conquering the world, or something like this guy

milk glass darlings

i saw these darlings at a local thrift store, 

and completely fell head over heels.

especially because they were $2.50/ea

i love the details.

i love that their holes lend them to being held differently than a typical plate.

i love that these two are similar, yet different.

i really love how darling they look {tied up with string}, hanging around my fabulous thrifty mirror.

gold to glazed

i've been mulling over ideas in my head,  for. many. months.

about what to hang on our breakfast room wall.

i found the perfect pieces at a fabulous thrift store in downtown.

check out our fabulous finds from the weekend!

 those will be perfect for our breakfast room wall!

mirror: $30

plates: $2.50/ea

the gold on that mirror just wasn't working for me,

 so i decided to try my hand at glazing.

let's begin.

{1}

spray paint the mirror white

{2}

buy a pint of ralph lauren faux glaze at home depot.

tint with your chosen RL paint color.

i chose to tint with desert boot.

{3}

using a paint brush, glaze your desired area.

for best results, glaze an area with texture/design so the glaze will nicely accentuate it

{4}

wipe off the excess glaze with a damp rag

{5}

don't panic if you're not crazy about it halfway through,

the finished product will rock.

{6}

repeat steps 3 & 4 around the entire mirror,

step back and enjoy your new masterpiece.

{7}

sweetly ask hubby to hang it on your breakfast room wall.

love it. 

ta-da

want to see what we did with those precious milk-glass plates? check it out, here!

10 projects :: 10 days {halfway}

I am happy to report that we're right on schedule!

It's been 6 days, and we have 6 projects accomplished.

It's become a hubby and wifey joint effort, 

because he's stronger, has cool power tools,

and loves helping out with my decorating ideas.

Here is the first half of our list:

click the links to connect to the "how to" posts

{1} update medicine cabinet from c-list

 {2} accessorize coffee table

{3} build decorator table

{4} find oval mirror, paint, & hang

{5} hang white plates with brown ribbon

check out hubby relaxing and admiring our fabulous new wall.

i've loved having a timeline by which to complete these tasks.

can't wait to show you the other half on friday!

find the other taskers great progress here.

today :: coffee tables

i prefer to start my morning watching the today show,

while sipping coffee and eating pastries

while making little one's breakfast and cleaning the house.

i love staying up to date on current events & politics, but even more than that i love their little tidbits...how to decorate for a 4th of july picnic, hot summer styles, perfect party cocktails,

hollywood gossip (don't judge) and best of all home ideas.

yesterday, they had a little blurb on decorating your home for the summer. interior designer Elaine Griffin (from better homes and gardens) gave budget friendly advice. i recorded it and watched it a few times, then came and found their video of the segment online. {it's under the title small home style tips have big impacts}they really had some great ideas, and all were quite budget friendly.

i'll be highlighting some of her great points here for the next week,

but for today we're talking...

::coffee tables::

Elaine gave us 4 items that are necessities for a coffee table, and then she said to choose 3 of the 4. i love that she left room for the viewer to make the appropriate choices for her home! i am not always about decorating rules, but its nice to get advice about those tough spots in a home.

:1: tray 

go with a neutral or switch out patterned trays with the seasons

completely coastal

this green tray is perfect for summer, and i'm loving that shell

the kids probably found it at the beach 

 kaboodle.com

so sneaky, they checked #1 off the list when they bought that table

the entire table is a tray!

completely coastal

love how they're putting that tray to use...

she's got all "must have"4 items displayed perfectly.

that entire room is refreshing.

:2: books

switch out seasonally, bright colors summer and darker colors in the fall

apartment therapy

these are a great example of a neutral selection

here are some seasonal pics:

:winter:

amazon

:spring:

 

:summer:

:fall:

makes me want to browse barnes and noble to pick some seasonal faves, then head to half price books and find them for a real deal!

:3: objects

these can swap seasonally, too,

but here are some great summer selections.

completely coastal

love the seashells and shabby knobish object

pottery barn

those objects look devine.

they're having a lovely wine tasting, it seems.

 ballard designs 

simple greenery in a modern glass vase,

a great way to bring the summer indoors.

 blissfully domestic

love the lemonade, love the bright summery flowers. 

:4: decorative box

once again, go neutral or swap out a pattern with the seasons

pottery barn

look!

they have two decorative boxes.

they coordinated all 4 items quite nicely.

big surprise. it's pb.

completely coastal

what a coastal chic decorative box they have there.

i love all of those ideas!

{1}i knew there needed to be books, but i love the idea of seasonal picks.

{2}why not set your drink, remote, or books on your darling tray while resting on the couch.

{3}objects are the perfect way to spruce up your coffee table for any season.

{4}as for the decorative box, i can just picture little one dropping it on the floor,

so i'm leaving that one out of my coffee table lineup. but hey, it might just work perfectly for you! so which 3 would you choose?

i'll post my own pics once i make some changes to our coffee table's decor.

updated 6/28: done.
love my new accessories


i found these accessories for great prices, too:

tray for $3 on tjmaxx clearance. go ahead, call me a "maxx-inista."

the books were given to me by mom and dad. {read: free}

lantern on clearance at home goods for $10
baskets underneath for around $12/ea @ target

 so what do you have on your coffee table? or what would you like to have?

hob lob's knobs

I can't say enough how excited I am to begin Shabby Chic Cottage's 

10 tasks in 10 days challenge!

 

one of my projects involves adding some new hardware fabulous knobs

to a c-list find.

so little one and i headed to hob lob to see what we could find...

i probably browsed the knob aisle for 10 minutes...

just wishing i had more places in my house that needed them!

these little zinnia knobs tickle my fancy

southernliving.com

did you know they are the same knobs that anthro has?

they just go on 1/2 price, and anthro's don't.

                                                                                                                                          pinkybrown inc.

 boston.com

 
maybe not quite as much of a selection as anthro,
but definitely something that will wrap itself around your little finger.

can't wait to get started on the project...
hopefully it will be revealed soon!


p.s:
when we were leaving, little one waved "bye bye" for the first time!
 i kinda teared up.  he is just so adorable!