Join me as I renovate my 1881 farmhouse with much creativity and very little budget. (Often with humorous results). Oh and there may be random ramblings posted from time to time. It helps quiet the voices in my head. Well, that and the prescription the Dr. gave me...
I would like to say I am playing hooky from my blog today because it is Feb 29 and 6°F. (That may be part of it)
I would rather not say I am playing hooky from my blog because I was KABONGED on the head from a cake pan when I opened one of the last remaining wall kitchen cabinets. (True story) Don't worry kitchen I shall exact my revenge when I gut you...just you wait...mwhahahaha (I may be slightly affected with a head injury)
I would like to say I am playing hooky from my blog today because I playing in the sun and tip-toeing through the tulips...haha Tiny Tim...hahaha
I would rather not say I am playing hooky from my blog because I am working on taxes and my March budget
I would like to say...Is anyone else playing hooky today?
This is about a $5-$7 plant stand that I bought a dollar type store 12 years ago. Maybe longer. It had definitely see better days. I am not going to give step by steps pics on everything because some of it is just common sense type stuff.
1. Flip the table over and use your drill or screwdriver to remove the screws. Mine were pocket screws through the feet. Place the screws in a little container or ziploc baggie until project is complete so you don't lose them. And hopefully--unlike me-you DON'T misplace the bag. sheesh!
2. Once the screws were removed, the feet were removed from the base plate and base plate removed.
3. The legs were simply unscrewed from the top plate.
4. All the pieces were sanded with 100 grit sandpaper and tacked off. Any major gouges, cracks etc were filled with wood putty allowed to dry, and re-sanded until smooth. Tack off the dust from final sanding.
5. Next comes the paint.
6.I began with silver.
Um No--big fat fail
7. Well thats's not gonna work. Let's try copper.
Well crap-o-la. I don't like this either.
8. (Picture me squinting and thinking reeaallyy hard) hmmmmmm, what if I mix the paints?
Hey! I kinda like this! (Light bulb moment)
9. For the table base and table top I spayed the entire surface with a nice chocolate/ cappuccino brown first. Because I knew it would need the appearance of dimension.Then I very lightly began spraying the metallic paints, layering them until I had a look that I liked. And I (gasp!) did not wait for them to dry between coats.
Both pieces have the same color but it is not accurately reflected in these pics sorry!
10. Once I achieved the overall look, I let the pieces dry overnight and re-assembled the table.
11. I added the nailhead trim using the nh strip. You hammer a nail in every 5th nailhead. Since the very last piece of the NH trim was not affixed with a nail, I used a drop of superglue to "fix it" in place. It probably wasn't going to move but I wanted to make sure it didn't.
I will tell you achieving the layered/ burnished metal look was not easy. It was hard to set the paint cans down and walk away. To get the striations I basically flicked my wrist and twisted the table on a make shift lazy-susan as I was spraying the paint.
It almost has a "marbling" effect
I spent maybe an hour a day over a period of 4 days working on this. Unfortunately none of my dogs or cats can work my camera so there are no pics for me to demonstrate this technique. The nail head trim was kind of a PITA (pain-in-the-ass). I can't imagine how bad it had been if I actually had to hammer individual ones in. I managed to kill 4 of the nails AND MY THUMB TWICE! Which is why the needle nose pliers are a GREAT tool to use to hold the nails in place while you hammer! Um duh--wish I had thought of it sooner.... . I had a little difficulty keeping the trim centered on a rounded edge. On a scale of 1to 10 with 1 being easy-peasy and 10 being WTH???? I would give this a difficulty of 5 to 6.
Cost
table=free
paint=$6.47 for the cappucino. The hammered metallics were from my paint hoard
Nail head trim $19.99 for 5 yards for BUT I only used 18 inches=$2.52
All other tools/ supplies were free because we already had them on hand.
Other than that I luurrvvee it! It is very cool and unexpected. Whatcha think?
Welcome to Funky and Frugal Finds Monday #4...except I forgot to publish it. OOPS!
Well it was another week of slim pickin's but I did manage to find a few things worthwhile!
I found this cool Monkeypod wood bowl. I am going to clean it up and use some Walnut Oil to reseal it. I love wood bowls!
Goodwill, $2
I found this cute country picture for my porch
St. Vincent DePaul, $1
Wood Trivets for my kitchen
St. Vincent DePaul, $0.80 each
Barware for the Hubbs
St. Vincent DePaul $2.25 total
And this brass retro bottle opener for the Hubb's bar. I am gonna scrub it up and maybe give it a spray with paint. Can you even buy bottles which need a bottle opener anymore? I mean do they even make them?!
Welcome to my Sunday post dedicated to all things garden, landscape, and plant related.
Fickle weather. The last 2 days it has been brrrrrr coooolllddd. I AM so OFFICIALLY sick of winter. I need spring. Like a month ago. bleh Earlier in the week we had a day or so (really more like hours) of Spring-like weather. Even the birds were a bit confused!
Speaking of birds I have a few bird feeders around the yard but my big concrete bird bath was damaged in a storm this past summer.. I am debating if I want another bird bath because I REALLY want a water feature for my yard. I have been on the hunt for water features in my garden/ yard for some time. Regardless of the style I choose it has to be solar powered.
I went searching the web and these are some of the water features that caught my eye.....
This one looks like stone but is actually resin priced at $122.95. And it is sold only as solar powered.
They are all very different but I like them all for various reasons. I am wondering if DIY will be the most effective? It would definitely allow me to have exactly what I envision. Now I have to decide on which one. Anyone out their in blog-land have some good DIY water features they want to share?
Welcome to my very first Look for Less. I am going to recreate a look found in some of the popular catalogs, magazines and websites but on a budget. As for now I plan this to be a monthly feature.
And here is my sad little table. Looking more than a tad worn.
So which way did I decide to go on my sad little table. Chrome? Hammered Nickle? Brushed aluminum? Polished Aluminum? Hammered Copper? Antiquey Wood and Bronze?
X The chrome table won't work because the shape is completely different, not to mention the finish will be difficult for me to recreate since it is mirror like. ? The hammered nickle table is a contender. The circular shape and overall height works . The base is different but the finish could be re-created X The brushed aluminum table won't work even though they are both circular tables the overall profile is to dissimilar. However, I think the finish could be re-created. XThe polished aluminum is also eliminated. The lines are comparable but the finish is to mirror like for me to recreate. ? The hammered copper table is a contender. The circular shape and overall height works . The profile is dissimilar but the finish could be re-created ? The antiquey table is a very strong contender. The circular shape and overall height works. The lines are very similar.. The marble look can be created with faux paint, the bronze finish can be replicated and the detailing can be mimicked with decorative trim work. ? The hammered metal cocktail table is a contender. The circular shape works. The height, profile and base are dissimilar but the finish could be re-created
You would think the antiquey table wins but it looks a little to heavy and staid. So pick again. Here's a clue...
AFTER
Yep I went for a hammered metal finish with a twist. Soooooo (drum roll please)....
I think the nailhead trim gives it some oomph!
You can really see the texture here.
Wanna see how I did this? Check my blog on Tuesday (Feb 28th) and I will give you the details including cost. CLICK HERE
How did it turn out? Is it a hit or miss?
Shared on
http://www.remodelaholic.com/2012/02/eleventy-one-remodelaholics-anonymous-111/
