One down, a million more to go

So I did it! I finally finished a project! Lol I think I may need a party.  I probably don't deserve one though because it took me over a month to do it and it was finished back in August and I'm just now posting it.  I'm lame I know.

Nevertheless, here it is!

I bought this well built table, two Parson chairs, and a bench off of KSL Classifieds for $60.  The lady told me it was built in Alaska, so I tend to think it is better built ;)  Probably because of this talented lady.

As you can see, aesthetically it was in definite need of a face-lift.  Most of the finish was worn off or scratched and I wanted a deep chocolate color stain instead anyways.  It is a beautiful rich color that you can still see the grain through.

Here it is with my 2 mocha brown Parson's chairs, and some chairs my sister gave me.

I'm still planning on recovering the Parson's chairs with some wipe-able white faux leather fabric and then building 4 more just like them so I will have all matching chairs.  FYI: My husband is a professional upholsterer who used to do it full time and now does it on the side, so he will be the one doing all that work! Although I will try to watch and pick up some tips when we get to that.

First thing we did was sand the remaining finish off with our palm sander in the direction of the grain

{Make sure to have a little kid wave their hand right in front of the camera as soon as you take the pic ;)}

I didn't manage to get pictures of the next steps, but all I did was:

• Vacuum the table of all of the dust. 
• Wiped down with a wet cloth.  Then let fully dry.
• Applied a dark brown stain called Kona from Rust-Oleum on all surfaces of the table, let dry.
• Put a few coats of poly-urethane on, finely sanding in-between coats.

Make sure to read the instructions on the products you are using and let it cure in a well ventilated area for a few days.  The longer the better!  You don't want all that hard work to get dinged and scratched up as soon as you bring it back in the house!

I'm so happy with end results.  Much better than my last table re-do. I think with the supplies and the cost of the table and chairs this cost me about $80.  I have TONS of stain and poly-urethane left too.  I maybe used 1/10th of both cans, so there is a lot left for other projects.  Also this room is pretty much a blank slate.  I still have painting and decorating to do in here... just like pretty much every other room in my house.  One day or project at a time :)

I Love Buffets.

While it is true that I love buffet restaurants, that is not what I'm talking about today.  Instead, I'm speaking of the furniture variety.  Even more specifically, antique or vintage buffet tables or aka sideboards.

I am fortunately lucky to have been given one!  About three years ago my Grandpa asked me if I would like his buffet table that had been sitting out in his shed for who knows how long.  He told me that when he bought his home over fifty years ago that it was left upstairs by the previous owners.  From what I understood, it was old when he acquired it.  So I have no idea how old this piece of furniture really is.

I believe it is definitely showing its age though.  It's dinged, scratched up, but solidly built.  I'm hoping to transform this into something more like this.

Pinned here

I'm so excited but not sure when I will get to this project.  I've got to finish 5,642 other projects that I have started and not finished.  Am I the only one that does this??!!

How to fake the Ombre hair trend

It seems like having Ombre hair is all the rage now.  With celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, and Jessica Biel sporting the gradient hairstyle.  However as you can probably tell, this is no dye job. In fact it is the lack of a dye job.  This is what happens when I go 6+ months without dying/high-lighting my hair.  

And as much as I wish this was a good look on me because of the zero upkeep... it think it looks like ugly re-growth.  I just can't pull it off like those beautiful Hollywood starlets.

  Soooo... right now I am contemplating what I actually want to do to my hair.  Should I just do high-lights like I have been doing for the past couple of years?  Or should I bleach it out like I had in this picture circa. 2009?

Or, there is always the option of going to the dark side like I did in 2008.

Although according to my husband the dark is a no-go because it just didn't "look like me".  This is about the only picture of it dark that I have because I just never felt like putting on makeup or getting ready when it was brown.  Being pregnant with Keegan and feeling 'blah' all the time probably had a lot to do with it.  But, I have to agree with him that it just didn't feel like me.  

So, what's a girl to do?  My sister Rebecca thinks I should chop it up to my collar bone.  But the thought of cutting my hair scares the crap out of me!  I have had long hair since 6th grade when I cut it up to my chin.  Believe me, it wasn't pretty.  I won't even provide photographic proof because of how horrible I looked. haha

I could use some feedback on what to do because as you can see, I'm totally lost.  I'm not sure if I want to do something subtle or drastic.  Anyways, enough of my ramblings.  I guess I'll go scour Pinterest and see if I can find the perfect cut and color!