What Have I Been Doing?

Who knew moving across the world was so hard? Well I did, but it still takes me by surprise. Our move from Okinawa to Clarksville is complete I guess. We finally have settled (mostly) into our home, and the kids have started school. I love that we are so close to the school we can walk!

But what is this blog post about, really? Well, I took on a project with my daughter. We had a dining table in awful shape and we decided to sand it and paint it. We also hated our dining chairs, they were looking tired and were very uncomfortable.

I’m sure after you see those pictures you’re thinking what was wrong with that table?? For about 7 years it’s been sticky, I’m thinking a wax build-up, and if you had put a hot coffee cup on it, it melted into the table. That’s not as fun as it sounds ;). We were overseas though, and I couldn’t quite find the paints or stains I needed (and couldn’t read the instructions) in our host countries. So, when we moved to Okinawa, we didn’t use it but left it in the bubble wrap with the cotton backing the whole time, so it just stayed in the hot humid garage and absorbed that cotton backing.

When we received it here, you can tell how the cotton stuck to the table. My daughter and I sanded it down, and that was mighty hard. I am not really into projects so I didn’t buy an electric sander, which was a mistake. In some places we had to use a 60 grit, and now that it’s all done, I wish I would’ve sanded the table even more. Whatever seal/wax was originally used is just so sticky and plastic-y!

We had a really hard painting the table, I opted for a microfiber roller as I was told it would have the smoothest application. I don’t know if it’s because I should’ve sanded more, or it is just the paint, but it was all trial and error. I didn’t like it, so I thought a brown glaze would help, and it did. 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of glaze. It all dried and I realized I felt paranoid of it getting damaged. So then 3 coats of spar urethane went on too - and I’m still nervous about it.

These chairs are such an improvement in our comfort around the table! We saw them online and took a chance and we are so pleased. So, the big ta-da of my time away from the business and settling in is this transformation. We also added velvet drapes and a cast iron rod for heft, and added linen curtains and an L-shaped rod in the living room, for added privacy but letting the light in.

There’s still so much I want to do and replace or refurbish. I’m also thinking of a leather sofa in the living room, but I don’t know if I could handle more brown and with my dogs I’m not doing upholstery, so that’s my indecision for now…