Furniture Re-vamp

Do you ever get so excited about a project it starts to consume your every thought? I'll admit it happens to me often. I obsess on an idea or a project and I just can't get it out of my thoughts.

The past month my dining room has been my obsession. I have driven to furniture stores all over the state looking for a black dining room table and hutch. They are outrageous expensive! I just can't spend the money required to get a quality set. So, my mind shifted gears and I started wondering if I could create such a set.

I've spent hours and hours researching how to paint furniture, looking at furniture on Craig's list and talking to the experts at Lowe's and Sherwin Williams.

Last weekend, I dragged my family to a town about 30 miles away to purchase a small hutch on Craigslist. It's now sitting in the garage, just waiting to become a beautiful piece of re-created glory. I have all the supplies, all the tools.

But, my excitement is starting to wane, and I'm terrified I'll screw it up! What if I ruin a cute little piece of $50 furniture and my new vision for my dining room is not going to work??? I know I have to get over this sense of fear and just get out there. I do. I understand that.

Time for the internal pep talk and to change into painting clothes.

Entertainment Center

I've been going crazy in our house changing things around. It's like a switch went on in my mind, I looked around and said, "I just can't take this!" It's nesting worse than I ever had when I was pregnant, and I'm not pregnant. I just got fed up.

The entertainment center above is a perfect example. It's been a great piece of furniture. My parents gave it to me for my birthday the year we got married. We've used it for ten years. It's really met our needs until lately. The TV has started to go on the fritz, so a flat screen is now imaginable in the future. This entertainment center doesn't fit in our basement, and has been put in a corner where it has caused trouble opening the doors on either side. We really just needed a change.

I finally became motivated enough to get off my duff and find our new option. It's a great piece of furniture at an extremely reasonable price -- and it's not even press-board! It's a wonderful change and we love it!

We love you new 'TV console'.

Color Transformation

Our painting project is finally finished! It makes such a shocking difference in the room! I can't believe how dark it was with the red.

I will say that going from the dark red to white was a pretty intensive project. We had to use Kills as a primer to cover it. Then we did a coat of each color. When we took the tape off, we learned that the Kills was pulling off at the edges with the tape. What a pain! We had to do about 4 hours worth of touch up painting. But, I can honestly say that the paint job is the best one that my husband and I have ever done.

If you wondered if my husband is happy with the new room -- yep. He is. He can't believe the change and how much brighter it is in there. We spend a large portion of the day in there since my computer office is also my dining room. I love being in there and I really enjoy how classy it looks. I can't wait to pull together the wall decor and really make it shine!

Painting Day 1.5

I know it's almost impossible to see the differences in paint color here. And, I had to take the pictures out of focus because the camera couldn't find something to focus on. But, you get the general idea of where we plan to go.

Right now I think we're going to go with 'Hanoki' as the color. Check back. It seems to be changing by the hour.

Painting Day One

Here's what it looks like after one coat of primer. I think we'll do the color next -- that is if we ca decide on which one.

Temporary Hiatus

I've had to put a hold on sewing this week. I've forced my family into accepting a re-model of our dining room. I'm the only one that's really excited about it. My husband is a very reluctant participant. He has really enjoyed the red and isn't sure he wants it to go away. I have to give him credit though -- he's doing the work right along with me and not complaining one bit.

This red is where we started. I can't wait to see where we end up!