Springtime Shelf & Coffee Table Makeover

Good morning all!  Yes I have been absent for a little while, and I am sorry about that; unfortunately with working full-time, school full-time, and add in the husband and three child family - you could say it's chaos. 
I have been working on little projects here and there. And I have definitely been building up the project inventory. I also have an amazing client project to get started on as well!

Today I have a two projects for you and a sneak peek of my current inventory. 

Sometimes to brighten up a room, all you really need is a fun and funky accent piece. That accent piece can come from something that normally would have blended in as well. 
When I found this little dandy, that's exactly what I had in mind. 

This shelf is approx five inches deep, and 26" x 25"; so it's definitely a decent size.  

I didn't take very many step by step pictures on this because it was a very easy project. 
Just some paint, a small stencil - then waxing and distressing. 
The finished product turned out very cute though. 

This is a super cute shelf that can be used to brighten up any area of your home. 


Now the other project. 

This gem was found at our local Habitat For Humanity ReStore. This is a solid oak Lane coffee table. Even though it's outdated, I knew there was something beautiful hiding underneath the outdated stain color. The short column legs I saw and instantly fell in love with them. 

There was quite a bit of water damage on the top and the previous poly coat was peeling. 

Lots and lots of sanding. Starting out with 80 grit, all the way up to 220 grit. 

After seeing the beautiful woodgrain I decided for certain that the top would be stained rather than painted. 

But the sanding doesn't stop there!

All the sides were pretty heavily coated in old poly so I wanted to start fresh. 


I stained the top with my favorite one "Espresso". I really love this color
The bottom is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White.  Then distressed to highlight the beautiful feature and curves. 

The top has three coats of poly in a satin finish for protection. The rest of the table is sealed with clear wax.

I love how it turned out so much, that I decided to keep it for myself. It helped to lighten up our living room and fits in wonderfully!


Now onto the upcoming projects. There is so much coming up, and I just can't wait to get started. I found some real beauties (mostly in part to some great friends who are always on the lookout)!

Alright so yes I started working on this already and yes it doesn't look very pretty right now. There were many more divots/nail holes in it than I originally noticed so had to fix that. Not everything starts out looking pretty. 

This is just such an odd shaped table and the door that you see goes thru to the other side. I also found this at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. 

This is actually a set of two. I already took out the drawer pull and found more holes from previous drawer pulls so that is what you are seeing. But look at those legs - love the heavy texture. 

This is also a set of two. While they are more "boxy" that my normal pieces, they are rock solid and I think they could look just amazing. Possibly a fabric backing and some nice texture on the cube drawer from. 





Sometimes it's not just furniture that I find. I love this rooster bakery rack, and originally it was going to go into my kitchen - however I have since changed my kitchen away from roosters. Then there's these old '70s candle/wall sconces. I found these at a rummage sale and since then I've seen them at Goodwill, ReStore and everywhere else possible. I just feel like I can make them look more modern and amazing. 

Finally is this beautiful antique dumbwaiter piecrust table. I am so very excited about this one! It is bigger than the picture makes it appear. I did some research as well about it after I purchased it and wow, I didn't realize how much story was behind it. 


I do have a few more pieces and as I stated before, I have an AMAZING client piece that I can't wait to get started on. This client, Ryan, has directed me to many wonderful pieces and I can't wait to work on the hall tree/stand/mirror beautiful piece she brought in. I won't be previewing pictures of her piece until I'm further along. I hope to really get a good start on it next weekend when I'm home. 

If anyone is interested in the pieces shown, please contact me, as they haven't been started and rather than me picking out the colors and details - you could pick them to match your decor! 

Well I am away visiting my parents this weekend so no time for projects - but next weekend I'll be back in full force.  

Happy Crafting!

Sarah
Second Chances Design

Revival of a Mersman Table

Good afternoon!

How is everyone doing on this wonderfully wintery day? Still a bit brisk outside in good ole Wisconsin! So it's wonderful weather to stay inside and work on a project!

I have been having difficulty finding time to work on projects lately. I work full-time, and am a full-time student as well. If we add in the kids and hubby, my time is very limited lately. So this weekend, I took advantage of the kids being gone and finished up one of my projects.  

I was fortunate to have a friend give me a lead on a beautiful Mersman side table. (Thanks Gwennie!!)I picked it up for a steal and couldn't wait to get started on it!

Although the table was in excellent structural condition, it does have nicks & bumps. I love the details on the legs and the front drawer! I knew this was the perfect piece to distress to highlight those features!

Remember, I have just started using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP). I have read many tutorials, and watched even more YouTube videos (did you know that you can watch YouTube videos on AppleTV?! - oh the hubby just LOVES to watch them for hours with me! haha!). Even armed with all of my internet knowledge, every project is always a learning experience. This project definitely taught me a few things! 

I had cleaned up the top of it by standing and some light stripping on the side edge. 

Here is what clean up I did:

See, it was nice and clean. I was so excited to start painting!!

So I started brushing on my ASCP in color Pure White. Everything was going so well...and then this happened. 

This is called bleed. From what I read, this can happen from tannins or even water stains. It happens because the paint does not have a built in stain inhibitor. 
But have no fear - there is a solution! Even if you have already started painting, even if you have a full coat on, or if you don't - this can still be fixed without having to strip or sand. What you need to do is seal the entire piece. This can be done with shellac. 

I looked at different shellac's but many things I read said if you use the aerosol spray type, to make sure you are well ventilated. During the winter months I am in my basement, and it does not have the best ventilation system, so I went with the brush on. 

I used the Zinsser Clear shellac. It says clear, but does have a very slight yellow tint. I coated the entire piece in this. Every last inch. 

I let the shellac dry for almost 24 hours and then was able to coat the entire piece 

with my first coat now.

As you can see, it's very transparent as this point. 

I then applied a second coat. 

I am very impatient with waiting for paint to dry - ASCP does dry rather quickly. 

After it completely dried I applied one coat of clear wax. 

I have seen tutorials that say to distress before waxing, and others say to wax first. I tried it both ways, and I prefer to distress after a light coat of clear wax. It seems to be much more forgiving and there is less paint dust.

As you can see it was completely white - a little to blah for me. So I started distressing. I used a fine grit sanding block and also a 3M Flexible sanding sponge - it worked to get into all the different crevices.

The top was a little bland so I decided to use a stencil that I had picked up for the exact reason. 

I used a different chalk paint for the stencil. It is Americana Decor brand, color Primitive. It's a wonderful and very versatile color!
I then applied another coat of clear wax to seal the entire piece. I followed this up by buffing with a lint-free rag. The more you buff the shinier it will be, so I just did a light buffing.

I used the original hardware and spruced it up with some Oil Rubbed Bronze paint. They were nice and dark to contrast against the white color and matched well with the distressing. 

I love how it turned out! I wish I had a place for this in my own home, but I don't. We were thinking of putting it in Chloe's room, but it doesn't really fit with her "style".  

 

This was an amazing transformation:

This project shows you just how an old outdated piece can be brought back to life. 

I was so happy to see this project turn out even better than expected! I can't wait to do more! 

I am still in progress working on that coffee table I found at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore - and am almost done with it! I can't wait for the big reveal on next week's blog. 

I hope that you enjoyed this project and it inspires you to see the potential in decor items or furniture you may see at a rummage or estate sale! 

Happy Crafting!

Second Chances Design
Sarah 

Past Projects - The possibilities are endless!

Good morning!!  

I thought today I would do a little showcase of a few past projects that I have done. 
These aren't a step by step instruction, but just an overview. 

Enjoy!

So when we bought our house, all of the walls were either white or off white. Add the white/cream color carpet and it's literally a completely blank slate. The fireplace was very outdated and in need of updates. We weren't ready to install a completely new fireplace so I took it upon myself to research my options. The miracles of Pinterest!

As you can tell, other than the red tile, this entire wall and fireplace is just well, plain.

After my research I found that the outdated brass could be repainted very easily with heat paint. (Yes the same kind of paint that is normally used for painting a grill!) So I taped off the glass and stone, and away I went. I should mention that at the same time, I painted my living room.

We bought all new furniture and I thought it would be easiest to paint in the week that we didn't have furniture. (The living room was in complete disarray during this process.)

As you can see this was quite the the undertaking, and I had multiple projects going all at once (as usual).

As one coat of paint dried I worked on the fireplace. There was lots of taping but I didn't want to risk over spray. 
I applied two coats of flat black heat paint. 

After all is said and done. The stone wouldn't scrub clean from years of soot from the woodturning fireplace. This was such a complete transformation and for not a whole lot of money. We did purchase new vent covers as the old ones had been painted so many times - it was cheaper than have them sandblasted. 

I love my fireplace and I love decorating it. Here are a few snapshots that show the different holidays I decorated for. 

Here are just three of the last years mantle decor. Each year I plan to switch it up a little bit from the prior year. Luckily we haven't been in the house that long, so I haven't had to put much work into! 

Outside of the fireplace makeover I also did a small revamping on some old tables I had gotten from my sister, to use as bedside tables. 

These are quite common to see in rummage and estate sales. These ones were in very good condition, and completely sturdy. 
They worked great, but just weren't very aesthetically pleasing. 

I used your basic gray Krylon primer to ensure that I had even coverage and good adhesion.
I did end up dismantling the shelf part(just two screws) to ensure all areas would see the spray paint. 

The color is Blue Lagoon and I love how it just pops!

 I stripped the varnish (much more time consuming than expected)and then sanded and sanded and sanded. Originally I was going to paint the bottom and stain the top, but once the beautiful oak woodgrain was revealed, I couldn't even think to cover it up. I used and espresso stain, and then a satin polyurethane seal. This now sits in my kitchen and is ready for another 100 years. It is just beautiful. Yes there are a few small scratches in it, but with being as old as it is, I just couldn't bear to wood putty over that "story". So I left them in. 

One last project is a table that I refinished. This table was made by my great great grandfather. My godmother was gracious enough to give me the table and wished me good luck. 

With almost 100 years of varnish built up - I had no idea what I would find. 


This was my first complete refinish.


This is literally the first swipe after the stripper was applied. I was so shocked that I picked up my phone to take a picture. To go from black crud (very technical term) to such beautiful woodgrain was amazing. 
I took ALOT of pictures in the process so I hope that I don't bore you with so many, but like I've said multiple times, the transformation was so surprising, I had to.

This is all I have for you today. I will be heading down to my "craft corner" (aka the basement) to work on two separate tables. I started them yesterday and hope to gain some ground today and get closer to finishing them. I am very very excited for the upcoming projects. I am doing a lot more furniture work than crafting lately, but that is all right by me!

Happy Crafting!

Second Chances Design

Sarah