Old and New Refinishing Projects...

Although no one will be happier than I to hear this bit of news, I am sure you will be pleased to know that I repainted the pain in the neck chair today and so far, so good. By the time my husband and I were done sanding and stripping the wood on that chair, it was down to its bare bones, so it grabbed the paint I sprayed on it and held on for dear life. Whew. In a few days I am going to tackle the upholstering. I'm a little nervous about doing that work. Usually I'm fairly confident around fabric, but upholstering is something I've never done before, so I'm just hoping it goes well. Several have asked what fabric I'm going to use on the chair, so I'm giving you a sneak peak. I'd love to use a sassy, new designer fabric, but I couldn't find one that would peacefully coexist with my existing furniture, so I had to buy something a little more traditional and boring staid. I looked for a fabric that would work with the earth tones in my family room, but also one that had a touch of black that would enhance the black paint on the chair. I'm hoping this will work...

As I was waiting for the coats of paint to dry on the above mentioned chair, I started a new project. Yes, it's not enough to be knee deep in one project, I needed to stretch myself thinner still by adding yet another cog to the wheel. A little background... I've been noticing more and more as I peruse "shabby to chic" furniture refinishing blogs, that many of the items bought to be refinished are purchased at Goodwill Industries. Last Saturday I coaxed my husband into taking me to a Goodwill retail outlet in a neighboring town. I was hoping to find and purchase a little table to refinish for the grandkids play area. It needed to be short enough for my grandkiddos to sit or kneel on the floor and use it, because I didn't want to have to store a bunch of chairs, so I went looking for an end table that I could shorten the legs and refinish. Are you following me???

Off we went to Goodwill. There wasn't much of a furniture section in this store. It was very limited, but this little table immediately caught my eye. It was love at first sight.

It's not that I particularly love "I Love Lucy" style furniture, but look at the height of that first tier. It was the perfect height for what I wanted, and I loved its chunky spindly legs. I consulted with my husband who said he could rip off the top part of the table without any problem at all. My man has muscles. Here's the proof...

Perfect height. Perfect size. Perfect price. This, my dears, is why people shop at Goodwill...

And I got a sweet little Curious George sticker for no additional charge. Should have left that on for the grandkids...

Getting back to today... As I was waiting for the paint to dry on the chair, between applications I started stripping the stain and varnish off the table. In order to fill the little holes left from the spindles in the top of the table, we bought some wood plugs at Hobby Lobby. We filled the holes half way up with glue, popped the plugs in, and sanded a bit more...

I'm telling you right now, I am loving this little lady...

This next week, weather permitting, I'm going to paint her "Heirloom White" and add a little "antique" glaze to accentuate her curves. Wish me luck.