Door To Table To Art

Our latest DIY project for the apartment is finally finished!  It took a long time, and a lot of scattered afternoons to get it done, but it was well worth the time and effort.  We now have a door transformed to both a table and a piece of artwork.

You see, last winter an 1850s era carriage house collapsed next to our old apartment building.  It was owned by our landlord and we were given the go a head to salvage a few things if we would like (obviously done after the city had demolished the building so it was safe to be around).  We had always loved the look of old doors and thought this would be a great opportunity to salvage one...so we did.  Here is the door before a lick of work was done.

Okay, that is slightly misguided...we'd already removed the old hardware, which was a long project on its own due to the insane amount of rust.

For almost a year the door lived on the back porch of our old apartment building until we moved to our new place and had to decide whether or not to bring it along.  You see, it is a rather giant, heavy, solid door.  After doing some thinking, we decided it would make a nice table that we could set up whenever we needed it but not have to keep up at all times (we don't usually have reasons to sit at a table that seats 6-8 people). 

Once the nice weather finally hit, we were able to get started.  We started by doing a lot of reading about refinishing old painted surfaces, since there is always a chance that the paint may contain traces of lead.  So, no worries, we took the necessary precautions while doing the work.

First we sanded the door.  We didn't bother to get all of the paint off, there were quite a few various layers, but we got most of it off so it would not flake.

We left more paint on the side that would be the "art" side and less on the "table" side.

After all of the sanding, it was time to coat it.  We decided on a clear polyurethane coating so the natural color of the wood would shine through, rather than using a stain/polyurethane combination.  We carefully wiped down the door of all leftover sanding dust and loose paint chips and then started coating it.  This process took an excessive amount of time as it kept raining, causing us to do one coat on one side and then bringing the door in after drying, rather than putting on the second coat (we did two coats on each side). 

The next major piece of the table puzzle was to secure a piece of acrylic to the table surface in order to create a nice and smooth surface for eating.  We did some careful reading about cutting down, drilling starter holes, and screwing into acrylic as we definitely did not want to crack it.  We learned that you should go slow and spritz the drill bit or screw with cold water to keep the heat of the work from melting the acrylic.

When we finally finished, we sat it on top of its saw horse legs (that we had previously attached some grippers to so the top wouldn't slide around), and this is how she looked.

It is a little difficult to see the actual door under the acrylic as the sun was in just the wrong spot.  Ah well, you get the idea (we'll post another picture on a less glaring day).  Here's a picture of the "art" side of the door.

It is leaning up against one of the closets in the office.  The closet holds the folding chairs for the table and the saw horse legs...so the door doesn't block anything that we typically need access to, which is nice!

Have you finished a long project lately?  Taken anything from one thing to something entirely different? 

A Great Week

Well, I think I have finally recovered from last week's Brimfield excursion.  We've managed to get our Brimfield trips down pretty well...we know which vendors have stuff we like, where the prices are good, and who is willing to haggle.  We've also figured out how to see everything we want to see and get in and out in under 6 hours!  Granted, when we decide to make the trek without a trusty list in hand and predetermine to just wander around and look for what inspires us, well....those trips are a bit longer...

This, was not one of those trips.  We managed to get very lucky and found the most desired and largest item on our list (a club-style chair for the living room) towards the beginning of the day, which meant we knew exactly how much room was left in the car for bringing home other treasures.  It is always fun to see people stop and watch us as we carefully maneuver our treasures into our Pontiac Vibe...it isn't a large vehicle, but as we are fond of saying "it may be small, but we know exactly how big it is."  Here is what we brought home...

And yes, our beautiful cat Annie thinks that we bought it just for her sleeping enjoyment!  Ah well, whatever keeps her happy...as long as she shares.

Here is a glimpse of some items that did not make it home with us, but were sufficiently drooled over...

 

Our circa 1912 bride just barely didn't come home with us.  We found her at the end of the day and by then had already spent our budget for the event..and I was trying to be good.  So instead, I just snapped this quick picture and will look for her again in July.  Doubtful she'll still be there, but you never know at Brimfield.

After our weekend trip, we had a nice week of good weather and managed to enjoy some of it with a friend of ours.  It was our first real dinner guest at our new place.  We made veggie kabobs with homemade bbq sauce, grilled pineapple, fresh tomatillo salsa, and potatoes with onions and sage...and awesome vegan apple cinnamon cupcakes for dessert!  We didn't have our table project finished yet (which you will all get to see eventually) so we ate out on the back deck and used the deck box as a table.  Of course it was dressed up with some vintage linens from my Aunt and our awesome serving dishes.

Yay for friends and a good week.  Here's hoping this coming week is just as great.

Have you found any treasures lately?  Had to pass something up because you were "being good?"  Or just had a friend over to enjoy a nice Spring evening?

Before and After: Stereo Cabinet

Moving into our new apartment has been stressful, exciting, and a challenge.  One of the first challenges we faced was what to do with the television.  Our new living room is about the size and shape of our old living room (narrow and rectangular) but our old set-up just was not going to work.  At our previous apartment, the TV sat on a short bookcase with a large bookcase on either side, which was great since that was the only available place to keep all our books.  However, now that our books are kept in an entirely separate room, we could do something a little less imposing for the TV.

We decided that something light and airy would be perfect, and settled on a mid-century credenza-style TV stand.  After realizing that a credenza might be a bit long for the wall, we decided to keep an open mind, but stick to that sort of look.  Of course, we did not want to just go out and buy something, because we pride ourselves on a nice mix of aesthetics in our apartment: antique, contemporary, refurbished, bold, neutral, etc.  So, after carefully measuring our space, we went on the hunt.  I think we each trolled Craigslist about five times a day, plus stopped in every antique store and resale shop we came across over the last month.  Finally we found something!  Below is a brief history of how we made our new TV stand...

After relentless searching, we finally found this gem on Craigslist last week for.....$50!!!!  I'd say that's a pretty perfect price! 

Now, don't get confused.  After we picked it up and got it home I thought "hmmm...I'll put in dinner and then we can start working on this while it cooks."  Silly Me!  I forgot how we work in our household...something comes in and it INSTANTLY gets started!  By the time I put dinner in the oven, Jess had already taken one of the speaker fronts off...so this is only a sort-of before picture.



As you may have realized with the mention of speaker fronts, this is not a credenza but a mid-century stereo cabinet.  The previous owner had already removed all the internal workings for the stereo, but that just made our job less difficult and much less guilt ridden!  (For the longest time we were finding "working" stereo cabinets online but just couldn't muster the resolve to rip out a perfectly good stereo.)  Since the finish on the wood was in beautiful shape, we did not have to worry about stripping or refinishing. 

We built a shelf to go inside each of our soon-to-be-created cabinets.  One on the right measured to fit the DVD player, old-school Nintendo, and the Wii; and one on the left to hold some of our DVDs. 

When we pulled off the speaker fronts we were left with this...

We removed all the speaker components and the old fabric coverings...being careful to first remove the applied stereo emblem so we could re-attach it later.  It was amazing how many teeny tiny bolts, nuts, and washers were holding this thing on!

Next we covered the speakers with a thin layer of batting to camouflage the holes left by the speakers, and then covered the entire front with some fun fabric purchased for just this occasion.

We decided to go with something modern, but with a vintage feel to compliment the mid-century design.  After wrapping the front tightly and stapling it around back, we cut a piece to cover up the backside so when the door is open you can't see the rough edges.  We didn't want the staples showing, so after turning under the edges it was hot glued in place.

Once the doors were finished, we added gold nobs, replaced the stereo emblem and hinged the doors onto the front of the cabinet.  This is where our major "oops!" moment came in...we had cut down the top of the speakers so they would sit on the outside of the cabinet (they had originally been mounted on the inside) but had forgotten to cut down the sides to allow for the hinges.  However, with some quick thinking from Jess, the doors were mounted and it was ready for the television. 

And here is the finished product...plus a sneak peak of the wall color in the living room.

We were pretty pleased with how our first furniture DIY for the new apartment turned out.


Have you ever tried making over a piece of furniture?  Did you find it harder than all those blogs make it look, or easier?  Most importantly, did you follow that good ol' fatherly advice to measure twice and cut once?!?

Brimfield Find: Chair Redo

One of the things on our Brimfield list this year was a new chair for the living room.  After recently buying a new couch, our old chair was looking especially out-of-place and downtrodden.  So...out with the old and in with the old but revamped!

We went with high hopes, a Morris Chair from the early 20th century that was in our price range.  Well, lucky us, we found one!  The wood could use some eventual refinishing, but the bones are good.  The first order of business, however, was new chair cushion. 

These are the old ones...notice that they were originally light blue, but have faded to a dirty lavender.  Oh yeah, and they were hard as a rock!

After some careful measuring and a lot of debating as far as fabric choice, we settled on this oatmeal that matches the new couch.  Now here is a look at my first attempt to make chair cushions start to finish (with new foam of course) and with cording no less.

They turned out pretty well.  It is always amazing to see how changing one thing can make a huge difference.  And now this chair has a new home in our living room.


Have you redone a piece of furniture to go with your home?