Winter Projects

I always have a project going on, but haven't posted anything on here to show them off!  I was perusing Pinterest for some furniture staining ideas and came across a blogger who used General Finishes Gel Stain in Java. Our oak kitchen table was from the 1990's, so it was time for an upgrade! I actually had an another old kitchen table that we bought in 2005 but we used it as a craft table so it was a mess!  I got to work using my orbital sander and wiped everything down with TSP before staining.  I didn't completely sand the old finish off. 

Here is our old oak table (which is is now being used in the basement as a craft table)

Then here is the table I refinished before:

 

I did take the chairs apart to stain and unfortunately didn't take any pictures of my "progress."  I did 3 coats of stain and 3 coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal in Semi Gloss.  I was going to get the gel poly and when I went into a local wood working store, the owner said that since I was doing a table, the oil-based Arm-R-Seal was the way to go.  Glad I listened to him!  I applied the gel stain with an old sock (with disposable rubber gloves underneath).  Because of the limited amount of time I had, I applied one coat of stain one weekend and didn't have time to work on it again until the following.  It says wait 24 hours between coats.  The sealer was the same way (I worked over 2 weekends). I applied the sealer with scraps of old white t-shirts.

 

 

And here it is finished:

 



Not a huge difference, but it went from a dull cherry to a darker espresso.  It has held up very well, especially with a 5 year old.  She did scratch it with a pair of scissors, but that stuff is going to happen!! Need to start making holiday table runners!

I can't wait to use the stain again in for my dining room furniture (lighter oak table/chairs and buffet).

The next project I did was to paint the back of the peninsula in the kitchen and the ceramic tile backsplash.  I did extensive online research regarding painting ceramic tile.  Most websites said it was not a good idea.  I am glad I didn't listen and decided to do it anyway.  Trying to update on a budget of practically ZERO, I have to work with what I have!  I did end up buying quart of SW Pro-Classic in gloss since all I had was semi gloss.  I used this primer, which says right on the can that it can be used over tile.

 

This is the backsplash before:

 



I swear it has a pink hue.  And look at the filthy grout! Oh and the kitchen counter in the above picture is not even screwed onto the cabinet!  I washed all of the tile before I started with TSP.

As much as I would love to do white subway tile, this will have to do for now (I also painted the beadboard on the back of the peninsula - it was the color of the cabinets):

The kitchen cabinets are next....hubby is building a privacy fence in the backyard when the weather breaks so I'm waiting to create my spray paint "booth" in the garage after the fence wood is out of there.  Kitchen counter is someday...

I also painted the kitchen ceiling into the family room.  I have never painted a ceiling before.  First for everything! 

Before we moved in, HUD (since it was a foreclosure), painted all the walls AND ceilings with cream flat paint.  Ick!  Who paints ceilings cream?  I used plain SW ceiling paint and what a difference!  We also changed out the kitchen light but I haven't taken a picture of it.  It has 8 lights instead of 5 so I can see what I am cooking now (it is also brushed nickel).

After we moved in, we took out a track light and you can see where we patched it. 

Sort of hard to tell a difference, but this is where I ran out of paint (halfway through the room). 

So the next projects are:

Fence in backyard (not sure if I will assist with that one though)
Stain dining room furniture
Switch out the remaining 2 downstairs doors with 6-panel (basement and laundry room)
Paint laundry room (along with trim)
Paint trim around big garage door outside (when weather gets better)
Paint kitchen cabinets (once fence is done)