Changing Table Re-Do

I thought my sister was crazy when she said, "Let's re-do the baby changing table!  I'll strip the finish off for you in no-time!"  Okay, I knew my sister was crazy way before that statement, but I didn't think she could strip the finish off in 2 days.  Plus, I wasn't sure if I was willing to take on such a big undertaking this late in the pregnancy.  But boy am I ecstatic at the "new" changing table!  Definitely worth all the effort and money!

For about $50 and a week's worth of hard work (and help!), we have what looks like a brand new white changing table for Bean!  The changing table was originally purchased back in 2003 for around $400 for my sister before her oldest daughter was born.  She used that changing table for all 3 of her girls meaning the piece was well used and loved.  Last fall, they went through all their baby items and decided it was time to get rid of them all, meaning Steve and I got dibs on what we wanted.  I immediately said yes to the table, but didn't really confirm that with Steve -- oops :-).

Boy was he surprised when that beast showed up.  It's built of solid oak and is very sturdy (which really translates into heavy!).  My brother-in-law and Steve had to carry it up to our second level which secured its place in our home.  There was no way it was ever going to come back down in 1 usable piece (unless a professional mover is doing it!).  That piece of furniture quickly became a "source of contention" between us - haha.  It wasn't necessarily a sentimental thing, but more for the fact that we got a very usable and sturdy piece of furniture for free.  Steve on the other hand didn't like its finish (even though it matched the wood floor) and just saw it as a bulky eye sore.

Once we started pulling the nursery together, we decided to go with white furniture to not over-shadow the wood floor.  However, it was too late to try to re-do the changing table since I had other things going on like wallpaper removal, painting, oh yeah, and being pregnant!  I had accepted that the changing table would remain as it was and we'd just make it work in the room.  Steve was still hoping he could take a sledgehammer to it and make it go away.

I never even thought about a chemical stripper to take the finish off (since there was no way I was going to sand off the finish in that room.  I remember the previous sanding catastrophe that happened in the nursery and didn't want another.  After getting advice about using a chemical stripper from others and my sister's willingness to get the job done, there was no turning back on the project!

We bought our supplies for the project -- chemical stripper, mineral spirits, tarp, sand paper, & masks--headed back home, and Amber quickly went to work.  You were supposed to paint a layer of the chemical on, let it sit 30 minutes, then scrape off the finish.  In theory, Amber was going to come play dolls with me and the girls (since I wasn't allowed to mess with the chemical, I was on niece duty) while the chemical set; however, she soon realized that you didn't really need to wait the full 30 minutes.  So she just set to work on painting and scraping continuously.  I wish we had kept better track of how many hours it took her to get the job done, but by the next evening, all the pieces were in their raw state!

After stripping the finish, she had to wipe it all down with the mineral spirits, then do a light sanding to get stubborn varnish spots off, and then washed it with soap and water.  When she left, all I had to do was paint it white & put a clear coat on it -- easy enough!  It took me a couple days of painting it all white, and then another couple days for the clear coat.  Steve helped out with the clear coat as well so that I wasn't over-exposed to chemicals -- thanks Steve!

To finish it all up, I used Valspar Ultra paint & primer in 1.  It has No VOC (volatile organic compounds) and no odor!  I was skeptical of the no odor part, but seriously there is none!  If you have color added, there's a little bit of smell, but since I used it as straight white, no fumes!.  After applying 3-4 coats and achieving the look I wanted, we used MinWax ploycrylic semi-gloss to seal it all in.  The polycrylic needed about 3 coats, but you were able to apply coats 2 hours apart - not too bad!

Now we have a piece that matches the nursery beautifully and no longer is a "source of contention".  Okay, maybe it is still a little bulky and Steve isn't as in love with it as I am, but we both agree it goes very well in Bean's room now.  I'll take that compromise!  Only problem for Steve is now there's no way we're getting rid of it after all of Amber's hard work :-). Thanks sister!  We love it :)

(Changing Table before)

(I really had never thought about seriously repainting it, because I felt that taking the varnish off would "ruin" such a "nice" piece of furniture.  But upon closer inspection, I realized this table had been well used and had lots of marks and stains on it.  After discussing with sister about her feelings on the piece, it was a no-brainer to re-paint it the way we wanted -- especially with the help!)

(She was smiling at this point because she still thought it'd be a quick process.  It went quicker than I thought it would, but it required lots of attention and time from her that I don't think she had thought about - haha!)

(All the varnish stripped off!  I deemed the inside not important to worry about.  I ended up buying shelf liner and put it on the inside to cover up the stains on the shelves -- easy peasy!)

(The doors had this flower detail on them which made them "country-ish" in Steve's words.  I could take or leave the design, but since we were doing an over-haul, now was the time to address the issue.)

(I got a wood filler and covered up the design.  After it dried, I sanded it to make it smooth.  I probably should have done this a couple times to assure the design was completely covered, but I was ready to move onto painting.  When you look closely at the doors now, you can see the outline of the design, but from a distance it isn't noticeable so I'm happy.)

(Our "brand new" changing table!  I feel like it looks like a completely different piece of furniture now!  It matches the crib beautifully!  Notice how you can no longer see the design on the doors.  We will probably change out the knobs, too; just haven't gotten to that yet.)

(Another view!  Originally, we put the changing table in this corner so that it was hidden and not a focal point in the room, but after discussing it, we've changed the layout.  Now it sits across from the crib, and we'll put the rocking chair in the corner.  This was Steve's suggestion so that we can look out the window while rocking Bean. We're waiting on our glider to arrive to finalize the layout, then we'll post pictures of the finished nursery -- can't wait!)

Better look at how painting the changing table white really changes the room:

(Before)

(After)

Amazing how just changing its color really updated the piece and changes the whole room.  Love it!

Lightin' It Up

Last Sunday on our way home from church, we spotted a garage sale.  We decided to stop and take a look.  We didn't think we'd really find anything, but we spotted two matching lamps that stuck out to us.  We kept debating on the style, but thought let's go crazy and try something different.  We picked them both up for a total of $15.

(Newly purchased lamp)

We were not fans of the orignal lamp shades.  They weren't the best quality and also looked very dated.  So we headed to our new favorite place -- Menard's and picked up some new shades.

(New lamp & new shade -- it's amazing how a lamp shade can change the overall look of the lamp!)

We put one lamp in the living on an end table (pictured above) and the other lamp is on our newly acquired entry way table!

(Entryway -- this lamp is purely for decoration, there's no outlet in that location to plug-in.  Now I'm in the market for some sort of basket or decoration to accompany the lamp on the table.)

Our new lamps were purchased just in time -- this Sunday, our chandelier in the living room decided to quit working.  Well actually, we had the opposite problem.  It wouldn't turn off!  It's controlled by a remote control, so we thought maybe the battery was out on the remote.  After replacing it, the lights still wouldn't turn off!  Steve took a peak up in the mount on the ceiling to see if there's a battery in the receiver box.  However, the box is bigger than the hole in the ceiling and we couldn't find the battery in the tight space.  But while he was messing with it, it shut itself off and we can't turn it back on.  Oh well, at least we're not wasting energy with it now :-/.

Auction Adventure

Our first week back home went by as quick as our vacation. I can't even tell you how the week was spent, other then the fact that it was busy with errands, unpacking, laundry, work, and the usual.  Over the weekend, we spent sometime outside cleaning cars and doing some more mulching.  We also did some bidding on an online auction from Columbus, OH and won a piece of furniture!  We are now the owners of a Thomasville entryway table.  We had to drive to Columbus Monday evening to pick up the cabinet.

The way the auction work is like this -- someone will "hire" the auction company to post items online and then coordinate all the pick-up.  In this case, a all the items came from a specific house that was being cleaned out and sold.  When we picked up our item, the auction people got the item from the house and loaded it up in our car. They even threw in some bonus items (some weird grandma poems in frames and a lamp that looks like an urn), too.

(Our new "entryway" table.  This table will be used to housed items that we just dump when we come in the house.  For instance, there will be a place in the drawer for Steve to put his keys and wallet into while my purse will go behind the doors.)

(The pictures aren't the greatest because of the lighting.  I took the pictures at night right after we brought it home.  The white of the cabinet matches the white trim throughout the house.  It has gold trim accents which match the warm tones of the paint in the living room.  The piece definitely fits in the design of the house and we are excited to add more furniture in the house!  Oh, and the flowers on the table were from Steve, "just because."  Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am??)

New Space

After 2 months of waiting, frustration, and more waiting, our new furniture has arrived!  Back in February when Steve's parents came to visit, they took us furniture shopping and bought us a new coffee table and end table.  We were finally able to retire our college iKea tables from the living room (which was about time since the iKea coffee table was in need of some more glue).

We were originally given a 2 week delivery date, but a few weeks came and went before we heard form Ashley Home Furniture.  Our Europe trip was quickly approaching, so I contacted the store to let them know we would be gone in case the furniture showed up.  When we got back from Europe, I had no messages on the phone about the furniture and had forgotten all about it.  Luckily, an Ashley commercial came on one day which reminded me that we still were waiting for our furniture!  I called and found out that the furniture was on back order (nice of them to inform us-- ha!).  They gave us a date for delivery in April.

Halfway through the month of April, I went ahead and called again, just to make sure we were still set for an April delivery.  I was informed that we were put on priority and should get the furniture within the week.  Lucky for them, they were true to their word and it showed up a couple days later!  After all that waiting, we had forgotten what the furniture had looked like, so we got to fall in love with the pieces again.  We're still toying with room set-up.  Our living room is an odd shape (rectangular) with our tv as a focal point on a long side.  It's hard to use the space appropriately while still being able to see the tv (without glare and craning your neck).  We're trying another layout now, we'll see how it goes. . .

(This is the couch that I tend to lounge on.  I know it doesn't really make sense to have the biggest couch perpendicular to the tv, but it does when you lay on the couch to watch the tv.  I don't know if you can see, but on the big window in the upper right area is our newly purchased bird feeder.  Because of all the squirrels, we had to buy one that suctions onto the window.  We just put it up and are anxiously awaiting for a bird to use it.)

(So here's the conundrum -- our furniture is now placed on 2 sides of the living room, and they feel very far from each other.  If we move them closer, it cuts the living room space up funny.  I need a layout intervention.  Any suggestions??)

(The coffee table has a hidden compartment that can hold lots of chotsky)

(Here is where Steve usually sits -- in his favorite iKea chair.  During the day, I tend to sit on this couch since it is straight on from the tv.  However, at night, the chandelier puts a bad glare on the tv from this angle, which is why I only sit there during the day.)

(Here you can really see the awkward layout.  Steve likes to point out that the middle area of the floor is just wasted space.  Eventually, we'll get a big area rug, but it's still an awkward set-up.  Although, Ramses does enjoy having the lay of the land to roam around -- in his ball, of course!)

(I don't remember if I ever showed the tv mounted on the wall with it's permanent set-up.  All the wires have been neatly tucked away -- through the wall and into the bottom of the bookcase/built-in.  Since we don't have cable, we watch our tv via rabbit ears.  Right now, we have them sitting on the furthest right of the mantel (pictured), but when people come over, we can tuck them away behind the tv.  When the ears are tucked away, we lose 3 of our 9 channels, so when it's just us, we like access to those 3 channels and don't mind the ears on the fireplace.)