Projects

I feel a little bit like I'm in over my head with DIY projects right now.  I love the results, but I've got so many ideas in regard to my kitchen that it's getting a little out of control.  (Getting new floors really got the ideas going!)


First I'll share a finished project.  Our kitchen chairs were in sad shape.  I bought them for $10 a piece over a year ago at our local Reuzit store.


This is what they looked like when I bought them.

I was never super jazzed about having fabric seats.  I knew that in our family they wouldn't stay nice very long.  And, I was right.  We used these chairs hard & they looked it!  I don't have a picture of what they looked like right before I redid them but, trust me, it wasn't pretty.


So, with my new floors I couldn't return nasty chairs to our dining table....could I?  I decided to redo them.  I started out painting them a pale gray.  But, that didn't go the way I wanted. So, I settled on some oil based black satin paint I had leftover from another project.  Then, I went to Walmart and bought some new fabric I've had my eye on for awhile.  And, I scotchguarded the seats.  Hopefully, it protects them a bit.


Here's the after of my chairs....

A huge improvement!  The only problem is I'm afraid to let my family sit on them when we eat!


Another project I'm working on is re-doing my parent's old dining room table.  It's the table I grew up using.  To be honest I'd forgotten what it looked like because it was always covered with a tablecloth. 


My grandmother recently moved into a retirement home and she passed her table on to my parents.  My parents were just going to get rid of their table.  But, when I saw it I knew I had to do something with it.  The tabletop was in need of a good sanding and re-staining.  That's what I'm working on now.  (I even bought myself an electric sander!)


At this point I don't plan to do anything with the rest of the table.  I do want to give it a 2 tone stain effect.  The legs of the table are already a cherry type stain.  I think I'll do the tabletop a lighter, more natural stain.  


Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon of that project.


Also, in our kitchen I really want to paint my cabinets.  This is a project though that will require time, patience, my husband's help, and a child-free day.  So, that project is on hold for now.


In the meantime I've rearranged the layout of our kitchen a bit.  Don't worry.  I'll share pictures of what I'm doing in time.  But, because of the new layout I needed/wanted an island.


Did you know that islands are really pricey??  I've been doing some on-line research and even my cheapest options weren't large enough and were still out of my price range.


Enter Craigslist (again).  I found a contractor supplier in our area who was getting out of the kitchen end of the business.  Consequently they were selling off all the display models of their kitchen cabinets and islands.  


They had one island left.  It was originally priced at $3900.  Then it was marked down to $1700.  The final clearance price was $250.  Sold!


I bought it.  It wasn't exactly the style I wanted.  But, it was the size I needed.


Here are the pictures I took of the island in the showroom....

You can't really tell here.  But, the hardware is super cute!

It also has space for stools on the other side.

I wasn't completely jazzed about the color of the counter top.  But, I may also have a solution to that.  Have you heard of a faux granite spray for countertops?


I've seen some things in DIY magazines.  And, I think this could be a solution.

How To ReDo countertops

I like the idea of getting a black granite look.  We shall see....

Check back for some project updates!