Project: Dining Room Table

It's done!  Grant worked long and hard on this table (with very little assistance from yours truly) and it's finally done!  We used the plans found at ana-white and used fir boards from Home Depot to build the table.

We love the size of it.  It's 8 feet long and about 4 feet wide.  We're going to build a matching bench for one side and finish oxidizing our ikea chairs for the other side.

The table turned out darker than we originally planned, but we love it anyway! I especially love that certain parts that didn't take the oxidation as well as others, making it looks natural and uneven.

A view from above.  I think the dark wood really warms up the space since almost all of the color in there is light and/or neutral.

Sir likes it.  He's been placing random objects on top of it for the last few days.

Here's an example of the uneven parts of the table.  Love.

And the knots on the top made for some interesting unique spots as well.

Cutest.

A few weeks ago, we also bought these upholstered chairs for the ends of the table.  The legs are black but I don't mind.  Either that, or I'm just too lazy to change them...  Does the reason matter...? They'll probably stay black :)

So that's the scoop!  With chairs finished, a bench built, and a little decoration, it's going to look awesome.

February 4th: Progress Report

No big projects to report today.  Instead, just a few pictures of projects along their way.  

First, hanging pictures... not my favorite.  All these frames have been stashed away in various locations around the house so we laid them out to take inventory.  I've gotta be honest... haven't hung any yet...  It's hard to hang art/pictures/etc.  when there's not much furniture to base them around...

Next, table progress.  After a failed attempt to straighten out some warped boards, Grant decided to just nail them down and sand it flat.  It's taking quite a while so we may go out and buy a cheap planer.  T.B.D.  We also learned that wood filler does not oxidize... so we've been sanding off excess filler so we can re-oxidize and even everything out.

Sander-face.

It's going to be awesome.  Oh, we also bought some upholstered chairs for the ends of the table.  On sale- woohoo.

And last of all, we just got this baby in the mail.  Found it on sale, of course, and I've got some fun projects planned for it.  (Both are not Grant's favorite projects... but this is a give and take partnership, right honey?!)

DIY Ruffle Curtains

With a few big, (slowly moving) projects in the works, sometimes it's nice to ignore the looming monstrosities (dining room table anyone?), and find success in a small project.  Tuesday, I tackled some DIY ruffle curtains for the living room.

When we moved in to our house, there were a lot of curtains left behind by the previous owners.  Most of them were cream, thin, muslin like material: not bad, but not what we had in mind.  They've been sitting in a pile in the basement while our windows have remained curtainless.  So I decided to revive a few using a tutorial over at Besserina.  (Thank you!)

Making these curtains is pretty basic.  Cut up strips of fabric, make and pin pleats, sew them to the curtains, iron the pleats into ruffles.  Bam.  Done.

I sewed in the only way that doesn't make me totally crazy: with wild abandon.  I refuse to hem, baste, and honestly... measure, unless it's absolutely necessary.  Luckily, this project leaves a lot of room for error. Wahoo!

The curtains don't go quite all the way to the floor, but with the chairs in front of them, we didn't mind. We're also not a big fan of where the current rod supports are.  Because of the placement, the curtains have to be completely outside the window.  We'll probably move those supports... eventually... maybe...

We love how it turned out.  It adds a lot to the little room and it was done and finished in one day.  Have you ever made your own curtains?  Are you a sew-only-with-wild-abandon-er like me?

A New Living Room

We were itching for a change.  The kind of change that involves a large budget... (which we don't have...) so we decided to mix things up a little.  We exchanged the big blue couches in the living room with the chairs and canvas couch in the family room.  It feels glorious. (Okay, to be fair... the living room now feels glorious.  The family room is now a little awkward and slightly cramped... but we're working on it.)

We moved the little side table, (an ikea hack made of two lack tables), and put a few little items on it: Crystal bowl was a wedding gift, birdcage from Hobby Lobby, and books from various university book stores, thrift stores, and gifts.  Not as quaint as I'm picturing it to be in the future, but it's on its way.

Now we begin teaching Will how not to carry crystal around...   We tend to parent in a "learn by mistake" fashion.  For example, we have never had a baby gate for the stairs, (it only took a small spill or two to learn), and we would like decorate in a way that doesn't look it's been "kid-proofed."  The aim is kid-friendly without being kid-centered.  We'll see how that goes...

We also purchased these new "barometer" lamps (!) from Ikea.  We would love for this room to be a sort of library in the future.  (We're envisioning built-in bookcases to frame the window).  The new lamps have a fairly direct light stream, so they work really well as reading lights.

And one more thing-- did you notice?! The chairs are both done!  The second went considerably faster than the first (surprise, surprise), but I got hung up on the last cushion.  This weekend, I finally worked up the courage to get that sucker done.  It feels good.  I told Grant, "I felt like it had been hanging over me like a old, dead goose..."  (Name that movie...)

Hooray for new spaces without spending a penny! (Okay, except for the new lamps...)

Antique Window Shopping

Today, the Willister & I went antique window shopping.  Well, that is, we went window shopping for antiques... not shopping for antique windows... (Although antique windows are pretty cool too...) We have bought a few things at antique stores before, including both of the dressers that we refinished for Will's room.

But mostly, I just love to go and look around at antique stores.  I love pieces that have a little history, that have served somebody else in another life and and now reemerging to play a role in mine.  We headed to my favorite antique store, Colorado Antique Gallery, and we've brought a little old-school inspiration home to Tanner Projects today!

First, a repurposed old suitcase.  Awesome.  They were asking $1200 for this bad boy...

And this dresser/hutch.  We're thinking of options for our entryway and one of those options is a piece like this.  I was drawn to this one because it was in good shape and had minimal finish (read: easy to refinish/paint, etc.).  It was also on sale: Down to $175 from $350.  Not a steal, but not terrible.

*Also, note in the mirror, my lovely Willister shopping partner.  Cutest antiquing baby in the world...

I also loved this little table for $60. Too tall for an end table next to a couch?

And this pie safe.  (I love that name, and it's comforting to know that somebody is looking out for all those poor, innocent pies...) What a lovely color.

And the tin work was pretty.  My bedroom back home has a big antique pie safe full of books...  No tin accents, but lots of books.  Hopefully someday I can bring that sucker to my new home.

And then I loved these Mason jars (or rather, Kerr jars) with the decorate punch in the lid and striped straws added.  We did mason jars with striped straws for Will's 1st birthday and they turned out really cute.  I love this rendition of the classic mason jar as well.

Then we found this sweet copper... thing.  It's pretty big, probably 2 feet tall, and they were asking $60 for each one.  I can picture it by our fireplace.

And this antique sewing machine base with added reclaimed wood.  My mother has an antique sewing machine with a base just like this one... Feeling like an update, Mom...?

And this old ladder.  I love the idea of a big library with ladders to reach the highest books... sigh.  A little Beauty & the Beast action.  $65

And I was digging this Irish Americans coffee table book.  Getting in touch with my heritage.  $18

And I love these Mason jar lights.  $30+.  We've been oogling over similar ideas on pinterest.

And these nautical sketches.  Love that they are a pair. $142

*This is about the time that I passed the grouchy old man for the fifth time.  We were scavenging at the same speed but running down the aisles in opposite directions, so we crossed paths every time, and every time, he made a crotchety face at me because Will's cart took up the whole aisle...  We quickly changed our browsing pattern after that... Hope you have a better, baby-blocking-the-aisle-less day, good sir.

And I'm digging the old wagon wheel.  Picturing romantic wagon wheel chandeliers like this one.

And who doesn't love a Normal Rockwell print? $12

How about an old chest?  This one looked ripe for the staining.  And made me dream of a day when I'll have attractive, functional storage for all those baby toys downstairs...

I also love the statement that this chair makes.  With paint (or without) and an updated cushion, it would look mighty fine in a more formal living room. (Although I would probably leave the creepy black-face doll behind...)

And I love this... thing... (any ideas on what this would be called...?) for an entry way.

The door opens and you could easily hang coats, store shoes, etc. inside to tidy up the entry way.

Amazingly, through all the scavenging, Will was really good.  This is probably because he spent most of his time finding cars to *gasp* at.  That's how he communicates these days.  In over exaggerated gasps and grunts.

Have you bought anything from an antique shop?  Did you update it or leave it the same?  And any suggestions for a new antique Tanner Project?!

Love Letters from Afar...

Grant is out of town for a few days so Will & I sent him off with a few surprises.  I made each of the pages and then Will added stickers and various crayon marks.  We put each one in an envelope marked with the date and time that Grant would be allowed to open them.  

Will loved using the stickers, but mostly wanted to eat the crayons.

We sent a little letter to start:

And later he got to open a guessing game.  My grandpa would always draw us little "guessing games" with pictures to identify, so we've carried on the tradition in Tanner form.  Included in this guessing game is a worm (because we just bought worms to start a new compost bin), Will in his black widow Halloween costume, Steve! from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a juicer (our newest obsession), a camping tent, Lightning McQueen (Will's latest obsession), a carabiner for rock climbing, and Shamu, Grant's one true love.

The next envelope contained a sappy, mushy, love letter, contents not appropriate for this blog... hah.  But no, really, it was just a letter.

And the last envelope, which he'll open tomorrow on the plane, contained this frightening coloring page of Will's face (made here) and two crayons.

Ahh! Can't wait to hear what Grant has to say about that...

Dining Room Chandelier

Last week, Grant came home from Costco and told me, "I have a surprise for you in the car!"  Normally I'd expect candy or chocolate, because Grant knows I have a killer sweet tooth.  Think of all the chocolatey treats it might be!  Industrial, Costco sized chocolatey treats, spilling out the back of his car! (Can you tell I haven't had sweets in two weeks?!)

But anyway, it was not a treat.  Well, not a treat-to-eat.  Instead it was feast for the eyes: a new chandelier!  Grant found it on clearance at Costco ( I didn't even know that existed...) for $40!  What a score! It took us (meaning... mostly Grant) a half hour or so to install.

It's a nice, bright improvement on the previous, builder-grade light we had before.  (See at the top?)

It holds four teardrop lightbulbs, which amazingly we had hanging around for some reason.

I don't feel like it matches our kitchen well yet.  But maybe with the white cabinets and black countertops that we're dreaming of...

It's the best feeling to happen upon a deal without even trying.  Now we just need to happen upon a few more cheap chandeliers for the laundry room, dining room, bedroom....