chalkboard coffee / train table

Due to our kiddo's recent interest in jumping off of the couch, it seemed like a good idea to trade out the rectangular coffee/train table's corners for something round. I decided on a pedestal table, and I kept my eye out at thrift stores, estate sales, and yard sales for more than six months before leaping (almost literally) at this one a couple of weeks ago.

It had a mission-style base, little wooden casters, a scabbed-up top with peeling veneer, and someone had let their 24-hour reserve tag on it expire at St. Vinnie's. I paid for it on the spot; it was 50% off yellow tags day, and the table had already been marked down from $49.99 to $34.99. Too good to let it get away.

After running home to clean out my car and grab a screwdriver, the kiddo and I drove over to disassemble and load it up. It all happened so fast that I neglected to get a photo of the fully assembled table, but here it is, back home, after I'd started sanding and puttying the top.

I left the cracked veneer in place, but secured it with wood glue and putty. When the time comes to refinish it, this will hopefully make it easier to remove the chalkboard finish; I'll just have to peel off the veneer and start with the wood underneath. 

The table was dining table height, so after getting it home I had some further disassembling to do before I could cut it down by nine inches to make it coffee table height.

I measured and marked, then used masking tape along the line to help reduce splintering.

 

A circular saw, carefully used, took off the extra base, and after reassembling and a little more sanding, the kiddo and I rolled on two coats of zero VOC primer on the top.

That night, after the kiddo's bedtime, I painted on the chalkboard paint (tinted to the kiddo's specifications) in three coats four hours apart. I kept the windows open, a circular fan pointed towards it, the kitchen and bathroom fans on, and the central air circulating to reduce fumes. It worked really well, and by morning we were ready for the three days of curing time recommended on the label.

It was ready for chalk prep (rubbing with the side of a stick of chalk, then erasing) in time for the kiddo's birthday. Hooray!

We love it so far. The color isn't what I would have picked, but it's classroom-chalkboard-green so it doesn't offend me either. More important are the increased play area, improved traffic flow, and reduced risk of injury. Plus, super cute, in my opinion.

Thanks for taking a peek!

p.s. want to see these photos larger? just click on them.


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My Repurposed Life

fun dinettes at the re - building store

If I was in the market for a dining solution, one of these hip yellow mid-century foldable diner dinettes would have fit the bill.

Double so because of the price tag. Seating for four for $75? This would be so awesome in a small eat-in kitchen like mine.

They had several of these out at Bring this week; not sure how many are left, but I snapped these photos earlier today, so maybe if you were to call them up first thing in the morning . . .

Me, I have a too-large dining room table filling up my space. Today I was pining for one of these. What's in your dining room?


(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)

new chairs for thanksgiving dinner : under $25

Our beautiful dining room table was wedding gift from one of my sets of parents. It has now filled two too-small kitchen dining spaces with its gorgeous girth.

When planning to have the in-laws over for Thanksgiving dinner this year, our lack of comparably solid, beautiful chairs became more noticeable. Up until now, we've had a folding chair and four little Ikea Stefan chairs I bought on clearance three years ago. Cute, yes, and mostly serviceable, though as a salesperson pointed out, built to support the weight of your average Swede. A climbing toddler can topple one of those suckers without even trying (although he does try, and frequently).

I headed to the Habitat for Humanity Restore and the Goodwill (toddler in tow, for topple-testing!), and found two solid-wood-constructed, heavy-duty chairs. Both were half-price on different sale days, and they didn't match. Different upholstery, different wood finishes and different builds. My mission? To make them look a little more like a "set".

Before: Stained upholstery, battered finishes.






After: New upholstery, new finishes.






To replicate this project:

1) Remove extraneous padding (like the back pad on the first chair, which was held in place with staples and hot glue) and toss.




2) Turn your chairs over and remove the screws that hold the upholstered seats in place. Set aside the screws, and take the seat off of the chair

3) If the chairs have been previously re-covered, remove the excess layers of fabric and staples. Set aside the seats and the screws.




4) Stretch new fabric over the seats. Turn face down, fold fabric edge under to prevent fraying, and shoot a few staples along that edge of the new fabric, making sure the staples go through all layers of fabric and into the wooden seat bottom. Pull tightly, and tack down the opposing edge in the same manner.

5) Repeat for other two edges. At corners, some people use a "package fold" but I don't prefer the square-ish edges this leaves. Instead, I make about a dozen tiny folds and overlaps, sort of gathering the fabric with my fingers as I staple. Set seats aside.

6) Sand or de-gloss the chair frames outside, then paint with a spray-paint/primer in one, using even strokes and building up several light layers. These dry more quickly than a single, heavy layer, and also leave a nicer finish.

7) Let dry / cure / air-out for a couple of days. Then bring back inside and reassemble to the newly upholstered seat bottoms.

Ta-dum! New dinner chairs. The kiddo loves them, and so do I!

You can find the fabric here, courtesy of Spoonflower (more about that in a future post). It's meant to be a stuffed animal kit.

The spray finish is a color called oil-rubbed-bronze, a brownish black with a very subtle gleam of metal flake. It's a satin finish.












Any questions about my process? Leave them in the comments section below and I'll do my best to answer.


(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)



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