Teacher's Pet

I'm so excited to be back to share with you all a project that I just love!

The dining room, or dining area is actually a better term, is a shared space with the living room. Truth be told...I hate, let me repeat, H-A-T-E, shared living / dining spaces. I don't know why I've come to have this aversion to spaces such as these but I guess this is just one of the sacrifices of living in a small apartment. Our dining room, or lack thereof, has gone through quite a few changes since we moved in almost a year ago. It's so hard to find a style or look for the dining room that flows well with the adjoined living room without the 2 spaces being #twinsies. Not fun. So because of this little dilemma, this small space had undergone a few makeovers in our short time here.

When we first moved in, we painted the dining room wall a deep, dusty blue. I've been digging the deep, rich, blues for a while now and couldn't wait to try out the color pallet in our new back then apartment. I was instantly in love but as the weeks wore on I quickly fell out of love...not because of the deep blue hue we had chosen, but because our apartment gets very bad natural light so the darker color made the whole space feel claustrophobic and small. So a few months ago, I decided to paint over it with something lighter and it's completely brightened things up in here, up in here, you know, like that one song...

When we decided to paint for the 2nd time, I went with big, bold white & grey stripes and I love, L-O-V-E them! Shout out to the best mom ever for helping me out (hope you're reading this! You better be!). Anyways, since painting the stripes a few months ago, the wall has sat empty and totally needed something. I've been searching for a big giant mirror to hang on the wall because mirrors are great to reflect light areas that don't get a lot of natural light but dang, giant mirrors are expensive. This chick ain't rich folks. So I set out to DIY a giant mirror but dang, I ran into quite a few issues and haven't got around to overcoming them so...onto Plan B!

While perusing Pinterest I ran across this baby that I totally fell for and ding...light bulb moment. I just had to have it.

So Plan B quickly became DIY-ing a giant-ish chalkboard to hang above my $4 Thomasville buffet that's still waiting to get refinished (we'll talk more later on how awesome a deal this buffet was).

I loved the look of this chalkboard coffee bar wall above the grey buffet but knew I didn't want an entire chalkboard wall because I felt we'd go right back to feeling like we lived in the batcave if we did that. So. I took this inspiration and put my own apartment-friendly-un-batcave-like twist on the idea.

To start I made a quick trip to my local home improvement store and picked up a sheet of 4'x2' MDF for around $6. I also picked up a 1"x3"x10' piece of trim board (used for baseboards) for another $6 smackaroos and a can of black chalkboard paint for $10. Then I got to work.

First step was painting the MDF board with the chalkboard paint. I brushed on the 1st coat but then rolled on all other coats with a high density foam roller. Using the roller gave it a smoother finish overall but if you decide to use a brush, be careful not to over brush as the paint seemed to dry quickly.

Also...be sure to mix your can of chalkboard paint THOROUGHLY before applying. When I first opened the can, the paint inside was blue. At first I thought I grabbed the wrong color (because chalkboard paint does come in many awesome colors) but once I began stirring I realized that a lot of gunk (not sure what else to call it) had settled on the bottom of the can and the more I mixed, the blacker the paint turned.

Chalkboard paint requires a 4 hour dry time so once I completely covered the MDF in chalkboard pain I waited 4 hours before applying my next coat. All in all I did 5 coats and I'd recommend at least 3 at the very minimum, more if you have the patience. The thicker the coat of chalkboard paint the easier it'll be to write on.

Fun little tip when you're painting something that requires multiple coats with long dry times in between - wrap your brush or roller in a plastic bag or Ziploc and stick it in the refrigerator. Totally abnormal to have a paint brush in the fridge, yes, but the paint doesn't harden and therefore you don't have to wash the brush/roller after each application while you're waiting to re coat.

While drying, I set out to make my frame. With the help of my handy boyfriend, we cut the frame pieces down to size. I have visions of chopping off my thumb so I haven't worked up the courage to do this on my own so I stand at a safe distance and snap pics while he operates the thumb slicer. 

We (I mean he) cut 2 pieces at and 2 pieces at for the frame.

If you don't have access to a saw at home, your local home improvement store can cut them down to size for you. Once all our frame pieces were cut I got to work distressing the wood. Because I like to buy perfectly good wood and then beat it up. To distress the wood I used a hammer, the can of chalkboard paint and even a fork. Don't worry, I washed the fork.

You really cant mess this up. It's totally random and to your liking. Just ding, dent, scrape wherever you want or not at all. You're the artist here!

Doesn't look like much here but once the stain takes hold, it'll bring out the grain and all those cool distressed imperfections you created.

Next up stain! I used my favorite of all time, Minwax Dark Walnut.

I went over each board with a generous amount of stain and let the stain soak in for 15 minutes before wiping off the excess. I always find that using old cut up t-shirts works well for the application and wiping off but the stain can be applied with a brush as well but it's kinda a pain to clean up afterwards. And don't forget to wear your rubber gloves unless you want stained hands and fingernails.

See what I mean about the stain bringing out the distress markings as if they had always been there?! Love!

Moving on...

At this point you can wait an hour, see how you like the color, re coat if necessary or just let the boards dry. Dry time is 4 hours. I chose not to re coat because I loved the look on the 1st pass so I waited the allotted dry time.

Next up, putting together the frame! For this part I used my new Kreg tool that I got for Christmas to drill me some pocket holes on both ends of my 2 side pieces of the frame to help screw this frame together. All in all I think it's a pretty nifty tool and cant wait to get better at using it. The possibilities are endless with this thing.

I wont go through all the nitty gritty of how to use this but you basically start like this:

and end up with this:

I then used a little wood glue on both ends, butted them up against the horizontal pieces of the frame and screwed everything together as shown on the diagram below:

If you don't happen to have one of these tools, you can still make your frame by nailing or screwing all the pieces together from the top and bottom. The exposed screws would give it a really cool industrial look!

Once your frame is all put together, now it's time to put the chalkboard backing on. I put a bead of wood glue down on the entire inner perimeter of the frame like so...

 Then I centered the chalkboard piece over the frame opening and nailed it down with 3/4" finishing nails.

This part was a little tedious but not too bad. It would've gone way faster had I had the right length nails for my nail gun but I didn't and didn't want to make another trip to the store so I did it the old fashioned way.

 Last step in fabrication of this bad boy is attaching the hanging hardware. I picked up some large d-ring hooks at the hardware store, measured down 6" from the top of my frame and screwed the hardware in using 3/4" wood screws.

And fabrication is complete! 3 cheers for a job well done and the newest addition to our dining room wall! Ain't she a beauty?!

 To prepare your chalkboard before using it, you'll need to season it. To do this simply take a piece of chalk and lay it on its side and rub the entire chalkboard with it.

 After wiping off the excess chalk dust, you're good to go!

I think the chalkboard is the perfect addition to this once empty wall and perfect to display the menu for special occasions or the use it to display the drink list for our makeshift "bar" that hangs out below.

 Now that we have something cool displayed on the wall, its time for a new light fixture that doesn't interfere with the line of sight! The chalkboard is just the start to some changes/additions I have in mind for this weird space but I think it's off to a great start. And now that I have a fancy new chalkboard, I better start brushing up on my chalkboard art skills! Check back soon for chalkboard art tutorials...till then, enjoy the weekend!

 Project Cost:

MDF board - $6

Chalkboard Paint - $10

Trim pieces - $5

Stain / Glue / Nails - already had on hand

Total Project Cost - $21.00

Not too bad!

Curbside Pick-Up

One of the things I love most is finding something old and dilapidated, adding a little love, and turning it into something beautiful. I found this beat up table sitting on the curb outside my neighbors house and couldn't scoop it up fast enough. I didn't necessarily need a table but who doesn't love free? It's amazing how many people discard great pieces of furniture on the curb or by the dumpster because they're a little worn and what I like to call "loved" but you can bet that if we're driving by and I spy a good piece that's been set out, I'll make my boyfriend turn around and pick it up! #dumpsterdiver

When I rescued this this little beauty from the trash truck it was in sorry shape. It had some pretty bad water damage on top, the Queen Anne legs looked like they had been chewed on by a dog or cat, parts of the table top had been spray painted but with the exception of the raised lip on top, it was solid wood!

 

Since this table had been sitting who knows where for who knows how long (it was probably living in a dungeon somewhere, lets be honest) I started by giving the tabletop a good sanding with my palm sander. I started with a coarse 80 grit sandpaper and worked my way to a 220 fine grit sandpaper to get all the finish off. Going over with fine grit sand paper on your last pass before stain really opens up the pores of the wood and makes it super smooth and ready to absorb the stain. Since I was planning to stain the top, the top needed to be sanded down to the bare wood. The wood top was veneer so I had to be careful not to sand through the veneer but enough to get the clear coat/stain all the way off.

 

I used the Black + Decker Mouse Detail sander for this project and it worked great to get into all the grooves and crevices.

  

 

Before I stained the top though, I flipped the table over, removed all the screws that connected the skirt to the tabletop so that I could prep the skirt and legs for paint. (Sorry, no pictures of this)

 

Since I wasn't planning to stain the legs, I didn't bother sanding those down to bare wood with the palm sander. With the curvature of the legs it just would've been a pain in the neck and it just wasn't worth it. So, to prep the legs, I grabbed a piece of sandpaper and gave it a light sanding  just to get all the gunk and dirt off and then used Elmer's paintable/stainable wood filler to fill in all the dings and gouges. Pieces of the skirt were a bit damaged and separating from itself in places so I used a little wood glue and clamps to fix it right up.

 

After the wood glue and wood filler had dried, I gave the legs a good sanding until they were smooth and primed it with Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Plus spray primer. Let me just tell you, this primer rocks! This is my go-to primer whenever I'm working on a paint project because it has a thick coverage and goes on flawlessly. It's always good to prime a piece you're planning to paint because primer gives the paint something to adhere to and it'll prevent your paint from cracking, peeling, and it'll make your paint job last 10x longer. So even though it's an extra step, it's totally worth it in the end...the last thing you want to do is skip the primer and then have to re-sand your wood and start all over because your paint didn't stick the first go around. Been there, done that! #notfun

 

Once the legs had been primed, I noticed a whole new batch of dings, dents, and gouges so I made one more pass with the wood filler, let it dry, and gave it another good sanding until the legs were smooth to the touch. Even if you don't have to make a second pass with the wood filler, you should always lightly sand your piece after it's been primed. Doing so will ensure a super smooth surface for your paint and sand out any drips that may have occurred while priming. One thing about white primer or paint is that it really does bring out any imperfections so even though that meant I had to wood fill the legs twice, I was happy that the primer helped me see what I didn't the first go-around.

 

When all that was said and done, I sprayed the legs using Rust-Oleum's White spray paint in a Satin finish. You can choose to either brush on your primer & paint but for the smaller jobs, spray paint was easier and faster. Once the legs dried, I reattached them to the top and it was time to stain the top!

 

To begin staining the top, I wiped everything down with a clean cloth and made sure there was no leftover dust from the sanding. I conditioned the wood using  Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner. Conditioning the wood isn't necessary but doing so preps the wood to absorb the stain just as using a fine grit sandpaper does. The conditioner helps ensure even coverage of your stain and helps to prevent any blotchiness of light and dark patches. And again...if you went through all this trouble to sand the wood, why not take the extra step?!

 

 

The wood conditioner looks like milk in the can so don't be alarmed. I just used a cheap-o paint brush I picked up in the stain section that is specifically made for staining applications but you can use an old cloth too. Old white t-shirts work great for this! Brush on the wood conditioner and wait the allotted time per the instructions. Once you have let your conditioner soak in, white off any excess. You can kinda see in the picture below the slight white tint the conditioned part of the table vs. the raw natural wood. 

 

 

Do this at least twice while waiting the allotted dry time per the instructions on the back of the can and now you're ready for stain!

 

For stain, I chose to use Mixwax Wood Finish stain in Dark Walnut. It looks a little light in the sample but goes on super rich and beautiful. I let my tabletop dry overnight and then began staining the top in the same manner I described above. Brush or wipe on, let sit, and wipe off. Don't forget to wear gloves when staining, otherwise your hands will be stained for like week. This happened to me and it looked like my fingertips had turned black. Gross!

 

When staining, the longer you let the stain sit the darker the stain will be once you wipe it off. And if you aren't sure, wipe off the excess stain after the instructed time and you can always go over it again with another coat. I think I ended up doing 3 coats of stain before the color was where I wanted it to be. Also! Be sure to stain outside or in a well ventilated area that is free of dirt and debris. Stain is super stinky and while your stain is drying, you don't want a rouge leaf to stick to the wet surface and ruin all your hard work!

 

 

Once I was finished staining I let the tabletop dry for 2 days. It probably wasn't necessary to let it dry for so long, but better safe than sorry.

 

After the stain has dried, it's time for the last step! Clear coat & protecting all your hard work staining! I used Minwax Polyacrylic. The polyacrylic goes on the same way as the wood conditioner and stain. Brush, wipe, dry. Repeat. At least 3 times! Once you've applied and let all your coats dry, your table is...Done. Done. Done!

 

I went the extra step and distressed my table legs a little by taking some sandpaper and sanding some inconspicuous areas and the raised edges to give it that worn and rustic look that I love so much before clear coating my legs.

 

  It didn't take much but this free little table went from beat up and discarded, to a welcome addition to our house! It cost me $45 in materials to get this table in useable shape, but in all actuality it cost me less because with the exception of the paint, I still have more than half of everything else left to use on other projects in the future. So for a $45 investment, I think its well worth it for a solid wood table that I can now comfortably seat 6. Did I mention how pretty she is?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Cost:

Table - $0 Fr-eeeeee!

Spray Primer (2 cans) - $10.00

Spray Paint (2 cans) - $8.00

Wood Conditioner - $13.00

Stain - $5.00

Polyacrylic - $9.00

 

Total Cost - $45.00