Our Farmhouse Kitchen Table

Here it is, our big farmhouse table that Neal built us and I couldn't be happier with it! I've always wanted a big rustic table for everybody to sit around and we finally have it. I hope to someday find the perfect antique one but until that day this one will do just fine.

I was determined to make ours look old and started by giving Eli a hammer and grabbing my crowbar. We then got busy hitting the table top, Eli got the biggest kick out of the fact that he was allowed to hit the furniture with a hammer. After I felt it looked damaged enough I stained the top with one coat of Minwax Dark Walnut stain. The legs and aprons are painted Martha Stewart's Bone Folder.

Then I applied a heavy coating of Minwax Finishing Wax on the areas that I wanted to be able to easily sand, mainly the areas that a table would have extra wear like the edges.

Then I painted the table top with multiple coats of the Bone Folder not letting any of the stain show through. After it had thoroughly dried I used my mouse sander to distress the paint. I still need to apply a coat of polycrylic to the top but my picture taking window is very small these days so I figured it could wait.

It was funny because I knew I wanted a big long bench for the one side of the table but figured I would have to scour the flea market or have Neal build us one. But lo and behold on my way home from the grocery store on the weekend that Neal built the table I spotted this white bench for sale on the side of the road.

 When I pulled into the driveway of the house where the bench was for sale I decided to myself that $30 was the maximum I would pay for the bench. No one came outside so I called the number on the bench and just as I was leaving a message a lady came outside. She said she wanted $40 for the bench and I told her I didn't want to spend that much. Disappointed I got back into my car. On the drive home I started to think why didn't I just buy it for the $40, what's $10 right? What if I never saw the right bench again, one that was already shabby and white? But I really try to stick to the price I get in my head because it keeps me from overspending and then hating myself for it later. All I could do was hope that no one else came along and bought the bench for $40 and that the nice lady would call me back accepting my offer, I knew she had my phone number because I had left it on my message. Well I guess the bench was meant to be ours because she did call me back accepting my offer of $30!

I wanted the table to be large enough for a lot of people to be able to sit at it and still have room for food or a board game in the center. We had everyone here for Halloween and we had plenty of room for all of the food. For now I have an old tool caddy in the center to hold our salt and pepper, napkins and silverware. The ironstone pitcher is a gift from my mom, she took me antique shopping to one of my favorite shops Romantique Boutique  and to dinner for a belated birthday celebration. Millie was born the week of my birthday so we weren't able to do much then. Neal likes to joke that the week of Millie's and my birthday will forever be an expensive one for him:)

And some pictures of the family room just because the sunshine coming in today is so pretty.

I mentioned a few months ago that we had started working on the small bathroom between the kitchen and dining room, well that was put on the back burner for a while. However, I have finally been able to get back to working on it. While Millie naps I have been taking down the plaster and lathe and you know how I love demo work! As far as I am concerned there is nothing better than making the gross go away! I will keep you updated on our progress, hopefully this weekend we will get the tub out of here.

Family Room Part Three

Well the stars finally aligned... I was home, it was sunny, and there weren't Lego's on every surface so I was able to take some more pictures of our family room and kitchen.

We ended up putting the doors back on the big Welsh dresser because I needed it for storage of some not so attractive things. We put our television on the left side and I had Neal make some folding doors to hide it when need be.

I hung an old mirrored cabinet that I picked up at a local antique store for $10 on the wall in the small space between the rooms.

I absolutely love our new family room and I especially love the fact that when I am in the kitchen, which is a lot of the time, my son is right there in the family room playing. I used to have run back and forth to check on him while I was making dinner but not anymore.

I haven't really made any changes in the kitchen but I thought I would take some pictures anyways. I have a new bowl that I am quite smitten with, I got it from Vintage Abbey Road on Etsy, it's one of my favorite shops. 

I repainted our kitchen cupboards last week, they were in desperate need of a fresh coat of white paint. I painted them the same "Swan White" in semi-gloss by Glidden that I painted the trim and ceiling. I changed the drawer pulls while I was at it, I bought the same ones I have on the other cabinets by the sink, they are from Lowes. 

Don't you just love the pig cutting board, I bought him at a thrift store for $1.00 years ago. That was the best thrift store ever, always full of antiques but it since closed down sadly. Everything I bought for our first house and lots of stuff in this house too came from that thrift store. 

Some new things in my cupboard are the cow painting I found at the thrift store and a cute little clock from Target. I don't know about you guys but I am dying for flea market/yard sale season to start, my mental "want to find" list is growing by the day! I know I said the same thing last Spring but this always happens to me this time of year, I start to go through withdrawal:) 

Okay I promise to start showing pictures of other rooms again:) Our next renovation project is the small bathroom off of the kitchen but that won't begin until late Spring early Summer. Neal is a lacrosse official and the season has officially started so he will basically just sleep here for the next two months. So any house improvements happening for awhile will be things that I can do all on my own. People Neal works with always say to him "doesn't your wife just hate lacrosse season"? The truth is I love it because it's the time of year that I can get the most done in a day! 

Speaking of getting things done I need to do about a million things today that I better get to...happy Friday! 

Farmhouse Christmas Part 4

I know Christmas is over but the last month was so hectic that I never had the time to show you our kitchen all decorated and we finally have most of the new room finished so I don't have to worry about carefully angling my camera shots anymore! This year in the kitchen I wanted to keep the Christmas decorating simple, using fresh greens with little pops of red here and there mostly done with linens.

I also wanted to share some of the wonderful presents I got from Neal this Christmas, he always does a great job but he really went above and beyond this year. No handmade gifts from him (lots of adorable ones from my son though) this time, unless you count the new room of course, but lots of really thoughtful gifts. One of the things is the beautiful French linen hanging on the ladder, I love its nubby texture and of course the red stripe!

And I finally found the perfect place for my sign from https://www.etsy.com/shop/KnickofTime that I love so much. And you may have noticed that I painted the walls, they are now Glidden's "Swan White" to match the new room. 

I hung a cow bell in the middle of a wreath with the "Believe" ribbon that Mary from Homestead Treasures on Etsy sent me and I love the way it all looks together.

The awesome antique scale is one of the other great things that Neal bought me this year. I have wanted one of these for so long and can't believe that I now have my very own! She's a beauty, and still even has the original hanging weight.

I filled my old milk carrier with mason jars filled with cedar clippings and put it on a red stripe table runner from TJMaxx.

These beautiful stockings are also new, I bought them from Mountain Momma Designs on Etsy, the same place I bought my other all white quilt stockings. I just love these with their little bits of red quilt showing and they are absolutely beautifully made.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, we sure did but it always goes too fast! In the next post I will show you the new room, I promise!