Pickled Oak Pedestal Table - CeCe Simply White

Remember back when I worked on those two round oak side tables (here)? Not too long after I got those tables, I had an opportunity to get a full-sized oak pedestal dining table (with a leaf). I went back to find a before shot - and everything I have is with the table in pieces...

Sorry for the mess, this is the side yard during the Summer - TheSmithGarage extension. You can see the pedestal - it was split when we picked it up - the center piece is not supposed to be in two pieces. The top is the wood colored top under the green/white one (which is another project for another blog). And the little legs under the table top is another table that Mrs. Smith already finished and sold over at Oregon Street Antique Mall (don't think she blogged on that one).

I did some work on the pedestal - dowelled and glued it back together. I also had to sand the lacquer off of the top with a belt sander - it was just way to thick to give the pickled affect on the oak. I did not sand the pedestal or feet. I used CeCe Caldwell's Simply White (you can buy it here), which has become a favorite of mine after painting so many bright & cheery colors. Something about Simply White just gives off a good feeling.

Here is a shot I got after painting the pedestal and feet, but before I got to the top. You can see that I brought the lacquer off all the way to the bare wood - most of the stain came off as well.

Another great thing about CeCe Caldwell's Chalk and Clay Paint - no fumes - I did most of the work on this indoors where it was a comfortable 70 degrees (instead of outside where it is about 105 degrees). I did not water down the Simply White. I actually keep a separate bucket with a little water in it, and dip my brush in there occasionally when needed. I feel like I have better control of what I am doing. The key to this style is getting the paint wet enough to seep into the grain of the wood, but not cover the wood entirely.

Here is a shot ofter all the paint is on that I want. The next step will be sanding for me.

I took the table back outside for the sanding. After sanding, it is "Tea Time" - that is another term for CeCe Caldwell's Clear Wax - smells like HONEY! That's because it is 100% green, made with beeswax - love it. I let it cure overnight then buffed it out.

So here are a few shots of the finished look.

I love the satin finish gleaming in the sunlight!

I took this shot so you could see the seam where I had to fix the split. A little line of "demarcation", but another "SAVED" piece of broken furniture.

So glad I had an opportunity to work on this table. It will go in TheSmithHotel booth at Oregon Street Antique Mall this next week. So if you are in Redding and looking for a great deal on a solid oak table that was once destined for the wood pile - here it is!

I am looking forward to a few custom jobs over the next few weeks. Check back to see how they turn out.

Mr. Smith

Upcylced JUNK Shelving Unit

So you know we deal in junk, right? On occasion we find some really nice stuff that has a great value, but most of the time we buy junk that we think someone else will pay more for. So when we get a chance to find junk that we think has a greater value in our own home - SCORE!

About two months ago, I picked up a broken aluminum extension ladder. It was straight, but it was in pieces. Straight was important for my vision. I had an idea to build a shelving unit in our office. It was originally my office when we moved her many years back, but since Mrs. Smith started TheSmithHotel, it has become a joint office. Mrs. Smith doesn't actually sit in this office, but all of her "junk" (from the description above) and plenty of MY "junk" has taken over our lives in "the office". I wasn't sure how fast I was going to get this project finished, but I needed the second part of the shelving dream - some bleacher seats. You know - the old wooden seats that you watch football games from on Thursday and Friday nights?

So bleacher seats/boards aren't something you come across every day, right? So since I know some lumberjacks, or a more formal title of "Forester", I thought I would ask if I could find some scrap lumber that would work in the same manner. The first guy I asked at church said, "Well, I actually have some old bleacher seats from Shasta College." What are the odds?

Here is the ladder - I took off the rusty feet and power sprayed them. Got this from Moore's Green Goods.

Here is the lumber (bleacher seats) right before I painted them, but I did sweep them off.

Here they are painted - I used several different white and gray latex paints I had sitting around (mostly oops paints).

So after they were painted, I let them cure for several days before roughing them up a bit. I wanted them to be clean, but rough like they just came off the bleachers. These bleachers were changed out many years ago and have been sitting out in a field for some time now. Since they were coming in the house, they needed to be clean, and I wanted to make sure there were no termites to be dealt with.

I have an old wooden bed that we picked up for $5 that I plan on making a bench with. I was not going to use the rails, so I pulled the ends off and ended up using them as cross braces for the back of the shelf (so it wouldn't collapse under the weight of the wood).

Oh - I forgot to show you a before picture. Well why don't you head over to Mrs. Smith's blog (TheSmithHotel) to see the before and after. I am so excited that my vision came to completion. Thanks to Bob Hutcheson (who is not actually a lumberjack, but a Realtor) and Moore's Green Goods.  

Please let me know what you think, and come back to see what else we have up our sleeves.

Mr. Smith

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Funky Junk Interiors
Redoux

French Countryside Tall Dresser

In the spirit of The Tour de France, this is a story about a shabby tall dresser that was in much need of love. Inspired by some fine furniture pieces that I have seen on my travels (none of them from France, but definitely French inspired), I set out to give this tall dresser new life.

First - a picture of a 1958 Dunelt 10-speed.

This is the bike you may have found Brian Robinson riding - the first Briton to finish the Tour de France and also the first to win a stage in the 1958. It's had better days...haven't we all.

Here is a shot of the dresser in the "extended" Smith Garage - something we try to do in the Summer weather to get outdoors where there may be a breeze. Inside the garage - it gets too hot to work in the evenings.

My inspiration - a tall kitchen cabinet I saw while Mrs. Smith was walking through Anthropologie.

I know it is hard to see, but there are tones of rust, yellow and gold underneath the gray finish. So I went through my CeCe Caldwell's colors and came up with Georgia Clay, California Gold, Omaha Ochre, and Seattle Mist to try to get close enough to produce something Anthropologie might display in one of their stores.

Mrs. Smith helped me on this one as well. She has been itching to paint more, so here we go. Some of my worst fears - getting bit by a Rattle Snake on a long run in the woods, swimming in the water with beavers, and painting with Mrs. Smith. You ask why? Well, when you are running, your heart rate is elevated allowing the venom to course through your veins rapidly....  Oh... You were wondering why I fear painting with the Mrs. - you should go read Mrs. Smith's blog about that. I am getting better - it has only been a couple of weeks. And this piece turned out great, so she is getting better. It goes to show that anyone can paint with CeCe Caldwell's paint.

Now that is out of the way, let me show you what we did with this dresser. We painted on spots of Georgia Clay. After that dried (not long since we are out in the heat), we applied California Gold, and then a good covering of Seattle Mist. On the top, I had some residual oil/candle wax coming through the paint after everything dried. I slapped a coat of white latex paint over the spot to seal it from coming up into the chalk and clay paint. Then when I reapplied my CeCe Caldwell's paint, I forgot I had used California Gold and thought I was using Omaha Ochre - so - it got a little edgy. Four CeCe colors on one piece. Here it is before we started sanding it back down.

So you can see the Seattle Mist was over the whole thing, but we didn't paint it on real thick. When I started sanding, I started with 150 grit, and it worked great, so I didn't go any coarser. Here is the sanded piece - prior to wax.

Here is the important part of bringing out the colors - wax! The colors are there, you can see them, but they are not vibrant. The CeCe Clear Wax cures into the layers of paint and brings the colors out in a great way. Here it is waxed and buffed - keeping the original hardware untouched.

Sorry for the mess, but as in all my blog posts - this is a "garage" scene. This will go to TheSmithHotel side of the house, and Mrs. Smith will pretty it up in her booth space. I will leave you with a parting shot - The bike and the dresser....

Time for a ride...

Mr. Smith

Linked to

Funky Junk Interiors
Domestically Speaking
Kammy's Korner