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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Project City

I am sad to say that after two long weeks the Bence House Makeover: John Engdahl Edition (Part III) has come to an end.  However, I am happy to say that the next few blog posts are going to BLOW YOUR MIND.  Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have such a wonderful, workhorse, perfectionist father?  And an amazingly supportive, weed picker, brick hauler of a mother?  Because I am. Very lucky indeed.

Before I dive into the last few weeks of projects, though, I thought I would give you a quick share today of one of the many bonus room enhancements that were done after the repaint.  I have only shared one project so far, so here is the second that I finished up right before my parents arrived.

We have a nice coffee table and two end tables that were hand me downs from Mary, but were getting a little beat up after years of use.  I had also painted the walls brown, so I figured brown tables and tan shelves were just a little too much of the same color family.  We have so much trim paint leftover that I figured white would be a nice, cheap way of sprucing them up.

Here is the original coffee table right after I sanded the top, then remembered to take the photo.


I decided this was going to be my first "distressed" project as I really like the look and it is all the rage these days.  After spending many hours looking up tips on the web for how to do it right, I finally just went for it.  The first part was sanding, priming and painting like normal.


The next part was the scary part as I didn't really know how much to sand off/where to sand and how much to beat up the wood.  I finally just took a few wacks with my hammer and felt immense satisfaction so I picked up a bag of screws and went to town with those too.  The only other tool I used was a long straight bar which I laid down flat and hit with the hammer to create indents.  For the sanding I basically roughed up every single edge along with the dips in wood on the top of the table.  I did a little bit of scratching on the flat wood parts too, but not too much.  The last touch was to take an old ratty brush, a can of brown stain and a work rag and lightly brush some color onto the white paint to give it a more weathered look.  Basically dip the brush in lightly and wipe the excess off on the rag.  Then very lightly brush it on the paint.  I would then take a different side of the rag and rub it into the wood so it left very faint color in some spots.  This was what really transformed the piece.

I opted to get some nice handles at Anthropologie when we went up Salt Lake a few weeks ago too.  Higher quality handles can really make a piece stand out.  The one on the coffee table was actually on clearance too...yay!  I really wanted to do some fun ones, but figured I should remain neutral as we will most likely be moving back to Portland within the next two years and who knows what color schemes I'll dream up then.

Here is the finale look!


And the coffee table before and after comparison.


Overall, it was pretty scary at first not knowing what they would turn out like, but I REALLY like them.  Once I've shared my last big bonus room project, I'll show you guys what they look like in the room!

10 comments:

  1. The tables look great, Laura. I just refinished an old wooden chair in a distressed finish, too. I didn't have to hammer on it, though, because it was already an old beat-up piece of furniture. I finished it off with a paste wax, and that gave it a nice soft, oldish sheen. I can't wait to see what else you guys have been up to. I sure wish that I had a handy partner-in-crime like your dad!

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    1. I saw that some people used wax, Kathy, and it looked really awesome. I was too lazy to go buy any! I bet yours turned out great!

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  2. Love the makeover! I'm surprised you had to beat them up so much since they lived in our family room for years and years with 4 kids and a bunch of animals. They are from Pottery Barn many, many years ago.

    Can't wait to see what John was up to while he was there! Wish we were as helpful when we visit.

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    1. Lol. They really were getting beat up already, but since I painted, they needed some extra help again!

      As for putting you guys to work...that can be arranged on your next trip. MUHAHAHA.

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  3. Mary, Laura told us that she and Chris had so much fun when you, Steve and Cory stayed with them that week .... snow outings, restaurant dining, board games, liquid refreshments and more! I'm going down with you guys next time. And don't let her talk you into any "little projects", with her it never ends! Karen

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  4. I'm with Karen. I want to visit when no work is involved. I'm as useless as Steve on projects but have with Jim the title "The Queen of Clean." I still do windows.

    When I went to help out when Chris was born, I was washing windows and Lynn asked me, " Why are you doing the maid's work?"

    A maid and driver one year and the next year no maid, no driver, and give birth to a third child. I lived that kind of life as a military wife.

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    1. Joan, with all my projects I've got going I could sure use a maid! Cleaning toilets just isn't as much fun as redoing furniture! :)

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  5. As a child I lived in a house with no plumbing. We had a well with soft water (a bonus, especially for washing one's hair), a pump just outside the kitchen door, and a path with on outhouse at the end. Consider cleaning a toilet (not a commode and not really cleaning) by throwing lime down into the hole.

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