• Another before view…
• We put up 6 fence posts (on sale for $1.97 each!) around 3/4 of the perimeter, leaving a good opening on the one side to walk into. We used a regular post hole digger for this. Andy did most of the work here.
• Then we put up the lattice sheets with a brad nailer. We added 2×4′s to the top and bottom to add weight because the sheets were just blowing around in the wind without them. We also added 1×2′s along the seams to finish it off. Very easy! It went up really quickly.
• Here is a view looking at the side the opening is on.
• Here’s a view of the backside of it.
• (Ignore the furniture, that will be changing somewhat). Afterward, my husband had the brilliant idea to attach regular tiki torches that we already had to each post. It looks so cool at night! I also added some climbing Morning Glorys to each post. I took way to long to get them in the ground though so I hope that they’ll be alright. I’m not sure, but if not, I’ll just buy some more or another kind of climbing plant to go all over the lattice.

• View #1 – The “left” back of the house. As you can see, it’s pretty crummy looking right now. We have a big propane tank in the middle of our view and yard. I plan to get that moved to a more obscure area so that we can enjoy the area without actually noticing our ugly propane tank.
• View #2 – Another view of the “left” back patio. We actually have two patios. I’m not showing a full view of the entire back side of the house because I’m already working on some of the other patio and I didn’t want to reveal it. I’ll show a full view when I post that. But the big piece of concrete coming out of the left side used to be a kennel. We weren’t sure if we were going to just break it up, but we think we’re going to use it for a greenhouse. The entire back porch needs to be broken up and a deck or new patio put in, but we will probably do that later. This makeover is more for the smaller things that make it look good on a budget.
• View #3 – The “middle” of the back of the house. The door on the left in this photo lines up with the door on the right in the last two photos, just to give you an idea. This is an extra little patio that covers a little cellar area in our basement. It has “air holes” in it which I plan to cover up with a rug, but overall the concrete is in good shape, just a blank slate though.
• View #4 – The “right” of the back of the house. The left of this photo lines right up with the right of the last photo. I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with this area. Probably plant bushes or plants along the edge of the house to add some interest at least. I really want to put up shutters too, but I’m not sure if we’ll get to that this year. We have so many other things on our plate. But we’ll see.

• First, I found on CraigsList this really cute little patio set. Of course, I plan to do SOMETHING to it. Could I really not? Even though I am still working on the office, I’ve kind of switched gears to start a back patio redesign while I can during the summer. Also, we have lived here two years already and have still not really enjoyed our back patio. So I’m putting together another Mood Board like I did for my office to get this patio into shape! I’m so excited about it.
• Here’s another view of the chairs real quick. As you can see, they did not come with seats. Well, that’s alright, I’m going to be making seats and covering them and of course posting all about it here. But, for the price, it was well worth it!
  Price: $40
• At the thrift store I found this awesome 11″x14″ NEW frame. It was so cheap and pretty, I know I can find a place for it. Perhaps even in the office? We’ll see…
  Price: $3.99
• Finally, at the thrift store I also found these finials. Well, I’m not going to be using them as finials. Can you guess what I plan to do with them? (hint: see step 4 of my craft cabinet redo post). I’ll post more about that later though.
  Price: $2.99

• The first thing I found was this great little greenhouse thing. I’m not quite sure what to use it for, but it is so adorable. I could put candles in it (when they’re not being burned), or some kind of accessory. Another thing I’m kind of thinking is to take out the little plastic glass and put a plant inside of it. Not sure yet, but so cute!
  Price: $3
• Next was my favorite find for the weekend! I’m so amazed. I found this chandelier for just $3! She says she’s pretty sure it’s working, but even if it isn’t, we have an electrician friend that I’m sure could help me get it working. I’ll probably paint it white.
  Price: $3
• It seems that $3 was the magic number this weekend. I found these panel drapes for $3 for 4 of them. I originally loved the color for the office I’m re-doing. But I’m not really sold on that idea because of the boxes I chose for the storage. The colors might not look great together. Even so, I love this color and in my future re-do’s I plan to use it so I thought I’d pick them up anyways. They’re in great shape too.
  Price: $3
• Next I found these cute little signs. They were just 25¢ each and since we have chickens now, I thought they were so cute. I hung the milk one on the fridge for now. I’ll show you that later, I have to get a proper magnetic hook for it first.
  Price: 50¢ for both.
• At the same sale as the signs, I found this really cute corner table. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but I have some ideas. The top back corner is not in such great shape, but I might do something fun to hide that. But you just can’t beat the price.
  Price: $2
• Next I found these cute frames, which I plan to use in my “feature wall” in the office redesign.
  Price: 75¢ for all 3
• Finally, but totally unrelated, my puppy, Danger, got a hair cut too! His hair gets really long so I think he’ll appreciate the shorter cut for the summer. I also just love the little bandannas they send him home in. So cute…

• A Piece of Laminate Furniture.
• Furniture Appliques (optional)
• Wood Glue
• High Gloss Primer (I used Zinsser Cover Stain Oil Based Primer in spray paint form & about 4 cans)
• Spray Paint (I used Rust-oleum Heirloom White & about 3 cans)

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

• Here is the before. Sorry I don’t have a great picture of it. I didn’t think of it for some odd reason.
• I bought these great appliques from bcmchic on eBay. Before buying, I measured out the area that I wanted to put them on. Since it was such a skinny area, I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to get something too large. This worked out great!
• To apply them was really easy. Just cover the back of the applique with wood glue (this is what I used). Then place and tape with masking tape to hold in place for about 30 minutes or so. I wouldn’t paint for at least 24 hours to make sure the glue is completely dry.
• I placed 2 rose appliques on the top and bottom of the piece and 4 corner pieces on each corner. I wanted to put legs on the piece to finish it off, but they’re too expensive. If I ever find any for super cheap though, I will probably buy them to add to it and give it an even more “furniture” feel.
• Now just in time for this tutorial, Kate @ Censational Girl posted about painting laminate. Just in time too! I didn’t even know there was special “high gloss” primer that worked better on laminate than regular primer. So I bought what she recommended, but in the spray paint formula. It worked pretty well, but I think that next time I might just roll it on. It took longer and I think that I used way more than I needed to.
• This is the piece after it was primed twice (used about 4 cans of spray paint primer).
• To paint it, I chose the classic Rust-oleum’s Heirloom White. I used about 3 cans of this.
• This is after it’s painted. For the inside, you’ll notice that there are some spots that aren’t covered as well as they could have been. I didn’t worry about the back too much because it will be covered by drawers anyways.
• Here’s a closeup of the details after being painted.
• I’m really happy with how it turned out, and it did stick very well. I still want to try the high gloss primer in the regular roller kind though because I think I would have used less and it might have turned out smoother. Overall, I’m happy with the project though.

• View #1 – Looking into the room from the hallway door. I know, it’s pretty bad. Not only is it not decorated – but it’s also a mess. This is really because I have no organizational system here whatsoever. I also picked a country blue color when we first moved in; which at the time I loved, but now it is just not my style at all.
• View #2 – The wall to the right of the hallway door. This is just bad, I know. It’s a big blank wall basically. I plan on doing something fun here. But I think there might be room for this settee loveseat that we got from my husbands grandmother. It needs to be recovered but it would look great here I think and would be good for extra seating.
• View #3 – The wall opposite the hallway door. Again, this is just a mess. That lamp sitting on the desk is not even in use. I just have stuff sitting in here that need to be worked on because I have something planned for them, but they don’t go here. It’s really become a dumping ground.
• View #4 – The wall to the left of the hallway door. I am honestly ashamed that I’ve been living like this. But it’s been such a task that I’ve been avoiding it. The big ugly grey desk we got on CraigsList for $30. Although it is quite ugly, it gives us SO MUCH room to do crafts, sewing, work, whatever. So I’m going to be sprucing it up to make it look less like a cubicle and more like a sophisticated home office.
• View #5 – The hallway door wall (the hallway door is to the left). This craft cabinet I bought is amazing. It has so much great storage that I haven’t taken advantage of and I need to finish getting the drawers and paper trays for the empty spots. I’m also doing something fun with this to make it fit more with the look of the room and make it look more like “furniture”.
• View #6 – This is the left of the closet you saw on the right side of the last pic. It may look like I have SOME organization going on here, but not really. The boxes are just filled and not really organized so I won’t take any credit for that. We did install these great shelves in the closet (instead of a hanging bar) that are just fantastic, but I need to do more with.
• View #7 – The right side of the closet. So much worse looking than the other side. The top is candles, which don’t even belong here. Then it’s material which needs to be better organized.

Image Credits: 1) Flickr – plump_pudding 2) scrapbooking365.com 3) thehomeinparadise.com 4) Rate My Space – granfors1_11146774 5) Flickr – decorology 6) 33shadesofgreen.blogspot.com 7) myvintagewhimsy.blogspot.com Flickr – decorology

Supplies Checklist:

• A Dining Table (that you want to refinish)
• Stripper
• Gloves
• Scraper
• Old toothbrush
• Sandpaper (150-grit or so)
• Sponge/Paper Towels
• (Optional – If removing extension hardware) – Pipe Clamps
• (Optional – If removing extension hardware) – Wood Glue
• (Optional – If removing extension hardware) – Foam Brush
• Wood Filler
• (Optional) – Orbital Sander (or sanding paper/sponges)
• Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner (oil-based)
• Rags to apply the pre-stain and stain
• Minwax Oil Based Stain (I used Provincial & Dark Walnut – explained below)
• Minwax Oil Based Polyurethane (I used Clear Satin)

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

• Take the table apart. This is really only necessary if you are staining the top and painting the legs. Otherwise, you can probably keep it all together.
• For my project, I’m flipping the table over and using the bottom as the top now. This is because of how badly I messed up the original top with wood filler (the whole story is here). This is my “trick” that I was able to save this table because of. You’ll see I have a “bit” of a gap to fill in though (I’ll explain what I did later)
• Gather your furniture stripping supplies above.
• Follow the instructions on your stripper can. But spray the stripper liberally all over, getting into the grooves of the table (here I had already stripped the table a little).
• Scrape the paint off after the time the can says to leave it on for.
• For the grooves, I used paper towels to get into the grooves.
• I also found that an old toothbrush worked well. I would mainly use the toothbrush, wipe it off on a paper towel, and then go at it with the toothbrush again.
• Once you’re getting most of it off, then start using sandpaper or a sanding sponge in between spraying and scraping. Sand…
• Then wipe the dust off with a paper towel…
• Then spray and scrape again…
• Keep doing this until you have everything cleaned off of it. Since you’re staining, it ALL has to be off. It has to be super clean. This, to me, was the most tedious task of this whole project. It took me a good week of doing this process over and over again to every single side of the top of the table.
• I did the same for the bottom of the table (which used to be the top for me). I didn’t get down to the wood in the center; because of how messed up it is with wood filler. I’m just going to paint the bottom center white and then stain the bottom edges the same as the top.
• Then I sanded the legs down really good. Since I’m just re-painting these white (I already painted them white before), I’m not stripping any paint or anything.
• Now wipe down everything and make sure you get all the dust off of everything.
• To put the top back together, I’m using three sawhorses like so. I have two sides because I removed the hardware for the table extension (because I didn’t get it anyways when we bought it).
• I place two pipe clamps the length of the table (not tightened at this point).
• Then I put wood glue on the insides of the table. I drenched it on there to make sure it’ll stick really well.
• Now I tightened the pipe clamps really well.
• Then I added another line of wood glue and used a foam brush to smooth it out.
• Once that’s all together, scrape off any excess wood glue and wipe down the entire top of the table again.
• Just a side note. Since I had the little extensions on the bottom edges, I marked where each one went to make sure I remembered how to put it back together.
• Now, you probably won’t need to do this. But since I was flipping the top of the table over to use the bottom of the table as the top, I bought a thin piece of cheap plywood and another piece of nicer, I believe Oak finished, plywood to fill it in. Because the oak piece wasn’t thick enough, I had to get the thinner piece also to fill in the excess. So I generously spread the wood glue all over the bottom (now top) of the table.
• Next I clamped the thinner piece of plywood to that to allow the glue to dry. I also put screws in this to add strength to the newly solid (no longer two pieces) table. I left this for a good day or so to make sure it was really dry.
• I did the same thing with the thicker piece of finished plywood so I have this now. Lookin’ good so far…
• Apply wood glue where necessary. I had to fill in all around where I put the new pieces of plywood in so LOTS of wood glue.
• Using the scraper, push the glue into the gap to make sure it’s all in there.
• Refill with more if necessary. Make sure the glue is pretty even with the top, but with enough to be able to sand a bit.
• Also, don’t forget around the edges. Since I clamped my table together, I had to get in these little gaps too.
• Sand the glue down smooth. An orbital sander makes easy work of this so I’d strongly suggest one. But you can use a sanding sponge or sandpaper too.
• Sand down the rest of the piece as well and wipe down completely to prep for painting.
• For the bottom center of the table (which I’m painting white) I taped off the edges to make a really straight line.
• Then I primed twice…
• And I painted it with two coats as well so it’s nice and thick to prevent chipping.
• Remove the tape carefully and you have a nice straight line. This saves on stain as well, big time! See all the “bumpiness” on this side? That’s why I’m flipping it over.
• Flip the table over to the top. I did the staining to the top first, then the bottom edges. This way if there is a little line between staining, at least it will be on the bottom, not the top of the table. So I first applied the pre-stain wood conditioner. I believe I did two coats of this. Be sure to follow the directions on the can.
• For the stain I started off with Provincial by Minwax. However, it wasn’t dark enough for me to hide the imperfections and all. But to be consistent, I did the same for the top and bottom edges anyways. I first did two coats of Provincial oil based stain.
• Then I added a coat of Dark Walnut by Minwax and it was perfect.
• For the bottom, to preserve the straight line I made, I used a really wide putty knife down the line as I stained.
• I also did two coats of Provincial and one coat of Dark Walnut on the bottom edges.
• Next I primed the legs and end pieces. I did two coats of primer. Maybe excessive since they were already white, but I needed a nice thick coat for durability.
• Then I spray painted the legs and end pieces with Rustoleum’s Heirloom White.
• Once everything was dry, my husband (thanks honey!) re-attached the legs and end pieces. Since we flipped the table, we had to make a few adjustments, but it all ended up fitting quite nicely.
• Finally I applied two coats of Polyurethane (sanding lightly in between) and she’s done!
• Look at that finish. I’m not only happy that it’s done, but I’m so thrilled with how it turned out. I would let it “cure” for a good several days or more before setting anything on it, just to be on the safe side.

Garage Sales:

Salvation Army:

Dollar Tree:

Burlington Coat Factory:

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

• First evaluate the situation. This one is pretty bad. I have a bin overflowing with fabric right now. If I wanted to find anything I certainly wouldn’t be able to at this point.
• The first thing I did was determine a minimum size of scraps to keep. Depending on what you use them for, this will vary. If you’re a scrap quilter, then you can probably use even the tiniest pieces. But for my purposes, I really would never need a piece under 4″ so that was the size I set for myself.
• Next I trim off the “crap” so to speak. I trim off any areas that are just making it hard to fold and will not be useful to me in the future.
• Now, you can group them in a few different ways. You can group like fabrics together. For instance in this picture I have several small pieces of the same fabric I have a large piece of. You could fold them together to keep them all in one place OR you could keep them separate and just organize by size. I decided to organize by size…
• As you can see here, I organized my scraps by size. I also have a pile of scraps that I don’t see ever using so I’m going to give away and then my pile of useless scraps.
• My heaping pile of useless scraps I will throw out.
• This is a pile of fabric scraps that were a good size, but were of fabrics I will probably never use again. It’s just like clothes really. I had a look at all the scraps and tried to decide if I would ever put that fabric in my house or on my body. If not, then it goes in this pile. Some of these were even from my teen years and I would never really use again at this point.
• Large scraps that are about 1/2 yard or so in size. It could be smaller. If it was larger than a thick strip of fabric, then I put them in this pile.
• Medium scraps were determined to be anything that was more than a smaller square, but smaller than a thick strip of fabric.
• Small scraps were fabric scraps that were larger than 4″ wide and were less than a thick strip of fabric.
• After organizing by size, I organized by color, as you can see in this photo.
• I also like to keep jean butts and fronts. I know, crazy. But I feel like one day I will be able to use the pockets and such for a pillow or something.
• Finally, I re-placed the piles into the bin.
• Much better! Now the lid can even go on. I might change what I organize these in and such once I figure out where they’ll go in the “new” office. I’ll update you then if I change that. But for now, this works great!

1. Source: BHG.com – This one is the closest to what I want. I want the top to be dark and the bottom to be white. Kind of like what it was originally – but without the butter yellow color.
2. Source: Rachel Ashwell – I love the chairs in this (but that’s another story). I love the ruggedness and obviously the wood toned top with the lighter bottom. This has blue for the legs though, which isn’t really what I’m going for, but a good inspiration photo nonetheless.
3. Source: mexicodave99 on eBay – I really love this one. It’s a little more distressed than what I’m looking for, but overall it’s a good idea of what I’m going for. Probably I want the top to be a bit darker and more rich though.
4. Source: Coastal Living Magazine – Also a good example, but the top is a little more red than I want. Again, I want something darker and richer (like pic#1). But I do love this example, and again the chairs.
5. Source: The Bella Cottage – A great piece from a great (yet expensive) store. This is about how dark I want the top to be. I love everything about this. But it doesn’t have as much curves as my table does. Overall though, a very close match to what I want.
6. Source: The Bella Cottage – This one is very close to how mine looks already. I had painted the top white and the curves of this one are very close. However, mine was all bumpy and that sucked. But it’s still a good inspiration photo from what it would have been nice to look like when I first painted it.