{Bunk Beds}

Not too long ago, we put Baby Girl in a big girl bed.  This wasn't something we planned & were ready for.  She's a monkey & had climbed out of her crib like a bazillion times.  It shook us up each time we heard a big thud coming from her room.  So we decided that with this new milestone, comes a new bed.  Something you're never ready for;)  Well because of this new bed, she could easily get out of her bed & climb into her big sister's bed without us knowing.  Princess was not happy about this.  She needs her beauty sleep, ya know;)  We decided that bunk beds might be the solution, since they have to share a room.  Well in my daily search of KSL.com, I decided to start searching for bunk beds.  I came across so many cute beds, so many that I fell in love with.  But so many of them with larger price tags.  People want gold for their junk.  I'm sure a small percentage were worth what they were asking but come on people.  So anyway I came across an ad that interested me.  Weird thing is there was no picture & I usually pass those right up.  So I called first thing in the morning, we went & looked at it.  It wasn't anything special & I hated the color but for $75 we took it.  And besides, I had already planned on painting it;)

I normally love dark wood but this was more like 1980's dark wood.

as you can see here, I took all my aggression out on it.  I love distressing!  could have more than one meaning;) lol!

the darker ones are where I primed & the white one is where I painted it off white.  I only did one coat of each, since I was going to add a stain as well.  I don't always prime but this bed is 20+ years old.  I wanted to prevent any orange peeling.  Could be caused from such things as greasy finger prints & since this was a kids bed, ya just never know. 

the next ones are after I applied the stain.  I put it on with a rag & then took it right off with another rag.  Left it on just enough to get the groves I added & to give it an antique look.  I also took a small paint brush to ones I wanted a bit darker & then wiped off.

and the finished project, well the bunk bed anyway.  Now I'm on the hunt for new bedding.  I will probably make them, but we'll see what I find. 
And after new bedding comes more painting...the room, the dresser, their little table & anything else I'm in the mood to change;)

and as I mentioned before about Baby Girl being a monkey & lovin' to climb....Well that's just another hurdle we have to cross now. Kinda wish we had the worry of the crib back.  But loving the extra room we got back and the way it turned out.

Do your kids share a room?  What do you do for storage? I'm thinking maybe cubbies & baskets, what do ya think?
                                                            Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!!!!

{coffee table redo}

I refinished my coffee table over a year ago now.  I had posted about it on my family blog.  I had a few comment's asking how I did it.  I took before & after pics but got so excited to get it done that I really didn't think about the in between pics.  So I thought I'd do a tutorial the best I can with the lack of pics I have.  Here goes.....

I found this beauty at my local D.I. (Utah thrift store).  I loved that it was square.  At the time I had a sectional, so it was puurfect.  But then we bought new couches, yep plural; two couches.  We wanted the same amount of space as the sectional without the actual sectional. lol!  So it ended up being just as perfect.  Yay, for me!

sorry about the dark pic

I washed her up & then started sanding.  I sanded, & sanded, & sanded some more.  I even enlisted help from the hubster.  I wanted to get as much of the old finish up as I could.  

When I got it sanded the way I wanted, I started to stain her.  I had a hard time deciding on how dark I wanted it.  So I bought a Minwax walnut & dark walnut stain.  I did a small section with each color.  I ended up going with the dark walnut.  I just loved it so much more!  I just bought the plain ol'stain without poly in it because I planned do a finish at the end anyway.  But either would do, it's just a preference thing;)  

check out the difference from the original color.  Wowza, I know!  I LOVE it!!












After I got her all stained I did one coat of poly.  I then lightly sanded her, with a very fine grit sandpaper & added a glaze.  You just paint on the glaze & then wipe off.  Wiping if off can be kinda tricky.  My daddy-o who happens to be a custom house painter, well ex-house painter showed me the correct technic. 
*When you paint it on you want to do long even strokes.  So from one end to the other, as straight as you can.  Then when you take some off, you want your tack cloth or other cloth really, in kind of a waded ball shape & you do the same long even strokes.  If you get wavy, you'll see it.  Depending on the look you're going for, depends on how much you take back off. You also want to make sure you get it off as fast as you put it on.  Don't do it in direct sunlight, as it might dry faster.  You want to work with it still wet.  Also if you can't get it all off that fast, do a section at a time.  The purpose of the glaze is to give it a distressed or aged look.  I love how mine turned out! 

I also love how it left some really dark spots.  Some of those spots are from where I may or may not have sanded a little more than the rest;)  Even so, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  The glaze also got into all the old scratches & groves.  Which I love too!! I then put a few more coats of poly, letting it dry in between coats.  If it gets where it feels a bit gritty in some areas, you can do a light sand, with a really, really fine sandpaper.  And then if needed another coat of poly.

Well there you have it.  Hopefully you get the just but if you have any questions please ask, I love comments any way I can get them;)

So what are some things your dying to refinish??  Please share, I'd love to hear what your up to........  Thanks for stopping by.  Ta Ta for now=)