Sidetable Revamp & A Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway.....

The weather has finally started to warm up a bit here in our neck of the woods, and you know what that means...... New furniture projects of course!  Below you will find my latest project.  This table was a hand-me down from my husband's parents.  I love the bones, but not a fan of the honey finish.  I had wanted to tackle this project last fall, but the weather got too cold too quick for me.

This sidetable calls our living room home.  I love how this table offers a large table top for display, and then a segemented second shelf.  Our living room is a more casual space that we use for reading, and I really like the idea of displaying magazines  or some cool looking books on the second shelf. 

In the close-up you can see the edges have been a little worn, and the table is just screaming for a facelift.

I spent a sizable amount of time sanding the sidetable down. I started with 80 grit sandpaper, then bumped up to 100 grit, and then 150 grit. About a hour in to sanding, I realized that the top of the table was screwed into the second shelf by screws underneath.  It was a welcome suprise as I was able to take the table apart, and then sand the second shelf down all the way, as well as each of the divider pieces.

I was able to get all of the old stain off the second shelf, but a bit remains on the edge of the top table surface.  I am still undecided what my next step is going to be. 

As you can see, the legs still have a bit of stain of them too.  It it very difficult to get into all the nooks and crannies to remove the stain.  I am pretty satisfied with the my efforts so far.

Now I just need to decide what the next step is going to be.  Initially I thought I would restain it a very dark brown color to match all the other furniture in the room, but now I am thinking of painting it black since I haven't been able to remove all the former stain off the piece.  I am not sure if I am drawn to this option because it is easy or if it is because I think it will work best for the room.  Two of the major wood pieces of furniture in that room are a very dark brown stain, but the wood mirror is painted white, and most of the frames are black.

Below is a picture of a table that has been my inspiration for this project.  It is Pottery Barn's Rustic Pedestal Accent Table.  The finish on their table is an "expertly crafted of distressed espresso-stained hardwood, with mortise-and-tenon joinery for lasting stability and all sides are antique finished using a multistep process". 

Here is a close-up of the table.

As I mentioned above, this table is stained an expresso color.  I have never used stain, but if I recall right, all the previous stain must be removed for stain to work, right?  If so, do any of you have any ideas of how I can achieve this look with paint?  I don't think there is any possible way for me to get the rest of the stain off.  I have considered using a liquid sandpaper option, but I am not sure if that would work (I also am a bit scared of it since the label pretty much spells out it is dangerous).

Therefore, I need some advice.... Does anyone have any suggestions?  I am stuck with what the next step should be..... Please help!

For your time, I will be raffling a $15 Starbucks card to one lucky winner that posts a comment to this post.  I will draw the lucky winner using random.org on Friday, March 19th.

Thank you in advance for all your help!

Getting Hemmed up....

I have a little confession...... This is a bit embarrassing, but I have had these IKEA drapes hung, but unhemmed for months now in our living room. I must admit, I sometimes suffer from not finishing projects 100% before I move on to the next one. I am a little bit ADD about it (which is super hard for me to admit because I am pretty organized with most aspects of my life). Anyhoo, when I hung the drapes the first time, I loosely pinned them so they looked ok (or so I thought- see below). The thing is we generally have a couch in front of the window so most people really do not see the bottom of the drapes.... That is until Christmas hit, and we moved the drapes, and centered the tree in the middle of the window..... Let's just say, it wasn't pretty....

So I finally bit the bullet, or should I say, the snow storm trapped me in the house today.  I completed the project will all items I had around the house: iron, hem tape and a ruler.  The drapes needed to have six inches hemmed up on them so I pinned the drapes after measure the length with my ruler.  The whole project took about 20 minutes, and let's just say, I am so happy to be able to check it off my to do list....

Here is a view of both angles from the carpet looking up....The drapes look so tidy. Do not focus on the fugally side table to the left. Once the weather improves, I am going to sand that baby down, and refinish it. I am still not sure if I am going to stain it, or do a painting treatment that will mimic a stain.... That's for another day...

So there you have it, the drapes finally got hemmed up! :)

Mirror, Mirror Leaning on the Wall....

Spray paint sure is a girl's best friend..... I found the below mirror when I was stalking Craigslist a few months back.  If I recall correctly, the mirror was about $25ish, and I thought that was decent for a 35 inch mirror.  I know some of you might disagree, but I thought it was a worthwhile investment.  I was not a big fan of the light wood finish so I decided to take the mirror out to the back yard, and give it a little TLC with Heirloom White (I forgot to take a painting pic this time; opps!)

And there you have it..... This beauty now calls my living room home, and it thanks me every day for giving it a new lease on life..... How do you all like it leaned up against the wall?  At this point, I am digging the look, but I am toying with the idea of hanging it on the wall.  Your advice would be swell. :)