Last weekend I visited a great estate sale. The sale was for a young family that has moved from their starter home into an awesome custom built home that one day soon I will give you a tour of. The ceiling in the family room alone is worth the virtual visit. I get sidetracked when I think about that 18 foot grey coffered ceiling with white molding…
Back to her estate sale.
At the sale I collected four great items that will be coming up soon and checked out. My buddy, The Social Planner (TSP) did pretty well, too. As we walked out, TSP spotted stuff in the garage. I have to admit, I reluctantly headed in. I had already blown my budget ($20.00) and it was raining. Even if I found something, it was going to have to be small because I had already rounded up Mr. Math for a large item pickup and there was no way I was interested in interrupting his mowing again.
I noticed two 1970’s side tables, but frankly I was ready to go and the were moldy. (Wooden furniture that stays in a humid area sometimes gets a white mold on it.) I really didn’t give the pair another thought until we got home. TSP pointed out that they would go with my 70’s headboard, and that when I am ready to move up to the country full time whoever wants the headboard will probably want side tables, too. No way am I parting with the table in the picture below because my dad saved it for me.
She was right…as always. We headed back to the estate sale and asked about the tables. $5.00 for the pair. It is hard to pass up two tables at $2.50 each. They came home with me.
Here are pictures after they were cleaned up enough to come inside the house. I used paint thinner, Goof Off, and Fantastic on them just to make sure the mold was gone, the stickers on top were removed, and the gummy varnish was gone.
Aren’t they beautiful? Seriously, they were sturdy, they had all the hardware, and have closed storage which our current tables don’t have. We are messy folk so closed storage is good.
I happened into a Walmart looking for blue tape one evening. Along the way, I spotted something new to me. Walmart carries chalk paint now. What? Did my eyes deceive me? 16 ounces of chalk paint for less than $6.00. I had to give it a try. I bought two bottles of Parisian Grey and anticipated opening it up this weekend. I am not much of a chalk paint fan. It is crazy expensive usually, I like polyurethane on top of my stuff and the idea of not using primer seems crazy to me but I figured, what did I have to lose?
After cleaning them with everything but the kitchen sink, I removed the cabinet doors and got busy.
One coat and I was impressed. It is a great option for painting inside. The paint is thick so it is a little less messy. It is water based so I could clean up easily. The whole no priming thing sort of freaked me out. It took three coats for me to be satisfied, and I did not like the brush strokes left after each coat, but sanding lightly minimized the brush strokes.
After getting them all painted, I distressed the edges lightly then waxed it all with clear wax. To get both of these done completely I only used one 16 ounce bottle of paint. I was impressed how far the paint went.
This time I decided to put the tarnished brass hardware back on, just as I found it. I like the look. 
Don’t judge the bedroom right now. I have curtain issues, blind issues, harry dog concerns, and bedding problems this winter. I do however love the quilt my buddy crocheted for me as a Christmas present. Those colors will be coming to this room soon.
For those of you, like me, who don’t always have the time to shop in Walmart, they do have online options for the paint. I always choose site to store option because shipping is free. I pick up my items at customer service. In and out quickly and no one gets hurt.
I am not going to say that I am now fully in the chalk painting camp. I still think using a sprayer to put quality latex paint on a project gives the most smooth finish, but this will for sure be my winter/inside choice. I did not like sanding, and I for sure did not like waxing. I must have done something wrong because it took hours to get the wax to look right.
I am definitely going to try it again to see if I get better.
Thank you for following along on our journey. This past week was the one year anniversary of the day we put our beloved Star Hill on the market so we could buy this place. It is hard to imagine that in the three years I have been blogging we have sold two homes and purchased two others. Are we crazy?
It is nice to know we have settled on our forever home. Now, back to work making it wonderful.
Blessings,
Karen
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