Project Post 10: Eyesore No More

You've heard me talk about "the list" from time to time. One thing towards the top of the list is an entertainment center or media console of some sort for our living room. Our tv is hung on the wall, so instead of an actual console, I'm looking for more of a buffet-sized piece. But in the meantime, we don't have a proper piece to store our cords and tv garb/accessories, but it is now much less of an eyesore than it has been. For almost two years, our tv cords have been hanging, naked, exposed for all to see. You can kinda see what I mean in this (very blury, taken-with-my-phone) picture:

{They are partially covered with one of those cheesy plastic cord "hiders," but you get the point}

Since we will be having a birthday party (!!) in a few days with several people at our house, I decided now was the perfect time to do something with those hideous cords, since I knew we wouldn't be running out to throw some money down on new furniture just for this occasion (although we did do some other major things, like plant a few trees, get a truckbed load of mulch, etc..:)..more on that later). I am sure my husband appreciates this.

I didn't get a shot of the wall before he took the tv down (he didn't warn me before he did it) - but here are a couple "befores:"

Then out came the drill and the hole saw and 5 minutes later we were in business. Why did we stare at this mass o'wall cords for 21 months when this project took 5 minutes to do? We will never know, but I am very happy it's done. We're ready to party, Levi!

Remember when I mentioned my philosophy on furniture to you? This little drop-leaf table is one my grandma gave me when I moved into my first apartment in college. It was my dining table.

Project Post 9: Old Porch Post Ledge

It all started with this ledge that Pottery Barn debuted about a year ago in their catalog.

Here she is in all her glory:

{Image via}

{Image via}

From the moment I saw it I knew two things: 1) This is what I wanted for our large empty wall in the living room to be a focal point and display family photographs, and 2) I would not be paying $400 for it. Since that time, Pottery Barn has come out with a few more similar ledges (pictured below) and I have been brainstorming about what to find/buy/build/make to achieve the same level of satisfaction, purpose, and happiness that I was sure the PB ledge would deliver.

{Other Pottery Barn ledges - above images via}

When we took our mini-vacation to Canton, this was one of the two major things I was looking for (the other being our coffee table). No, I didn't expect to find anything exactly like this during our 7-mile trek around First Monday, but I did expect to walk away with at least some sort of inspiration for the project.

On our second day there, it was actually Tyler who found what we ended up buying to make our ledge. We walked past a vendor who had just a bunch of neat old junk and a big fan (it was 110 degrees and every time we stopped, we propped Levi up in front of a fan), and he also had a bunch of old iron porch posts - the kind you see on a lot of older houses (at least here in Oklahoma you do). There were a lot of neat-looking ones in all different colors, but most of them were too heavy for us to carry back to the trailer, which meant they were too heavy to screw to the wall and hold anything up, too. So back to the idea - it was Tyler's idea to buy one of these posts, turn it horizontal on the wall and put a thick piece of wood across the top of it (where the post almost acts like shelf brackets). I pictured his vision and loved it..although what we ended up with is probably different than what he originally intended. For example: he probably meant for us to use a 2x12 for the wood and in my head I was thinking like a 6" chunk of cedar used for a mantle (I won). Here are some pictures to document the project (there were several steps involved and we took our time, stretching the project out over a few months):



{Porch post, before Tyler cut it down}

{We cut the post and wood down (they were too long for the wall)}

{Just getting an idea of what it'll look like once assembled and hung}

{The sanding, staining, and sealing were my jobs - this is mid-sanding}

{After it was sanded, I brought it inside and vacuumed it}

{Here she is, all prepped and ready for staining}

{I used Minwax stain in Dark Walnut, after seeing them use this color on a project at Young House Love}

{After staining, I sanded down the edges and a few spots}

{Sanding to "weather" the edges a little}

{Next step - I applied a coat of satin polyurethane}

{After the coat of polyurethane}

At this point, the piece of wood was exactly like I wanted it. It was beautiful. Next, Tyler hung the post part on the wall, then he placed the wood on top and screwed it to the post. For added safety, he used some of the iron "scroll" left from the part of the post we didn't use for added bracing, acting like brackets. You'll see them in the finished photos below. I LOVE how it turned out. Here is the big reveal:

{Notice the extra scrolls we used as brackets}

{There are a couple of spots on the wall we'll have to hit with touch-up paint, just act like you can't see that!}



{Close-up of the post - again, ignore the spot we nicked}



There you have it! Everything "on" the ledge is stuff we already had. It will get changed out from time to time...and since we don't have a fireplace, this might act as our mantle for Christmas stockings.

Easiest Recipe Ever - Pinterest BBQ Crock Pot Chicken

Anyone who has Pinterest may have run across this recipe, originally from here. I saw it one day while I was browsing the site, and decided to try it. It's a great, easy, weeknight meal - heavy on the easy!

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bottle of barbecue sauce

1/4 C vinegar

1/4 C brown sugar

1 t. red pepper flakes

1 t. garlic powder

Instructions:

Put chicken in crock pot (the author says she throws them in frozen, I wasn't that brave so I put them in thawed)

Mix last 4 ingredients, then add the bbq sauce, then pour over chicken in crock pot.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours (I definitely would NOT cook longer than 4 hours).

How easy is that? The first time I made it, I served it with green bean casserole, hot rolls, and iced tea, and the second time I made it, we had creamy mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini.

Almost Party Time

{Invitation envelopes}

We're in full party-prepartion mode over here and it's getting closer and closer! Consider this a disclaimer to warn you that there will be a few LOTS of  P A R T Y  posts. You've officially been warned. You have a couple of weeks to prepare (although I could slip a few posts in early).


{clap, clap, clap!}



Project Post 8: Kitchen Buffet & Hutch

In my opinion, the best kind of furniture is free furniture, but next to that, the best furniture is a piece that comes from family. This piece of furniture has both of those characteristics.

I mentioned before that my kitchen island was the first piece of furniture I bought for our house, and I pretty much planned our kitchen around it, even down to staining the cabinets to match the wood top of the island. After we had the island and cabinets, I sought and found our table and chairs on Craigslist. I needed a quick-fix, and found it pretty fast - the table is a great basic black rectangular table (exactly what I wanted for the space) and the chairs are just ok (never have been crazy about them - might eventually switch them out), but they also match the island/cabinets and you won't find a set of 8 chairs 7 chairs very often (it was 8, but my dear husband {I love you} neglected to fix one until it finally broke after being used multiple times without all its supports).

{Kitchen table - this is from last week when our dishwasher was out, hence the paper plates}

All of these pieces I had in storage before we moved (thanks Dad!), and shortly after we moved in, my Aunt Karen told me she had a buffet in her barn if I wanted it (I planned on a tall piece for the blank kitchen wall). SCORE! She even delivered it.

I knew I would paint the piece even though there was nothing wrong with the wood - it was in great condition. My grandma really hates when someone paints over perfectly good stained furniture. I agree with that, to an extent. But the reason I decided to paint it was because the shape of the piece in conjunction with the color of the stain really made it dated - and not in a good way, so it needed at least one element to make it semi-modern. At least in my head it did, and I'm no expert, but it is my house!

I painted it black to match the table and island, and to have 3 "matching" pieces in the kitchen. Our living, kitchen, and dining area is one large room, and I like having the "matching" pieces in the kitchen to define the area and to just keep it cohesive and not have too much going on since it is all one room. That's a lot of words just to describe one piece of furniture (well, actually it's two pieces, but who's counting?), so without further ado, I will be quiet and share some pictures.

{Hutch before}

{Buffet before}

{in progress}

{in progress}

{Don't worry - I dusted under the buffet after I saw this}

{Again, don't worry - I dusted!}