Keeping My Butt In Gear

....I'm finding, is hard to do, but I'm doing it better than I usually do. 

I've been on a furniture redo kick lately. Well maybe not so much of the redo as the hoarding-it-to-redo part. yeah. My family room looks like the prelude to a good garage sale. And so does my living room - oh, and the dining room too. And we won't even mention the upstairs. Thank goodness my 19 yr old son is only here part time. Yeah, I have stuff in there too. I think I need a 2nd home for my hobby.

I keep hoping it's all worth it when I have my BIG craft show in November. 

I am one of those that scours over the internet for inspiration, and I admit that I'm rarely disappointed on any given day in my searches. And I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I don't find all the items I need to recreate these treasures at the numerous garage sales and thrift stores I frequent. Did I mention how full my house is now without having every single thing I see? My husband & I have been discussing getting me an enclosed trailer just to store things in, but I see that being a nuisance too, unless it has 2 doors and some of the larger ones do. It would require one half as To Be Done and the other to be Ready For Sale. And those trailer aren't cheap - even the used ones.

But that's not the point to my post here. I've gone off track. I do that more times than I care to count. sorry.

THIS is what I'm here to show you today.

Sorry about all the clutter in the background, but I just don't have a good "staging" area for furniture. Where I do have a decent spot, it's dark and I can't get decent photos. Please, bear with me.

I was inspired by Korrie, owner of the Red Hen Home blog. She heavily influences me on furniture ideas. I haven't seen a project of hers yet that I don't love.

This was her version that I saw.

Just fabulous! ....and look Ma, no hands! ;)

This is how my own gem started out. 

 If you know anything about my blogging skills, I don't typically do well about remembering to get Before shots of projects, so you're doing good just to get this one. LOL! I had already started to paint the undercoating of black when I remembered to take this, plus my husband had already cut the legs down on it too. It just seemed so tall and I also thought it was quite large to be an end table, but would look nice as a smaller coffee table. The part of the legs that were cut off were thinner and had these nasty looking brass bands on them, well 3 of them did, one was missing.

The top had to be resanded because of water damage, but had this beautiful pattern in the wood. It just screamed Clock to me.

My only issue with the pattern in the wood is that it isn't lined up true. If you look closely, the point where the VI is, it isn't lined up with the center of the drawer. There's nothing I can do about that & hopefully whoever buys it doesn't notice it or will even care.

I thought about adding hands to the design, but I opted to leave them out. My husband said I should do 5:00, because it's 5:00 somewhere. He such a comedian. (insert rolling eyes here)

This is the original pull handle that came on the table.  Fabulous, isn't it?

I thought it looked pretty good the way it was, but I opted to paint it with Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint & I like it so much better.

 

And then I have some other goodies that I recently picked up that I can't wait to get started on. 

I picked up this card catalog and it doesn't look like much now, but I have vintage plans for it.

And I consider this a lesson learned - twice I'm a slow learner, I guess. The vintage table in the below photo was at the Habitat ReStore. It was a somewhat "fair"price for such a pretty table that did need some love, but I had just seen it at a garage sale the week before for $15 & that was NOT Habitat's price! I did talk them down in price, but it was still more than the garage sale price. And to think that I almost bought it at the garage sale. shoulda, coulda, woulda... 

(p.s. the chairs did not go with the table, but they look great together)

I had the same thing happen with a chair (not pictured) I seen at a garage sale for $7.50. I didn't buy it and almost went back to see if it was still there and if they'd take $5. But, I didn't do that. The next week it was at the Salvation Army for $15. So, even when they have they're 1/2 off sale, it's still going to be $7.50 & not that $2.50 is anything to cry over. It's still worth the $15 IMO & I may still get it for that price if it's still there. Which it was last week. (NOPE. Someone was smarter than I)

You know the old adage that if you snooze, you lose...OR you will pay a higher price for waiting.

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This Clockface table project was featured at:

****P.S. ~NOT that I stand a chance, but I'm throwing care to the wind and entering my Clock Face Table in the Best DIY Project of 2012. We're talking a chance to win a $250 Home Depot Gift card here! I can buy MY OWN tools with that and not have to bother the hubby, KWIM?

Here goes......               

 

Parties I'm Linking up to: