Happy Monday everyone!!! I hope you had a good weekend!
I have a productive weekend going through my task list: I painted … all weekend long — and just to add some excitement I cleaned too. Wow, how my weekends have changed through the years.
As I promised you Friday, I do have a furniture reveal for you today.
After a long weekend of working, I was ready to crash last night. For some reason I couldn’t fall asleep though. I lay there forever and I finally got up and read for a while.
After an hour, I tried it again, but by that point it had been a long time since dinner and it’s hard to sleep when your stomach is growling. I ignored it and finally feel asleep.
Next thing I know I heard a huge crash from the kitchen. I went out to find that Kitten had knocked a plate of cookies on the floor that the dogs were frantically trying to inhale.
I cleaned-up that mess and went back to bed, and just as I was about to fall asleep I hear chirp, chirp , chirp.
You guessed it: a freaking cricket.
Now this wasn’t your average cricket, people. This had to have been a cricket on steroids because it was the loudest thing I had ever heard. You could tell it was right outside the window.
I drag myself out of bed once again and start banging on the window trying to scare this sucker away.
Unfortunately the only thing it scared was the dogs, who were all barking hysterically.
Seriously.
Meanwhile, Topher is sound asleep.
Come on! How on earth can he have slept through the plate being knocked off, our herd of dogs flying through the house (on hardwood) to the kitchen, this Mr. Olympia cricket screaming to his girlfriends, the window being beaten, and the dogs barking? I guess this is the man who was able to sleep through years of a crying baby, the smoke detector going off, and a car driving through our backyard (that last one is a story for another day).
It was then 2:30AM, and I lay back down trying to force myself to go back to sleep.
I’ll just count sheep…chirp, chirp, I’ll visualize myself floating in the ocean…chirp, chirp, I’ll…chirp,chirp.
I’ll get my husband to go outside and kill this cricket!!!!
So after a bit of stomping about and shaking him, out Topher goes with … the Swiffer broom (no idea why he chose that), banging around the bushes outside our bedroom.
Yay! It stopped. Finally I can sleep! Mind you it is past 3:00 am now, and Topher is not a happy camper.
Five minutes later chirp, chirp.
Now at this point I couldn’t be more tortured if a person stood in my room raking their nails down a chalkboard over and over (which I know dates me since classrooms today have abandoned true chalkboards).
This continued for over an hour.
So I went to bed around 4 am. I am looking and feeling rough today. I have so many projects I need to be working on today and all I want to do is take a nap.
Speaking of rough, that is how this table looked when I got it at a yard sale.
It was dinged up, dirty, the top was barely on, and the legs were a little wobbly … but all of that was fixable.
Topher glued the wobbly bits together, and I got to work. I painted it with three coats of ivory paint. I then distressed it and coated it in Annie Sloan’s clear wax. Look’s so much better now!
I have had nights like that. It’s the next day that it really kills you. Speaking of KILL- it’s supposed to be bad luck to kill a cricket so it’s a good thing you didn’t do it in! Love how your end table turned out. It looks great- xo Diana
Thanks Diana! Today was a bit of a killer but I made it through lol!
First off, lololol!! great story, so sorry you lost sleep, but worth it to hear the story! Second of all… your end table rocks! Gorgeous, I love it!!
Thanks Amy!
Love this!!! I have always loved these little side step tables!! So pretty!!! Happy 4th!!!
Thanks Lori! You have a great 4th too!
Ok Shanna, I am finally ready to try this painting furniture thing…I have been collecting items and I really want to do my dinning room table, but I am scared that after I paint it it will chip and/or not hold up to washing. Where would I buy this wax you use? Will this protect my hard work? Any information would be greatly appreciated!
I am getting ready to do my own dining table and personally I wouldn’t paint the top. I am afraid after time it would chip off for you. I am going to paint the bottom of mine and stain the top. A poly on the top I find to be more durable. There are people out there that have painted the tops of their table but I have heard through so many people that it chipped and scratched with time. The wax I use is Annie Sloan’s clear wax (be prepared it is pricey and you will need a special wax brush). She also has dark wax but if you are just starting out, I would wait on that. It is a bit harder to work with.You can order it directly from her site but if you Google it and the city you live in, I’m sure some local places will pop up. A dining table is going to be a big job, you might want to start with a smaller piece first just to get the hang of it. It definitely has a different consistency than normal latex and it dries much quicker. Good luck my friend! I’m sure you will do a great job! You will have to shoot me an email of your finished piece!
Thank you for the tips! I think I will start small because my dinning room table is HUGE! I am going to try the coffee table with water spots, I’m thinking a fun color 🙂 Thank you for all your inspiration! I will email you a before/after picture of my completed project. Have a great 4th of July weekend! Cheers, Ivy
My grandmother had two of these. I wish I had them now.
I wish I had so many of the things I remember being in my grandmother’s house too!
I can totally identify with the can’t sleep part, but I have never had a cricket issue.
I remember one of my friend’s having an end table just like that when I was a kid. Your paint job is a major improvement.
Thanks Carol! I’m a total insomniac sadly. My hubby on the other hand can fall asleep in about two seconds. Makes me want to punch him.
Great transformation! I agree, looks so much better white 🙂
Thank you Miss Sarah!
What a great makeover. Love the white.
Have a wonderful week,
Bev
@ Eclectic Red Barn
Thanks Beverly!
Shanna, darn that cricket! Hate things like that. Luckily, I sleep like a baby most nights. Every once in a blue moon I have a night that I have to get up and tinker for a while. Normally I am out almost as quick as my head hits the pillow. Love the lines on that table. The new paint really made it shine! Love, love that b & W carpet too! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,.
Jann
p.s. I made a lamp shade with the little circles that I pinned from your blog. Love how it turned out!
hugs,
Jann
Thank you Jann! I’m glad your lamp shade turned out!
That is a beauty!!
Well worth the loss of sleep! Beautiful~ Thanks for sharing at my Pin Me Linky Party!
Thanks Diana! Thanks for hosting!
Thanks so much for linking up to Your Whims Wednesday, I featured this on my blog tonight! Come stop by and grab a featured button 🙂 http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/2013/07/your-whims-wednesday-122-and-features.html
Thank you so much for featuring me Rebecca!